Hello,
I'm Sam,
And this is a meditation designed to identify the source of your anger and to calm you enough to help you deal with these emotions in a clearer and more effective way.
We'll start by calming your body.
I want you to assume a comfortable position.
Maybe sitting up with a straight spine,
Maybe lying down,
Maybe lean back in your chair.
Whatever is comfortable.
Let's do a quick relaxing body scan.
Start by relaxing your scalp,
Then your forehead,
Your ears,
Nose,
Eyes,
Jaw,
Down to your neck,
Under your shoulders,
Down your arms,
To your wrists and fingers.
Next,
Relax your chest and your upper back.
You're going down your abdomen,
Along your sides,
Your solar plexus,
Your belly button,
Your lower back,
Hips,
And pelvis.
Down to your thighs,
Your knees,
Your calves,
Ankles,
Feet,
And finally down to your toes.
Let's just sit in this relaxed state,
With all the tension and stress flowing off of our sphere of influence,
Like water down the window pane.
I want you to imagine that you are floating in the middle of a wide river.
The temperature is perfect.
The shore is far away,
But you know you could easily get back to it whenever you want to.
You are floating along in this river,
With your chest slightly pointed upwards,
Your hands in face catching the radiant sunlight coming from above.
The water is just deep enough to keep you fairly upright without dragging,
But you know you could stand at any time.
The river is moving,
But not urgently.
There are no rapids or bends,
And there are no rocks below,
Only smooth,
Soft pebbles and sand.
You are floating in this river,
Gently carried along with the sands of time.
For all intents and purposes,
You are the river.
Right now you are probably feeling some powerful emotions.
Maybe anger,
Frustration,
Bitterness,
Rage.
Contrary to what we are often led to believe,
These are all perfectly acceptable to feel.
You are not bad or wrong to feel these things.
These thoughts pop into our head as a means of coping with the outside world.
The issue becomes how we deal with them.
We cannot control the thoughts and actions of others.
Oftentimes people are going to treat you poorly for no reason at all.
Oftentimes things are not going to go your way,
Even if you truly deserve to have them do so.
We cannot control this.
The only thing we can control is our energy and our response.
Despite being natural and possibly instinctive,
An angry response only hurts you.
This might be the hardest lesson to learn,
So it is understandable to have a hard time with it.
We all do,
To some degree or another.
In truth,
Though,
That burning coal inside of you only burns you and those you care about.
Enemies,
Perceived enemies,
Annoyances,
Obstacles,
All of these will forget about you and your reactions as quickly as they can without even trying.
You are stuck with your anger,
Your frustration,
Or just that innate feeling of wrongness and unfairness.
The trick is to respond when you are angry,
Not react.
And that's why we breathe.
It gives us time to look at the situation and calmly diffuse the triggers,
Beliefs,
And negativity that indirectly lead to our anger.
We have all heard of the take ten breaths concept,
And that is well and good if you understand why you are doing it.
The idea isn't just to take a break from the situation,
Although that is important.
The idea is also to take a quick look inward at yourself,
To give yourself the chance to ask yourself,
Why does this make me upset?
What about this situation is making me angry?
How much of this is actually coming from this situation,
And how much of this is coming from me?
Now no part of this is assigning any blame or judgment.
It is a matter of fact analysis of what is actually going on in your brain as it is happening.
It is muting your angry response and taking control of your ability to react,
Hopefully calmly and kindly.
If that's just not possible,
Then maybe just gently assertively.
So with all this in mind,
Let's breathe deeply.
Examine your breath as it comes in and out.
Pick something that calls to you.
Maybe it's the rise and fall of your chest,
Or the tickle of air at the tip of your nose.
Maybe it's the way your arms slightly bow outwards at the elbow as you breathe.
Focus on that one aspect and breathe at your pace as deeply as you can while staying comfortable.
Let's practice.
I want you to try and think about your anger in terms of the triggers,
Buttons,
And feelings behind the anger and float downstream.
As these memories or thoughts appear,
Look at them,
Analyze them for a moment,
Then let them go.
See these thoughts as waves or branches floating along.
Maybe see them as a water bug or a bird taking off from the shore.
See them come.
Let them in.
Feel them swirl around your body.
Let them drift and watch them go.
You are just the river.
You're floating along one moment at a time,
Feeling the sunshine on your face and the smooth currents underneath your limbs.
Stay in this place for a few minutes.
Now watch the time and don't forget to breathe.
I know.
You You You You You try to relax breathe and let it go You Take as much time as you need Nothing is more important than right now When you do come back don't react respond Musical play for a little bit longer a great day You You
