From Shampinyana,
I'm Colleen Thomas.
This is Everyday Magic for Ukraine.
Today we create room for anger.
Welcome to the circle.
I will leave it up to you today to decide what kind of object you might like to hold or think about during the meditation.
Since we'll be working with anger,
It's possible that something like a stone might be useful to hold on to,
Perhaps to move some of your energy into.
It could also be something that you're okay breaking,
Like an old plate or something you've been meaning to get rid of.
So see what comes to mind.
We're going to go through a little process of waking up the body next.
And as we do that,
I invite you to consider and notice,
What is your relationship with anger?
Is it something you feel comfortable expressing?
It moves through you and then it's gone.
Is it something maybe that is scary for you to express?
Just notice what's your tendency with it.
Notice even if you're interested in working on it today.
We are going to focus on it.
You can take today off if you don't want to listen.
That's totally fine.
So make the choice that's right for you.
And to wake up the body,
You probably are going to guess I'm going to suggest maybe a little shaking or movement or stretching.
So notice what might feel good and just gently,
Gently saying hello to your body.
You might do a little breathing and maybe some shaking and shake whatever parts of your body are okay with shaking.
You can shake off the stress of the day like a dog.
It's a lot of stress,
A lot of stress sometimes.
You can do some gentle stretching.
Just be very gentle with your body.
Maybe swinging your arms or your legs to kind of wake up your chi,
Wake up your energy.
And breathing,
Just breathing.
Now notice if you've decided,
If you feel like you want to continue on.
And if you do want to continue on,
We're going to explore,
Gently explore any anger we might be feeling in our bodies today.
So you can keep moving,
Keep breathing,
Especially if you are maybe somebody who holds anger tight,
Tight,
Tight.
Moving and breathing might be a gentle way to kind of open your body as we do this process.
And the invitation is to grab your object.
We said maybe a rock or maybe something that you're wanting to smash.
Could be anything,
It could be nothing.
But if you'd like to have a thing,
Maybe hold that thing as we do this work and see if your energy,
Your anger might want to move into this object.
So I don't have an object,
But I'm going to imagine an object in my hands.
And if there's something that you are angry about right now,
Maybe bring that to mind.
And if there's nothing you're angry about right now,
Maybe something you were recently angry about or something that wakens up that energy in you of,
No,
This is not okay,
Right?
I'm sure there's lots of things you can think of like that.
So bringing that to mind and feeling how it feels in your body.
Just actually noticing,
Slowing down,
Noticing what's happening to the body as these feelings come up.
Do you feel certain muscles tightening?
Do you feel an urge to move,
An impulse to move in a certain way?
Just slowing the process down and really noticing.
A lot of the time when we get angry,
We're angry and that's all we are.
We're not angry and noticing how we feel,
Right?
So use this time as like a lab,
As like practice to notice what is happening when I'm angry.
What is my body doing?
How is my body supporting this emotion?
What does my body want to accomplish or do?
What are the muscles firing and gearing up to do?
Is it a punching?
Is it a hitting?
Is it a pushing?
Like what is the impulse?
And remembering to breathe.
If this is too much at any time,
You can stop.
You can shake it off.
You can walk around the room.
You can get some water.
You can do whatever you need to to re-regulate yourself.
Definitely turn off the podcast if you want to.
Just take care of yourself in this practice.
And so now if you have an object,
What would it be like to move this particular energy,
This particular anger into this object?
You can let this object absorb it from you.
You can even do this with a pretend object like me.
I don't have an object.
Just pretending and imagining I have one in my hands and I'm letting the anger drain.
Actually it's working.
It's interesting.
It's draining from my hands into this object and my body is starting to feel calmer.
I'm curious what is happening for you.
Just be with the process and let it happen.
And if you have transferred the energy now into your object,
I invite you to maybe set the object down,
Disconnect from it,
Pull your hands away and maybe shake out your hands.
Maybe shake your body a little bit.
And maybe take a second to connect with your heart.
You might think of someone you really love to activate that heart source.
Picture them in your mind's eye.
Someone you really,
Really love.
Someone who loves you unconditionally.
Just see them looking at you.
This could be a person.
This could be an animal.
Just see them looking at you and allow your heart to begin to wake up and allow that heart energy to flow into your whole body and your energy body too.
Flowing into and filling you up,
Filling up any space that might be left over,
Might be empty from that anger having left your body.
So we released that anger and we're inviting the heart,
The open heart love energy to flow into that space now.
And now I invite you to begin to transition back just very gently back into your room,
Your space,
The space you're in.
Maybe let your eyes open.
Maybe have a soft focus.
Just notice the sights and the sounds,
The smells,
And you might see the object sitting in front of you if you used one that you put your anger into.
And I would love to invite you to use your intuition to know what to do with this.
If it is something that you can let go of or smash,
Maybe find a safe way to do that.
The work we're doing today is to identify that anger and notice how our body feels when we're in the angry mode and then to let it move out.
So now it's moved out into this object and then where does the object need to go?
See what feels right to you.
May we always remember to honor our anger and to allow it to flow in healthy ways.
May it be so.
Thank you so much for being with us today.
Your presence,
Your energy,
And your heart make all the difference in healing our world.
Remember to breathe today.
Breathe and expand.
And I hope you join us again next time.
Please consider inviting a friend.
