@Phoenix_Rising. Wow. You really know how your body and mind work.
It reminds me of what my psychologist said to me about the future of my mental health.
He said - because I have been 'triggered' before & that led to PTSD - that I am more sensitive to being triggered to that extreme again - & likely by something not as 'intense' as last time.
He explained that my body will react first (just as you said) - on a cellular level. So my heart will race - my muscles tense up - my feeling of not being able to breath etc etc.
But that when this happens - I need to instantly remind myself - that this is a cellularreaction only. And that I can pprevent this from becoming an emotional and overwhelming and possibly PTSD trigger. And to do this.
*I acknowledge that this is my body's natural reaction
*acknowledge that only my body is affected
*breathe and relax - focusing on my breathing for as long as it takes for my body to 'stop' it's reaction
*once the physical symptoms have gone - getting on with my day.
*only later -maybe a day or two - do I go backand rreflect on what occurred.
You wrote similar - but in a more elegant way.
I guess it all means - our body's - our cells have memories. So they will be the first to respond to a 'trigger'. But we can shut that process down.
@Zoe7 I hope this is something that you will learn more of with your psychologist. As with everything - it just takes practice.
I hope you had a good long sleep.