Listen To The Wisdom Of Anger

Rather than trying to tame or quiet your anger, what if it had something important to tell you? This guided meditation invites you to listen to your anger, to feel it in your body, and to explore what wisdom it might have for you. If it's helpful, listen with a journal by your side.

Transcript

Welcome to this guided meditation for working with,

Not against,

Your anger.

This is not a meditation for taming,

Suppressing,

Ignoring,

Or even necessarily solving your anger.

We are here to listen to its wisdom.

Anger can be a difficult emotion,

And we don't always get useful guidance on what to do when anger comes up.

Many of us have learned it's not okay to feel or even express our anger.

But anger is an important core emotion that is there to protect our self,

And provides important keys for helping us locate and communicate our needs and boundaries,

Especially when anger comes up in intimate relationships.

The first thing we must do with anger is slow down,

And listen to it.

Rather than react right away,

Let's take some time to understand what anger is trying to tell us.

I recommend making sure you have the time to sit with this whole meditation.

You may also like to have a self-care plan for afterwards,

If you find some big emotions coming up.

It's likely that completing this meditation will help calm those,

But it's a good idea to have some gentleness in your plan for the rest of the day.

If at any point this meditation feels like a little too much,

Feel free to open your eyes,

Look around the room,

Take a few breaths,

And just come back to yourself.

It's also completely fine to pause this meditation if you need more time for contemplation as we go.

If you haven't already,

Find a comfortable position for this meditation.

Seated or laying down is just fine.

Close your eyes if that's helpful,

And tap into your breath.

You may like to take a few deep breaths,

Or simply notice what your breath is doing on its own.

If your body has certain movements it wants to make,

Stretching,

Rolling the shoulders,

Maybe clenching the fists,

Just go ahead and make whatever movements feel natural.

Let stillness come on its own time.

Before we begin to tap into our anger,

It may be helpful to have an ally to help us have this conversation.

Begin to invite a compassionate,

Loving part of you.

This is the part that chose to be here in this meditation,

To listen to your anger and understand it.

This is the part that has care and compassion for yourself and others,

And wants the best for you and the world.

Invite this part to help you have a loving conversation with anger.

Now let's begin to tap into our anger.

Since you're here,

I imagine it's already present.

Invite it anyway.

Set the intention to listen to your anger,

Not to tame it or make it go away,

But to give it space.

Notice what you are feeling in your body as you focus on your anger.

Where do you feel it specifically?

What does it feel like?

Can you describe what the sensation of anger feels like?

Does it have a shape,

A texture?

Maybe there's an image associated with it.

Imagine giving it some room.

Notice if you stop breathing or breathe more shallowly,

Try to consciously continue to breathe with the sensations that you feel.

Sometimes the sensation has a need or a desire,

Like to block something,

To tighten and protect,

Or to rise up and out of the mouth.

If you're noticing a body movement,

A sound,

Or a word that needs to come out,

Go ahead and allow that.

If you feel your body posture changing,

For example to curl up into a ball or puff up your chest,

Exaggerate that posture a little bit.

Allow it.

Remember,

You're not acting on our anger right now,

Not yet.

We're here to listen and understand,

Not to change how we feel or to react right away.

Now that you're getting a picture of your anger,

Notice how you are feeling towards it.

You may want to push it away,

Hide it,

Draw it closer,

React with it.

All of those feelings are okay,

But let's remember that compassionate part of you and our intention to listen openly to what anger needs to say.

When you're ready,

Go ahead and ask anger,

The sensation in your body.

If it could speak,

What would it say?

Check in again with your breath.

Keep breathing.

It's okay to make sounds or to speak aloud what the anger might want to say.

90% of the time anger is here to express a need that is not being met or a boundary that has been crossed.

Ask your anger if that's what's happening here.

What need is not being met?

What boundary has been crossed?

As we talk with your anger,

Notice if it is changing.

Sometimes the feeling around our anger softens or shifts when we're able to take the time to really listen to what it has to say.

Sometimes when we tap into what we think is anger,

We actually find sadness or hurt.

Give that some room if that's happening to you.

Sometimes we're angry about something that happened in the past,

That we can't change,

We can't do anything about it.

Just allow yourself to have your feelings about that as well.

If you noticed a need that's not being met or a boundary that has been crossed,

Take a moment to think further about that.

Is this a need or a preference?

Is there something you can do yourself to help meet this need?

Or do you need someone else's help?

What would it be like to gently communicate your need,

While taking responsibility for your feelings and needs,

And not expecting the other person to understand it,

Feel the same way,

Or have an easy time helping you meet your need?

You may feel an immediate urge to do something about your anger.

That's part of the magic of anger.

It wants change,

And it doesn't care who gets hurt in the process.

Slow down.

You may like to promise your anger that you will take action,

But only once you can do so in a way that's safe for you and everyone around you,

In the service of healthy change.

You may be in a situation where your anger can't be worked through with someone else.

It may not be intimate anger.

Perhaps it's the anger of injustice.

Maybe it's from a situation that has long passed,

Or even about someone who has passed away who you can no longer communicate with.

If this is the case for you,

Ask your anger what it wants you to know about you.

What values are becoming clear for you as you sit with your anger?

What lessons are you learning about yourself or about the world as you allow this anger to speak to you?

Remember your compassionate,

Loving self.

What would compassion say to this angry part of you?

What would compassion say to you about moving forward in your life,

Having heard what your anger needed to say?

Come back to your breath.

Notice how you're feeling in your body now.

Notice if the sensations around your anger have changed at all.

It's okay if they have or haven't.

Just notice.

Before we close,

Take a moment to think of one thing you can do to support yourself today.

Remember,

Your anger may want action,

But you don't need to do anything about it until you feel you can act safely for yourself and everyone around you.

Congratulate yourself for doing the brave work of sitting with your anger.

Thank your compassionate self that helped you to have this conversation.

Take as much time as you need here.

Take good care of yourself today.

Thank you for listening.

Reviews

A helpful way to be with my anger and listen to it’s wisdom. Thank you 🙏

As soon as I could name what need was not being met, my anger softened. Thank you so much for this 🙏🏽

What a good meditation and way to see what anger needs to say. Thank you🙏💫✨

That was amazing. Thank you.