Unhooking from Reactivity, Spring 2026

Week 4: May 29, 2026

Home practices:

Affectionate Breathing
False Refuge

Relapse Cycle (example, pdf)
Relapse Cycle (blank, pdf)

Compassion poem, by Miller Williams

What influences us being triggered?

What makes us more or less vulnerable to being hooked? Some common factors are:

general stress level
exhaustion
loneliness
lack of social support.

The acronym HALT (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired) from the 12-step tradition can be a helpful way to remember these factors influencing vulnerability. These are common experiences that will continue to arise in our lives. Recognizing them as warning signs can remind us to take better care of ourselves and alert us to our increased vulnerability to triggers during these times. It can be helpful to check in when feeling triggered (“Am I hungry? Sad? Lonely? Anxious?”) as a way to understand our reaction to a trigger and to identify what we need to do to best take care of ourselves (“What is it I really need right now?”).