Maria Arpa
This week
Inner processing
Plus…
Maria’s Midweek Mindfulness
and
The Wednesday Whisper
What is triggering us?
Sometimes a fragrance, an image or a place can trigger an emotional response in us relating to memory of something unresolved. If we don’t process the response it is likely to show up in our body. This could manifest as anxiety, tiredness, sadness, aggression or confusion. These manifestations are the body’s natural alarm system letting us know we have stuff to process and heal. Unattended, this alarm system will become louder and lead to more physical outcomes such as pain and debilitation.
Processing means linking the present response to the memory, attending to what is unresolved or unhealed and linking it to our reactions and responses in the present so that we are not disproportionate in our reactions to what is happening in the present.
The memory is organic. It isn’t a filing cabinet of objects and does not operate in a linear process. It shifts and changes as our life changes. It disappears and reappears. And it can play tricks on us. We can find ourselves questioning our memories or allowing others to deny them.
One thing is for certain, while the memory may be buried or in question, the body doesn’t lie.
Maria’s Mindfulness Moment
It took me a long time to realise what people meant when they would tell me my reactions were an ‘over reaction’. I came to understand how I was reacting not to the present hurt, but to the fifty times it had happened before, which, of course, the person in front of me wouldn’t have known about.
The Wednesday Whisper
Try reflecting on a current reaction to something. Ask yourself what the reaction means and if it proportionate to the present situation.
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