If you've ever felt hijacked by your past… this one is for you.
When confronted with a trauma response, one of the most effective strategies for regaining control and alleviating overwhelming emotions is to acknowledge and name your feelings. This process involves recognizing what is happening within you and articulating it, which can significantly diminish the emotional charge associated with those feelings.
In this episode of Soul Wide Open, host Michelle Renee shares what really happens when something cracks open a wound from childhood and your nervous system gets hijacked. She speaks candidly about the inner tape that still plays sometimes… the voice that says, "You'll never be anything. You ruin everything. Maybe your father was right."
This isn't theory. It's her lived experience.
Drawing from a recent personal incident where a technical glitch affected her business, Michelle shares her emotional journey of confronting feelings of inadequacy and the instinctual responses that arise when things go wrong. She emphasizes the importance of recognizing these triggers and offers insights on how to navigate them, encouraging listeners to break free from self-doubt and cultivate resilience.
She walks through the five most important things to do when a trigger activates old trauma wiring — when your body floods, your mind spirals, and the "tape" from childhood starts playing on repeat.
This is about nervous system repair.
This is about interrupting inherited shame.
This is about becoming the safe adult you never had.
And the bonus? It may be the hardest one of all.
00:00:55 - A Glitch in the Metrix
00:02:09 - Emotional Impact and Childhood Trauma
00:03:48 - Immediate Response to Emotional Triggers
00:05:04 - Choosing Positive Actions Over Negative Spirals
00:06:10 - Finding Joy in Small Moments
00:07:02 - Engaging in Self-Care Activities
00:08:06 - Resisting Negative Self-Talk
00:09:00 - Overthinking and Self-Doubt
00:10:02 - Top Five Strategies to Combat Negative Self-Talk
00:11:10 - Strategy 1: Naming the Trauma Response
00:12:13 - Strategy 2: Regulating Your Body
00:13:39 - Strategy 3: Separating the Voices
00:15:15 - Strategy 4: Engaging with the Inner Child
00:17:03 - Strategy 5: Anchoring in Present Evidence
00:20:07 - Metaphor of Life as an Olympic Performance
00:21:00 - Self-Compassion and Reassurance
00:24:06 - Bonus Strategy: Calling a Friend
00:27:02 - The Importance of Supportive Friends
00:30:04 - Allowing Yourself to Feel and Process
00:31:07 - Recap of Strategies and Final Thoughts
Quotes:
"Here comes my dad's voice: you're a POS, you're never gonna be anything, or you can't do anything right."
"A lot of times when this hits, we go straight into fatalistic thinking, like everything is ruined."
"That is not the voice of the person that you have become up to today until this moment of dysregulation."
"Dad's not here. And his voice doesn't get to define us anymore."
"You are not a piece of crap. You are not a nobody. You are not the person that's just gonna end up being nothing."
"Just know that it's okay to call a friend and say, I'm not okay."
"That's just a gift all the way around for both of us."
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Connect with Michelle:
My Website https://michelle-renee.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_michellerenee_
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@themichellerenee
VERB Media Group https://verbmediagroup.com/
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