Trigger Toolkit: 9 Approaches to the Pain Beneath Triggers

Everyone, inevitably, has painful life experiences. When pain does not pass through a person unresisted, most or all of it may be stored below the surface (in the body). With traumatic experiences like betrayal, such pain can be deeply entrenched.

This stored pain (also known as stored energy, blockages, stuck events, mental scars, or samskaras) may lie dormant sometimes, but an event that relates to the original trauma can activate or "trigger" it. A triggering event could be a sight, sound or sensation from the outside world, but it could also be an internal thought or feeling (self-generated). The greater the stored pain beneath the surface, the easier it will become activated.

While the word "trigger" often refers to the painful experience as a whole, the triggering event itself is not the real problem. Though one may try to avoid any and all triggering events, ultimately the stored pain beneath must be the focus of healing.