Focusing Tip #852 – Past Trauma and Triggers – “Can I trust the inner message that something can’t be trusted?”

Can you believe the messages you’re receiving from inside? Read on…

Adar writes:

I wanted to see if you can share with me your thoughts on the difference between my wise inner intuition vs a reactive part.

If I sense something is unsafe or that I can’t trust it, is my body telling me something I should pay attention to? Or is it a part that remembers trauma and is triggered?

Dear Adar:

The question of whether we can trust the messages we are receiving from our bodies and our intuition is such an important one.

The reason it’s not an easy question to answer is that in situations of trauma, we may have had to ignore or shut down what we otherwise knew to be true.

Now, as survivors, we do sometimes get inner warnings that are not about present time, but rather about what was happening back then — as if it’s still happening now. Those warnings of “Danger! Danger!” can be just as strong and feel just as certain as the inner knowing from our wise intuition. (Sometimes even more so!)

So how to know the difference?

There is no quick answer. Rather, it’s a process of building up and cultivating our Self-in-Presence. In other words, cultivating with practice the ability to discern whether we’ve been taken over by a part reacting out of a past fear.

Self-in-Presence feels balanced, curious, open to seeing things one way or another. A frightened part feels young, gripping, often desperate or urgent. (A young part might also be telling us the opposite: to trust completely, fall in love, give away all our money.)

If you’re getting a signal from inside to run away or to go all in, my advice would be to take time. Neither trust or not-trust quickly. Stay aware, notice, and gather information. You’ll get better at knowing what the wise inner knowing sounds like — and feels like.