Have you ever found yourself mid-snap, mid-sob, or mid-shutdown... and wondered, what the hell just happened?

One minute you're fine.
Next, you're spiralling.

Maybe it’s a tone of voice, a look, a message left on “seen,” a picture on socials...
And boom. You're gone. Spinning in shame, panic, fury, grief, self-doubt, or overwhelm.

Hijacked.

This is emotional hijacking, and it’s far more common (and more human) than we realise.

This Isn’t Just “Overreacting.”

It’s your body doing its best to protect you.

Emotional hijacking happens when something in the present touches something from the past. An unhealed wound, a buried memory, some old pain, or a feeling you never had the tools to process at the time.

Your body remembers what your mind might not.
And when it senses danger, it acts fast.
Before your thinking brain can say, “Hang on a second,” your survival system has already slammed the red panic button.

This is why you can feel like a calm, capable adult…
but in certain moments, suddenly feel like a scared little kid.

What Emotional Hijacking Can Look Like

• You rage over small things (and then feel ashamed)
• You collapse into helplessness, anxiety, or people-pleasing
• You avoid, numb out, ghost, or dissociate
• You become hypervigilant, obsessive, or desperate to “fix it”
• You turn on yourself with harsh self-talk
• You freeze up, panic, feel intense sensations in the body

None of this means there’s anything wrong with you.
It just means your system is activated.

And maybe no one ever taught you how to be with big feelings, or how to move through them in ways that actually feel safe and healthy.

Why This Happens

We live in a world that treats emotions like a problem.
Too much. Too messy. Too inconvenient. Too weak. Too dramatic.

No wonder so many of us carry shame around how we feel.

We’re taught to think our way out of pain or discomfort.
To suppress it. Medicate it. Shame it. Ignore it. Avoid it.
But emotions that aren't felt and integrated don't just vanish.
They get stored up in the body.

And when the system is full, even the smallest trigger can tip it over.
A tone. A delay. A look.
Suddenly, your inner world explodes.

This isn’t a personal flaw.
It’s biology.
It’s a nervous system under pressure.
It’s trauma and old pain asking to be seen, felt, and released.

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From Hijacked to Healed

The real revolution begins here.
Not by controlling your emotions, but by understanding and working with them.

When you learn to stay with yourself, skilfully and compassionately, through a wave of emotion...
Without judging, fixing, avoiding, or abandoning...
You become emotionally sovereign.

What Is Emotional Sovereignty?

It’s the ability to feel what you feel without being taken over by it.
To respond with wisdom rather than react from fear.
To take responsibility for your inner state instead of handing your power to others.

Emotionally sovereign people:

• Take ownership of their emotions
• Know that while feelings arise, reactions are a choice
• Use their emotions as fuel for growth, connection, and resilience
• Stay self-aware and steady under pressure

This doesn’t mean numbing out or bypassing how you feel.
It means becoming strong enough to feel it all and still stay present, kind, and clear.

This is emotional mastery.
Not control, but capacity.
Not perfection, but presence.

It’s like developing a dual awareness.
Yes, this is intense... and I can hold myself through it.

If you are someone who gets emotionally hijacked, this inner work changes everything.

You Are Not Your Reaction

You are not your worst moment.
You are not your trauma response.
You are not the panic, the shutdown, or the shame spiral.

You are the one learning to hold it all with tenderness and truth.

And that kind of strength can change your life, your health, your relationships, family, community, and your future.

So What Do You Do When You Feel Hijacked?

When big emotions, reactivity, and overwhelm take over, it can feel like life is out of your hands.
Unpredictable. Exhausting. Too much.

But it doesn’t have to stay this way.

You can learn to feel stable, calm, and confident, even in moments that once left you reeling.

 HAVE YOU GOT THE ULTIMATE TRAUMA THERAPY CHECKLIST YET??--

Where the Healing Begins

The first step is building your emotional strength, clarity, and skill.

This is the work I do with clients in my private, one-on-one, online sessions.

Together, we gently process the emotional baggage and old patterns that keep hijacking your peace.

(They’ll keep showing up in your “now” until you do.)

We clear those emotional ghosties 👻
So you can feel everything and still have the freedom to grow, expand, choose, and move forward in your life.

Because when your reactions don’t make sense in the present,
it’s usually your past asking for healing.

You Can Feel It All - Without Losing It!

DM me to book a session.
Let’s help you build the emotional sovereignty, resilience, and peace you deserve.

The goal isn’t to feel less.
It’s to feel it all, and stay steady through it.
That’s true emotional strength and power.

Written by Justine Lloyd
Embodied Processing Practitioner

You can find her work on Facebook and Substack: 

https://www.facebook.com/Justine.somatichealing

https://justinelloyd.substack.com/

Or email directly to book sessions:  [email protected] 

More info on the Embodied Processing Practitioner Training here