Welcome to Meditation Tides with Michelle Sanctuary.
You are listening to When Anger is Self-Love.
Let's spend a few minutes with a feeling that many of us were taught to fear,
To swallow,
Or to apologize for.
Sometimes,
When we gently explore the source of our anger,
We discover that it arises.
From a need to protect our boundaries.
Or from the awareness.
That something needs to change.
I am Michelle and you may think of my voice as a trusted ally as you sit with whatever you're carrying right now.
As a woman and familiar with being told.
That I shouldn't express anger,
That women who are angry are too much or difficult.
When sometimes it's just an honest response.
So I swallowed it without knowing.
I softened it into a smile.
And over time,
That swallowing can start to feel like the only safe option,
Even if it costs you something real.
If any of this sounds familiar.
You're not alone.
You're not too much.
And your feelings aren't too much either.
Let's sit with this together.
To let go of the shame.
Of a human emotion.
And find a way to move through it.
Settle into a comfortable position.
You don't need to be calm to begin.
Taking a full breath through your nose.
Allowing your body to expand into the space around you.
You don't need to make yourself smaller here.
As you exhale,
Blow out the air,
Sharp and with intention.
Like you're pushing something out and away.
Again inhale to expand and find lightness.
And exhale with an intention.
To move this energy.
Give every cell in your body.
Permission to soften.
Meeting yourself with gratitude.
For making it here today.
Begin to notice where anger lives in your body and how it presents itself.
Envision it like a storm moving through you.
Sometimes storms become trapped over one place.
Unable to move on.
With every exhale.
Imagine the currents changing.
Giving the storm the ability to drift onward.
Take another breath in.
And let your next exhale carry a sound if you want it to.
A sigh.
A low growl.
Whatever wants to come out.
There's no wrong way to release this.
You are allowed to take up this space exactly as you are.
Without softening it for anyone else's comfort.
Now gently,
Ask the anger a question.
Not to make it louder and not to shut it down.
But to understand it.
Is it helping you protect something?
Boundary that was crossed.
Or maybe it's a need that went unmet again and again.
Anger took over.
Maybe it's an old hurt.
That always comes along with you.
It's volume changing.
Throughout the hours and days.
You don't need the full answer right now.
Just let the questions sit here.
Open.
Inhale once more.
This anger,
However uncomfortable.
It's not a character flaw.
Observe it without judgment.
Think of it as an inner signal.
Offering you information.
About what matters to you.
And as you observe it.
Begin to consider.
What is in your power to change?
Protect.
Or understand.
Loving yourself may not always softly land.
Sometimes it sounds like anger.
Arriving before peace does.
Insisting on being heard.
As you exhale.
Feel the intensity begin to loosen its grip ever so slightly at first.
Maybe not completely gone.
Not silenced.
Just no longer running the show.
Can feel anger fully.
And still choose what happens next.
Your feelings are valid.
The next move is still yours.
Take one final breath in.
And let it out slow and easy.
Feel your shoulders drop.
As your jaw softens.
Whenever you're ready,
Open your eyes.
And carry this with you today.
Your anger is not the absence of love.
Sometimes it's love.
Taking the form of self-care.
