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Baggage, Emotional Trauma, Processing Trauma, Trauma Recovery

What’s In Your Bag? Let it Go!

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January 16, 2020

- Baggage, Emotional Trauma, Processing Trauma, Trauma Recovery

When you hear the term “Bag Lady” what is the first thing that comes to mind?

You may think instantly, it’s a homeless woman who carries her possessions in shopping bags right?

Well, let me give you a different perspective. The truth is a lot of us have been or still are bag ladies. Yes, the lady walking around like she has it all together but on the inside; her soul is filled with hurts, pains, disappointments and bitterness that I call Emotional Baggage. Mad at the world! You can hear her screams of hurt in her body language, her conversations and her pattern of broken relationships.

The weight of her soul issues stripes her identity into pieces, leaving her with nowhere to sort or unpack.

Are you HER? How long will you allow your bags to consume your life? When will you recycle the bags in their proper place? At some point, you’re going to have to throw them bags away!
 

 Have you ever heard the song “Bag Lady” by Erykah Badu?

I’ve always sung the words to this song without any real thought to what she was saying or letting the words penetrate. 


Read the lyrics below.
—————————————-
 
Bag lady you gone hurt your back
Dragging all them bags like that
I guess nobody ever told you
All you must hold onto, is you, is you, is you
 
One day all them bags gon’ get in your way
One day all them bags gon’ get in your way
I said one day all them bags gon’ get in your way
One day all them bags gon’ get in your way, so pack light,
Pack light, mm, pack light, pack light, oh ooh
 
Bag lady you gon’ miss your bus
You can’t hurry up, ’cause you got too much stuff

Bag lady, let it go let it go let it go let it go oh
You won’t believe it, it feels so much better, so much better baby
So oh, oh, oh, if you start breathin’ babe
You can’t deny it you can’t stop crying
Oh when someone hurts you oh so bad inside
Girl I know, sometimes it’s hard and we can’t let goGirl you don’t need it
Bet ya love could make it better
—————————————-

Let that sink in for a moment!
 

Erykah was trying to give her sister’s a reality check! Let it go, heal and don’t miss your bus. 
Your bags were never meant to become your lifestyle.
 
Emotional Baggage can have you surviving life but not living it.
 
This week I want to challenge you to take one step towards your healing:

  1. Pick a traumatic experience that has contributed to your emotional baggage.
  2. Identify your negative emotions. (make a list to help you understand everything you felt or currently feeling)
  3. Write a statement of when you experienced each emotion and why? “Because of…. “I feel.” (stress, sadness, anxiety or fear…ect)
  4. Once you have addressed the root of the pain, accept the event and/or situation. It did happen, but it does not have to be something that you allow to haunt you.
  5. Give yourself permission to heal. Reject your sense of injury – you can’t change the past, but you can create a new future.
  6. If you’re comfortable, share this “bag” with someone that can be supportive and love you through.
  7. Encourage yourself daily with positive self-talk to reassure yourself the bag has been put in the proper place. The only amount of power it holds over you is the power you give to it. Take Your POWER Back!

Email me and let me know if this exercise helped. I‘d love to hear your feedback.
 

Here’s to moving from Trauma to Triumph, Fear to Faith and Brokenness to Strength.
Sia Moiwa
CEO & Founder – IOG

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Processing Trauma, Trauma Triggers

In The Middle of A Trigger!

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January 15, 2020

- Processing Trauma, Trauma Triggers

I think this is definitely worth a read. I have to share a transparent moment with you, “In What to Do in the Middle of a Trigger. “
 
You must understand that a trigger is a reminder of the past and not of the present although you may feel overwhelmed, sad, experience pain and/or struggle with anxiety and fear.
 
A truth I’d like to let you know is Yes, I’m a Trauma Recovery Coach but that does not exempt me from dealing with triggers and nor do I have it all under control but what I do have in the moment of a trigger is a Self-Care Plan that helps me to process what I’m feeling and follow steps needed to help me back to a place of calmness and reality.
 
This week I was faced with some fear that had me a little uneasy. It was morning and I walked into my office, sat down at my desk and began to go through my emails and noticed a calendar invite with the subject “Contract.” No other details or information provided. I work by day as an HR Associate and my position is contract to permanent. Now you know what that means, your employer can let you go at any time for any reason. So, here’s the catch…. this is where the trigger happened for me. For the rest of the day I was stressed and a little anxious, I couldn’t focus because thoughts were flooding my mind; What if my contract is going end? Maybe I should look for another job? I wonder what my manager is going to say. ? If you have ever experienced any trauma, I know you can attest to these lures of emotions.
 
An hour before my meeting, I had to Stop, Breathe and Revisit my personal self-care plan I put in place to help me cope!
 
In the Moment of a Trigger you must:

  • STOP – What you are doing, who you are interacting with or what you are thinking
  • BREATHE – 4 7 8 (exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose and do a mental count four. Hold your breath for a count of seven. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight) to regain emotional control
  • REVISIT ­– I have a Self-Care Plan in place with adaptive and self-soothing next steps that are my go-to. For those of you that do not have that in place, simple quick resources can help you with a trigger; squeezing a stress ball, trauma recovery meditation music,  trauma grounding exercise or a run to app on your phone – “What’s Up? – A Mental Health App” is a really explorative app.

What is a Self-Care Plan?

A self-care plan helps to enhance your health and well-being, manage your stress, identify trigger points as well as support and maintain your goals of recovery and wellness.

Below are reasons that a Self-Care Plan is a must for Trauma Survivors!

  • A Self-Care Plan helps align and stabilize you’re overall mental health
  • A Self-Care Plan helps to center the body from burnout, exhaustion, decreased focus and lack of motivation
  • A Self-Care Plan helps to rid the soul of pent up emotions, stresses and allows you to come into connection with yourself

This is just to name a few but there are so many positives to having this resourceful tool.
 
Does it seem as if you’re in a trauma cycle and can’t seem to get relief? I would love to help you work through some of your challenges and help you to create your own self-care plan as a benefit towards your goals of healing and wholeness. If this Is something that interest you, book a session with me or share this with someone that can gain from these tools. Book your session here ?? https://IOGTraumaRecovery.as.me/IOGSelfCarePlanSession
 
Here’s to moving from Trauma to Triumph, Fear to Faith and Brokenness to Strength.
 
Sia Moiwa
CEO & Founder – IOG

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