Welcome to the meditation designed to help you unpack your anger.
I'm Dr.
Dauten of Playfully Psyched.
Thank you for joining.
As you begin this meditation,
Please bring gentle awareness to the event or the experience that led you to choose this meditation.
Be aware of how your belly,
Chest,
And head each feel as you reflect on this event.
Bring awareness to the emotions that you associate with these visceral feelings.
Notice the positive and negative impact of any stories that you have created and now believe regarding this event.
Take note that many others may feel similarly or differently about this event.
We want to think of this meditation as a way to cool the fire of the anger,
But also to unpack it.
Anger is one of our emotions that we often don't realize is hiding other emotions that we have already deemed to be more vulnerable or weak.
Anger is an emotion that may consume you completely,
Causing you to act in ways that are harmful or unproductive.
When anger arises,
The mind can fall victim to harsh thoughts,
Judgments,
And obsessions.
By creating space and responding to your anger with compassionate awareness,
You can build resiliency and adjust your anger response.
You can also build the opportunity to find what other emotions you're experiencing in that moment.
This meditation offers a way to deal with anger,
Unpack it,
When you're right in the midst of it.
When you notice anger,
Frustration,
Or irritation arising,
Allow the eyes to close.
Know that you are feeling anger.
Don't try to rid yourself of it,
Talk yourself out of it,
Or pretend it's not there.
Breathe deeply into the abdomen,
Fill the chest and the belly with air,
And exhale slowly.
When you exhale,
Make an effort to really empty the lungs.
Breathe deeply for a few minutes,
Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth.
Breathing in and out,
Inhaling through the mouth,
Exhaling through the mouth.
Continue breathing,
Bring the mind to the situation that's causing your anger.
Think of the situation while you breathe.
As you tune into the rising anger in the mind,
Allow yourself to feel what is happening in the body.
Notice sensations that for you indicate anger.
You may feel tension in the shoulders,
Shallow breathing trying to arise,
A pit in your stomach,
Tingling in your hands or your feet,
Or any number of other changes in your body.
Notice each experience in the body and tend to it with compassionate awareness.
Recognize the tension by noting this is tension.
Stay with the experience for a few breaths.
Open your awareness and see what else is occurring in the body.
Stay here for a few moments,
Seeing what you notice as anger is building.
What's happening?
Where do you feel it in your body?
Does your face tingle?
Do your ears get warm?
Does your head start to hurt?
Are you starting to feel uncomfortable in places in your body?
How do your legs feel?
Just notice.
Now that you've had a few moments to focus on the anger in your body,
I want you to switch your awareness to the mind.
Ask yourself what may be underneath the anger?
What's causing it?
Feelings of pain,
Betrayal,
Isolation,
Rejection,
Wanting to control something,
A perceived lack of safety.
This may take a moment.
Patiently wait to see what comes up for you.
When you notice something comes up,
Name it.
If you find that it is rejection,
Note rejected.
Respond with the phrase of compassion.
Maybe this is,
May I learn to care about this pain?
May I learn to care about this rejection?
Sit with it for a second.
You're going to start to end with a few more deep breaths.
Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth.
As this meditation comes to a close,
I invite you to finish this practice with a journal entry.
Write what you noticed in the body,
What you found underneath that anger,
And how it felt to try to respond with compassion.
As you continue to experience anger,
May you find yourself able to see it with wisdom and patience.
May you allow yourself to unpack it and attend to the underlying emotion and let you take that into your day.
