I don’t know about you but unless I remain mindful at all times, I get triggered daily which causes me to react. As I grow wiser I have consciously chosen to act rather than react, but sometimes even a seemingly offhand remark can set my fight or flight response in motion and off I go. According to Judith Siegel’s Stop Overreacting: Effective Strategies for Calming Your Emotions there are four main triggers for overreaction: envy, rejection, resentment at being criticized and loss of control. Once triggered, we are no longer rational and we are in judgment – the situation becomes either good or bad and we remember everything similar that ever happened in our lives which blows the current situation way out of proportion. We become “right” and they / the situation becomes “wrong”.
How to Cope
Watch for warning signals: tension in neck and body, racing heart or thoughts
Breathe: Deep breathing interrupts the fight-or-flight response and allows conscious choice
How Do You Feel? If you are tired or overdrawn emotionally, take a time out and get centered
Name the emotions. Neurologically, overreaction is a loss of access to the left brain. “Naming the feeling that you’re having in the moment — anger, loss of self-esteem — requires reflection and searching the memory, and that’s a left-brain activity,” says Siegel. “It reestablishes the neural networks that connect left brain and right, and restores balance.”
Reframe the situation: Look for the lesson and think about how you can act rather than react when the next trigger comes along.
How to Cope
Watch for warning signals: tension in neck and body, racing heart or thoughts
Breathe: Deep breathing interrupts the fight-or-flight response and allows conscious choice
How Do You Feel? If you are tired or overdrawn emotionally, take a time out and get centered
Name the emotions. Neurologically, overreaction is a loss of access to the left brain. “Naming the feeling that you’re having in the moment — anger, loss of self-esteem — requires reflection and searching the memory, and that’s a left-brain activity,” says Siegel. “It reestablishes the neural networks that connect left brain and right, and restores balance.”
Reframe the situation: Look for the lesson and think about how you can act rather than react when the next trigger comes along.
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