Presence allows us to catch our panicked unconscious reactions so we can learn to do something different.
I’m at Thomas Hübl, PhD and Amy Elizabeth Fox’s Trauma-Informed Coaching program kickoff, and plan to share insights and learnings throughout the week.
At last night’s intro session, Thomas shared how trauma, which he defines as a interior response that was created when facing an overwhelming situation, leads a part of us to not feel safe in the here and now. We can’t be present in situations that remind us of that original triggering situation.
We paired off to discuss our reactions, and Barrett Brown asked deep questions about what was happening for me as I processed that insight. I felt myself put on the spot, and getting flustered and panicked, and interrupted him to ask “so what’s happening for you?”
As he shared his thoughts, I realized that I had just experienced a trauma reaction. Some part of me didn’t feel safe being the center of his attention, so it took over and changed the situation.
I feel fortunate that Thomas had just led a #meditation so I was more present than usual, and was able to catch the reaction just after the moment, and was able to immediately unpack it with Barrett. One of the core teachings this week is that when we tune into our body, we can catch these reactions quicker as I did with noticing my flustered panicked reaction and asking myself “What’s going on there?”
I can’t wait to learn more this week about how I can build my #presence to catch these #trauma reactions faster in myself and my clients, and handle them with more care to guide myself and others towards responding consciously and intentionally instead.