Shedding the Armor

In our daily lives it is so easy to get triggered by others. But what is really happening? We get angry, upset at the other person for basically being who they are. Whether we are relating to our sweethearts, our bosses, or even someone cutting us off in traffic. We end up attaching ourselves to the fact that, for whatever reason, this person is not meeting our needs. While good to recognize when our needs are not being met, how do we keep from getting triggered and falling into a downward spiral of frustration, anger, blame, resentment, sadness etc.  

When we look at our triggers, they typically lead to events in the past..sometimes as far back as early childhood. When these events are never sent healing, then we walk around with them like guns in our holsters reacting to current situations and people inappropriately. Can we have the courage and compassion for ourselves to heal the wounds that have molded and continue to trigger us? In Jack Kornfield's book, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry, he writes:"Central to the stories we tell are the fixed beliefs we have about ourselves...Because those thoughts and assumptions are so powerful, we live out their energies over and over. These patterns of thought, together with the contractions of body and heart, create a limited sense of self. They are sometimes called "the body of fear". When we live from the body of fear, our life is simply one of habit and reaction." 

It has been studied that when fear, anger, frustration, anxiety, etc are harbored in the body it hinders the organic flow of energy. When we are able to step out of these emotions and look deeply at why we have created this armor, it is then that we begin to incorporate the truest form of compassion. Part of our attachment to the armor is our misunderstanding of events beyond it and their placement in our lives. When we set ourselves up with proper support, we can send healing to these issues with intention and awareness to truly understand why these events occurred in our lives.   "We begin to recognize patterns of these contractions and learn that they are not the most fundamental reality. We learn how to step from these old skins, the small sense of self, into the reality of the present. we find ways to allow the body to ease, the heart to soften and the old stories of the mind to fall away."

It is from this place that genuine shift begins, because we see where the healing is needed and we begin to take care of ourselves intuitively. Once this happens we begin to soften, allowing more space for a higher vibration to live within. Compassion originates from within and is sent outward. It is then when our perception shifts and we are able to respond to a current situation with our truest spirit rather than a suit of armor.