You’ve likely heard of “triggers,” events or situations that stimulate sadness or some other emotional response.
Did you know you can also have “Trigger Months,” Neighbor?
Trigger months can evolve when you have emotional or traumatic events that occur around the same month in different years.
Many years ago, I realized that every September and October I felt uninspired, my mood seemed gloomier than normal, my thinking and creativity seemed to be lagging, and I tended to isolate myself more. The researcher in me began asking questions, and what I quickly realized was that a few of the most traumatic experiences in my life had occurred in these months, stimulating a period of intense grief.
The emotional responses to the timing of these events were stored in my cellular memory.
Over the next several years, I worked on re-wiring this pattern and achieved great success, but I recently noticed a reoccurrence of this old pattern. Upon reflection, I realized that the most recent upheaval in my life—a divorce that literally altered every aspect of my life: my home and state locale, job, relationships with friends and family, sense…—all began unfolding over a two-year period in the months of September and October.
“Awareness is more than half the battle,” is one of my mantras and something I tell my clients and anybody else who is interested. Loss and grief are unempowering because we seldom have a say in how those things unfold, but healing is empowering because it is a choice.
When you shine a spotlight onto an element of your situation, you are in a position to do something about it.
3 ways to recognize a Trigger Month(s)
→ Create a monthly record. List significant loss or traumatic events that occurred in that month, regardless of the year; if it felt significant or traumatic to YOU, write it down.
→ Make a notation if you tend to feel melancholy, moody, or have a hard time staying focused as this month approaches and/or unfolds.
→ Be mindful of any unexpected shifts in your energy, sociability, creativity or productivity that last for more than two weeks.
3 steps to heal a Trigger Month(s) and return to a state of calm, clarity, inner peace, and productivity.
→ Make a notation in your calendar in the month BEFORE the Trigger Month(s): Trigger Month(s) Ahead. Up my self-care. AND write a reminder at the end of your calendar year to carry over this same notation into the next calendar year. My notation is set for August 1.
→ Identify the areas that tend to breakdown when you are struggling. Do you start eating all the wrong foods? Quit hydrating? Isolate? Stop exercising or moving your body? [Insert your whatever]
→ Begin adding or increasing activities that make you feel supported, loved, and healthy. List your desired action(s) at the TOP of your daily to-do AND to-be lists; write them on your mirror, put sticky notes on your ceiling or in your car, [insert your whatever].
You’ll be surprised how easy it is to transform a Trigger Month when you’re aware of it!
Have you experienced a Trigger Month(s), Neighbor? What are some of the strategies you use to keep you feeling healthy and inspired? Share with us, as you never know who might need to hear it!
Until next time, I see you. I feel you. I believe in you.
Annah ♥