You\u2019ve likely heard of \u201ctriggers,\u201d events or situations that stimulate sadness or some other emotional response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did you know you can also have \u201cTrigger Months,\u201d Neighbor?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many years ago, I realized that every September and October I felt uninspired, my mood seemed gloomier than normal, my thinking and creativity seemed to be lagging, and I tended to isolate myself more. The researcher in me began asking questions, and what I quickly realized was that a few of the most traumatic experiences in my life had occurred in these months, stimulating a period of intense grief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The emotional responses to the timing of these events were stored in my cellular memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the next several years, I worked on re-wiring this pattern and achieved great success, but I recently noticed a reoccurrence of this old pattern. Upon reflection, I realized that the most recent upheaval in my life\u2014a divorce that literally altered every aspect of my life: my home and state locale, job, relationships with friends and family, sense…\u2014all began unfolding over a two-year period in the months of September and October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAwareness is more than half the battle,\u201d is one of my mantras and something I tell my clients and anybody else who is interested. Loss and grief are unempowering because we seldom have a say in how those things unfold, but healing is empowering because it is a choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you shine a spotlight onto an element of your situation, you are in a position to do something about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2192 Create a monthly record. List significant loss or traumatic events that occurred in that month, regardless of the year; if it felt significant or traumatic to YOU, write it down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2192 Make a notation if you tend to feel melancholy, moody, or have a hard time staying focused as this month approaches and\/or unfolds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2192 Be mindful of any unexpected shifts in your energy, sociability, creativity or productivity that last for more than two weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2192 Make a notation in your calendar in the month BEFORE the Trigger Month(s): Trigger Month(s) Ahead. Up my self-care.<\/em> AND write a reminder at the end of your calendar year to carry over this same notation into the next calendar year. My notation is set for August 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2192 Identify the areas that tend to breakdown when you are struggling. Do you start eating all the wrong foods? Quit hydrating? Isolate? Stop exercising or moving your body? [Insert your whatever]<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2192 Begin adding or increasing activities that make you feel supported, loved, and healthy. List your desired action(s) at the TOP of your daily to-do AND to-be lists; write them on your mirror, put sticky notes on your ceiling or in your car, [insert your whatever].<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll be surprised how easy it is to transform a Trigger Month when you\u2019re aware of it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you experienced a Trigger Month(s), Neighbor? What are some of the strategies you use to keep you feeling healthy and inspired? Share with us, as you never know who might need to hear it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until next time, I see you. I feel you. I believe in you. You\u2019ve likely heard of \u201ctriggers,\u201d events or situations that stimulate sadness or some other emotional response. Did you know you can also have \u201cTrigger Months,\u201d Neighbor? Trigger months can evolve when you have emotional or traumatic events that occur around the same month in different years. Many years ago, I realized that every September and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":380112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1904,1387,1421,1903,1035],"tags":[34,1651,36,14,1402],"class_list":["post-380111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-and-healing","category-grief","category-health","category-loss","category-mental-health","tag-conflict-resolution","tag-emotional-triggers","tag-grief","tag-healing","tag-loss-grief-healing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Trigger-Months-Recognizing-Managing-Them-LinkedIn-Article-Cover-Image-1.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Annah \u2665 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"