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The first part of the success cycle is about being triggered and understanding trauma. Triggers are things that remind us of past traumatic events and can cause intense emotions. Trauma is the lasting emotional response to distressing events. Our brain is wired to search for patterns, but with trauma, it can misinterpret normal cues as threats. The brain has three main parts: the brainstem, the limbic region, and the prefrontal cortex. Trauma can disrupt higher-order thinking and make it hard to stay calm. Coaches can create a safe environment for growth. Emily's story shows how a negative coach triggered her to quit tennis. The next step in the success cycle is noticing and calming our body's response to triggers. Somatic awareness helps us understand our body's response to stress. We can use calming techniques like deep breathing, touching, non-contact connection, placing a hand over the heart, listening to music, and movement to regulate our emotions. Power poses and positive self-t As we get into the first part of our success cycle, I Am Triggered, let's first explore and define a few of the terms we'll be using. Trigger. Something that causes a person to feel fear, shock, anger, or upset because it sets off a flashback, reminding them of something bad that has happened in the past, transporting the person back to the traumatic event. Triggers can have varying degrees of intensity, but they are all valid and need to be recognized, felt, and soothed so we can make a positive choice and find a beneficial solution that fulfills our needs. Trauma. Trauma is the lasting emotional response that often results from living through a distressing event. A traumatic event can be a recent, single traumatic event such as feeling humiliation, having an argument, or a breakup. A single traumatic event that occurred in the past such as embarrassment, an accident, or something medical. Or a long-term chronic pattern such as ongoing emotional abuse or witnessing the abuse of others. Our brain is wired for survival, acting like a vigilant security guard. Throughout the day, it subconsciously operates in two key modes, ensuring your safety and searching for patterns that confirms that safety, patterns that are formed from our past life events. This pattern-seeking can be incredibly helpful, but it can also backfire when it comes to trauma. Unlike ordinary memories, traumatic experiences aren't stored as clear narratives. Instead, the brain holds them as fragmented sensory details, sights, sounds, smells, touches, or tastes. This can lead the brain to misinterpret normal sensory cues as threats, triggering a cascade of responses in your mind and body. As a result, you might feel like you're reliving the traumatic event all over again. The brain has three main parts. The brainstem, the limbic region, and the prefrontal cortex. The brainstem is the oldest part of the brain. We imagine the brainstem as the command center for our most basic functions, controlling automatic responses like breathing, heart rate, and our fight-or-flight response. The limbic region evolved next, often referred to as the brain's emotional hub. This area, which includes the amygdala, often called the smoke detector of the brain, and the hippocampus, important for memory, is central to our emotions, motivations, and ability to form memories. The prefrontal cortex, developed last, is a critical area of the brain responsible for our higher-order thinking skills, including planning, problem-solving, language, and consciousness. It also plays a key role in complex tasks such as decision-making, concentration, and emotional regulation. Essentially, it's the conductor of our cognitive orchestra, allowing us to think, reflect, and make sound decisions. Trauma can leave the brain on high alert, misinterpreting minor cues as threats. This constant stress response disrupts learning and higher-order thinking, making it difficult to stay calm, reflect, and adapt. How can coaches help building a safe haven for growth? Coaches play a vital role in creating a positive and secure environment where students feel safe to explore, learn, and make mistakes. This sense of safety fosters positive emotions, which act as a reward system and motivator for constructive behavior. Positive emotions also encourage social connection and build strong bonds, creating a supportive network that empowers students to tackle future challenges. In your workbook, you've been asked to recount a time where you were triggered and how that event played out. Let's hear Emily's story. Emily recalls that at 14, tennis was her haven. Six years in, she thrived on the challenge, the dedication, the pure joy of the sport. Consistent and resilient, she embraced the hard work. But being a teenager is a juggling act, and Emily's world was starting to feel uncomfortably full. High school piled on academic pressure, training hours stretched long, and finding time for friends and family felt like another hurdle. As if that wasn't enough, puberty arrived, bringing a whirlwind of social, emotional, cognitive, and physical changes that impacted her daily life. Unsurprisingly, her energy for practice waned. Instead of support, Emily's coach resorted to a tactic that backfired spectacularly, belittlement and insults. He would make comments such as, work harder, or you're really disappointing me. These comments started affecting Emily's skills and interest in the sport, skipping practices and losing matches. For weeks, she didn't respond to her coach's verbal attacks, internalizing the comments and allowing them to become her inner voice, believing she was terrible. Until one day, she had enough and reacted to one of the verbal assaults, declaring that she hated her coach and quit tennis. The next step in our success cycle is, I notice and I calm. Sometimes we know what is triggering us, and sometimes we have no idea, but we can always count on noticing what is happening with our body. Somatic awareness involves paying attention to your body's internal signals, such as heart rate or breathing, and emotions to promote self-healing and overall well-being. It helps you understand how your body responds to situations and emotions. Somatic intelligence builds upon this awareness. It's the ability to use your understanding of your body's response to navigate challenges and adapt your behavior in positive ways. So how do we cultivate somatic intelligence? The key lies in identifying our body's responses to stress. Once we recognize physical sensations, like tension or rapid heartbeat, we can implement calming body-based practices. These practices, such as deep breathing or meditation, promote a sense of safety during stressful moments. Over time, these practices can even rewire our nervous system, creating new neural pathways that favor calm responses over reactive behavior. Let's explore the various calming techniques. Find a quiet place to sit with some space to move around because you'll need that in a minute. Breathing. Let's try the flower and candle breath. This kinesthetic deep breathing exercise can be done with real objects or visualized. By focusing on the breath, you and your students can reduce overwhelm, relax muscles, and boost positive energy. Ask your student to pretend they are holding a flower in one hand and a candle in the other. Bring the flower to your nose and inhale, smelling the flower and taking a deep breath in through the nose. Next, have the student exhale and blow out the candle in the other hand. Sighing. A sigh is a long, deep breath that's different from your normal inhale and exhale. It typically involves an extended inhalation followed by a slow, audible exhale. Let's try one now. Inhale and exhale. Touching. Touch can communicate empathy and support in a powerful way, even more so than words alone. A gentle touch on the arm or shoulder can silently say, I'm here for you, creating a sense of safety, trust, bonding, and security that can be incredibly calming. Non-contact connection. Non-contact calming techniques offer a safe and accessible way to self-regulate without requiring physical touch. These methods can activate the relaxation response, reducing stress and promoting feelings of calmness and well-being. Placing your hand over your heart. Placing a hand over your heart mimics a comforting touch, triggering calming hormones and quieting anxieties by bringing your focus to the present moment. This simple act of self-compassion promotes relaxation and inner peace. Let's try it now. Place your right hand over your heart and take a nice, deep breath in and exhale. Music. Listening to music can lower stress and promote relaxation. Trying slower tempos, typically below 80 beats per minute, with smooth, predictable melodies and simple harmonies may help the best. Although, you know what you love, so enjoy the music that you like listening to. Moving and shaking. Movement releases endorphins, reducing stress hormones and promoting relaxation. Movement also helps us focus on the body, creating a welcome distraction from overwhelming thoughts and emotions. There isn't a single best movement for dysregulation because what works best depends on the individual and the specific situation. However, here are some factors to consider when choosing a movement for dysregulation. Severity of dysregulation. For mild dysregulation, gentle activities such as a yoga pose or stretching might be appropriate. For more intense dysregulation, activities that allow for greater release of energy like jumping jacks, running or dancing may be more helpful. Personal preferences. Choose activities that you and your students enjoy and find engaging. This will make you and them more likely to stick with it and experience the benefits. A couple of unique ways to move your body are shaking and power poses. Shaking signals to the brain to calm, relax and let go. Shaking also helps our body get rid of the toxins. You are literally going to shake your body right now. It can be big or small. You can sit or stand. You can focus on something or just aim to clear your head. Don't try and control it. Just allow your body to move in whatever way feels natural and safe. At the commencement of the shake, take a deep breath and release everything before continuing on with your activity. Go ahead and take a moment and try. Power poses. Power poses are expansive body postures that involve opening up your body and taking up more space. Imagine standing tall with your hands on your hips or sitting upright with your arms stretched overhead. These types of postures are contrasted with closed off poses like hunching or slouching. My favorite pose is the Wonder Woman. Stand tall with your hands on your hips, open your chest and relax your shoulders while you hold your head high as you maintain a forward gaze. Mantras and positive self-talk. Mantras and positive self-talk share a common goal to shift your mindset and cultivate inner strength, challenge negative thoughts and replace them with affirmations that highlight your strengths. Consider which inner speech you are willing to adopt. I'm safe. Keep breathing. I can handle this. I can do it. I can do this. Or my personal favorite, I am strong. Imagine yourself back in that situation. Feel the familiar tension. Maybe it's a rapid heartbeat or your body temperature is rising. Now take a deep breath and engage the calming technique you think would have been most helpful in that moment. Can you visualize yourself feeling calmer, more in control? Repeat this process a couple of times if necessary. Practice these techniques during times of calm. It might seem counterintuitive to practice self-regulation techniques when you're already feeling calm, but there are several reasons why it can be very beneficial. Build emotional muscle memory. The more you practice them when you're feeling good, the stronger and more readily available they become when you're faced with stress or anxiety. Build positive associations, making them more effective tools when facing future stress. Reveal hidden stress triggers by letting you pay attention to thoughts and emotions that disrupt your tranquility. Enhance overall well-being contributes to a general sense of well-being and emotional resilience. Building a self-care routine makes it more likely that you'll turn to these techniques during challenging times, creating a healthy and proactive approach to managing your emotional well-being. In essence, practicing self-regulation during calmness is like preventative maintenance for your mental health. It's about building the skills and establishing positive habits that will empower you to navigate life's inevitable challenges with greater ease and resilience.