Emotional Triggers: Part 2
How to track, interrupt, and shift an emotional flashback in real time
Yesss babe 💖 Part 2 is where the healing gets hands-on ✨
Part 1 was the WTF is happening to me?? explainer...
Part 2 is:
🎯 How to track, interrupt, and shift an emotional flashback in real time
aka how to become the grounded space commander of your nervous system 🛸
hey beautiful, here’s your reminder: you don’t have to rush your becoming. you’re allowed to slow down, to rest into your growth. you’re allowed to be unfinished and still feel delight in every soft moment of mending.
✨ whisper these truths whenever you crave softness:
I am healing in ways I can’t always see
I am allowed to feel peace in the middle of it all
My growth doesn’t need to be loud to be real
I trust the timing of my own unfolding
I am gentle with the parts of me still learning to trust
Even here, I am whole
PART 2: How To Interrupt an Emotional Flashback (Like a Groovy Girl 🦋)
🌡️ Step 1: Check the Dashboard (aka Your Emotional State)
Before the spiral starts—daily check-ins. Fuel your spaceship with basics:
Food 🌮
Water 💧
Sleep 😴
Movement 🏃♀️
Love (connection counts too, boo) 💞
Quiet time 🧘♀️
Ask:
✨ What’s my state right now?
✨ Is this emotional weather... familiar? (hello, old trauma cloud)
✨ Am I responding to this moment—or to a ghost from the past?
📟 Step 2: Learn Your Personal Triggers
CPTSD doesn’t come with a warning light.
But if you tune into your energy shifts, you’ll feel the turbulence coming.
Journal it. Track it.
What did you feel right before the spiral?
What situation were you in?
Who were you around?
What were you telling yourself?
Flashbacks are often triggered by context, not content.
That’s why a weird look, a busy street, or even silence can set you off. 😵💫
🛑 Step 3: Pattern Interrupt Like a Boss
Once you feel the storm rising...
⚡ PAUSE.
⚡ BREATHE.
⚡ INTERRUPT.
Try one of these:
Say out loud: “I’m in an emotional flashback. This is not me. This is a reaction.”
Get up. Walk. Dance. Wiggle. Shake out the static.
Clap your hands. Stomp. Splash water on your face.
Say something silly: “Banana pants galactic disco!” 🍌👖✨
Squeeze something cold. Ground into this moment.
Don’t wait for it to “go away.”
Meet it with playful power. Shift the vibe intentionally.
🧠 Step 4: Use FIFI (Your Emotional Poodle, duh 🐩)
This is the 4-legged tool that shifts your state fast:
(as introduced in Part 1!)
F – Focus: What are you focusing on? What’s another thought you could try?
I – Internal Movie: What mental video is playing? Change the soundtrack. Zoom out.
F – Physiology: Sit tall. Smile. Move like someone who’s not spiraling.
I – Inner Voice: Talk to yourself like a queen, not a critic.
Even one leg of FIFI helps. But when you use all four? 💅 You’re unstoppable.
🔁 Step 5: Practice. Not Perfection.
You won’t get it perfect every time, and that’s okay.
But the more you interrupt the spiral—even just a little—the more your brain learns:
“Oh hey, maybe I don’t need to panic this time.”
Healing is repetition. Rewriting. Repatterning.
Not overnight magic. But still, pretty damn magical 💫
✨Plant-Powered Recipe of the Day:
Quinoa Cucumber Fresh Fiesta Bowl✨
Quinoa is a complete protein, meaning it gives you all nine essential amino acids your body can’t make on its own. One cup of cooked quinoa packs about 8 g of protein and 5 g of fiber to keep you full and energized.
Here’s a grab-and-go version you can make in about 15 minutes… no fancy mixing, just toss and eat.
Ingredients (4 servings)
2 cups cooked quinoa (chill beforehand)
1 can (15 oz) white beans, drained and rinsed* (optional)
1 medium cucumber, diced and skin removed
3 scallions, thinly sliced
½ cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
¼ cup plain vegan yogurt (for dressing)
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 clove garlic, minced (or ½ tsp jarred)
Salt & pepper to taste
Quick Steps
In each bowl (or jar), layer:
½ cup quinoa
⅓ cup beans
A handful of cucumber
Sprinkling of scallions and cilantro
In a small cup or jar, stir (or shake) together yogurt, lime zest + juice, garlic, a pinch of salt, and a grind of pepper.
Drizzle dressing over each bowl. No big mixing bowl needed, just a quick swirl with your fork.
Note: sometimes, I’ll omit the garlic, yogurt and beans, to keep it as easy as possible on my digestion system with some extra love from the lemon juice — especially helpful if you follow a low-FODMAP diet or are on a cleanse. Quinoa is the real star here!
✨Paradigm Shift: Forgive, Forgive, Forgive…✨
Hey queen, let’s get real for a sec: surviving takes guts and sometimes we do things in survival mode we wish we hadn’t.
Maybe we stayed in love loops that bruised our hearts, shelved our wildest dreams, or shook our heads at our own mistakes. But here’s the juicy truth: forgiving yourself is the magic key to softening that armor and rebuilding your sparkle.
Take a moment each day to tap into these sweet, soul-soothing mantras.
Breathe slow and deep, feel the peacefulness melting into your bones, and let your body remember what softness feels like.
Mantras for Self-Forgiveness
I forgive myself for what I did when
I was in survival mode.
I forgive myself for staying in relationships that hurt me because I wanted to be loved.
I forgive myself for the choices I made when I didn’t have the tools to do differently.
I forgive myself for not being there for me when I needed me the most.
I forgive myself for staying small and not giving myself a chance to realize my goals and dreams.
I forgive myself for blaming myself for the actions of other people.
I forgive myself, and I am free.
you don’t have to rush your becoming. you’re allowed to rest. you’re allowed to be unfinished. you’re allowed to feel joy while you’re still mending.
remember: i am healing. i am becoming. i am already ALWAYS enough.