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.
Allow your eyes to close.
Breathe deeply into the abdomen.
Feel the chest and stomach fill with air and exhale slowly.
Inhale expands the belly,
The rib cage all the way up to the collarbones.
When you exhale,
Make an effort to empty the lungs completely.
Allow yourself to just be here breathing deeply.
Bring to mind something that is causing anger.
If you are new to this practice,
It can be helpful to work with something that is mildly frustrating.
The feeling of full-on rage may be too overwhelming.
Know that you are feeling anger.
Do not try to rid yourself of it,
Talk yourself out of it,
Or pretend it's not there.
Breathe deeply into the belly.
Feel the chest and stomach fill with air and exhale slowly.
Inhale a full breath in.
And exhale and empty the lungs completely.
As you tune into the rising anger in your mind.
Allow yourself to feel what is happening in your body.
Notice the sensations that indicate anger.
You may feel a tension in the shoulders.
A change in your breath,
Perhaps a little bit shallower.
A pit in the stomach.
Or a number of other changes in the body.
Tend to each experience in the body with compassionate awareness.
Recognize the tension by noting tension.
And staying with the experience for a few breaths.
Then open your awareness and see what else is occurring in the body.
Recognize it.
Note what it is and stay with the experience for a few breaths.
And then moving on to the next experience in the body.
Recognizing it for what it is and staying with it for a few breaths.
Allow yourself one last opportunity to notice what else is occurring in the body.
Tending to that experience with compassionate awareness.
And staying with it for two more full cycles of breath.
And then begin to allow that awareness to switch to the mind.
Ask yourself what may be underneath the anger or causing it.
There may be feelings of pain,
Betrayal,
Wanting to control something.
Or some perceived lack of safety.
If you cannot find something at first,
Patiently wait to see if anything comes up.
When you do notice something underneath the anger,
Name it.
If you find that you are hurt,
Note hurt.
And then allow yourself to respond with a phrase of compassion,
Such as,
May I learn to care about this pain?
May I learn to care about this pain.
And then just like before,
Stay with that for a few breaths.
And then allow yourself to notice anything else that comes up.
Something underneath the anger.
And then once again,
Name it.
And respond with a phrase of compassion.
And then allow yourself one more opportunity to see perhaps what's in the mind around anger.
There may be something there.
There may not be something there.
If there's still something there,
Allow yourself again,
The opportunity to name it.
And respond with a phrase of compassion.
And then allow yourself two more full cycles of breath.
And allow yourself a moment to notice what you noticed.
Notice what you noticed in the physical body.
What you found underneath the anger.
How it felt to try to respond with compassion.
This practice offers a way to deal with anger when you're right in the midst of it.
Or even to reflect afterwards.
As you move forward when you notice anger,
Frustration,
Or irritation rising.
Allow your eyes to close.
Know that you are feeling anger,
Frustration,
Or irritation.
Do not try to rid yourself of it,
Talk yourself out of it,
Or pretend it's not there.
As humans,
We will continue to experience anger,
Frustration,
Irritation.
When we allow ourselves the opportunity to sit with it,
To be with it.
We're able to see it with wisdom and patience.
Creating space and responding to anger,
Frustration,
Or irritation with compassionate awareness.
We build resiliency and adjust our response.
