- [John] Hey, I'm John, and I'm glad you're here,
joining me for this meditation to help ease anger.
Let's start by getting into a position
that's comfortable enough that you can hold
but isn't one you'd otherwise get tired in.
Try to have an active posture, so your spine is tall
and your head is resting gently on your spine.
Close your eyes, or if you're not comfortable closing them,
let them gaze gently downward in a neutral state
and begin to take slow, deep breaths,
deeper than you've taken all day so far,
allowing each breath to begin to ease your mind,
and your body, and your heart.
(ethereal music)
Notice the journey of your breath through your body,
weaving through your cells, muscles, and joints.
And as you do, begin to take notice
that perhaps you're holding anger
in certain places of your body.
With gentleness and compassion,
take a moment to see if you can identify
any of those places now.
(ethereal music)
Begin breathing deeply into those areas
where you feel the anger sitting.
Allow each breath to gently begin to ease and release it.
Take notice of any judgements and triggers
that may want to come up.
Distractions are natural,
so instead of judging the judgment,
take a deeper breath in,
and as you breathe out,
allow the feeling to drift away gently with your breath.
(ethereal music)
Now from this space that is more still and more grounded,
see if your anger feels any different.
Oftentimes, we're angry about a particular situation
because something isn't going the way we planned.
We had an expectation that wasn't met
by ourself or someone else, and we want it to be different,
so we resist the situation
and we allow the anger to sit inside of us.
Maybe we even try to hide it or bury it,
but all of this actually only causes us more discomfort
and more unease.
The freedom from anger only comes
from acknowledging the situation as it is
and accepting that things are different
than what was expected.
So, as we move into the silent part of the meditation,
see if you can begin to open yourself up
to this acknowledgement and acceptance,
holding a space of compassion and even forgiveness
for yourself and others as you do.
(ethereal music)
Continue breathing with your eyes closed.
Just begin to allow your attention to drift back
to the room that you're in.
Take notice of how you feel now,
having spent this time taking care of yourself
and how maybe the situation looks different
than it did before.
See if you can open yourself up
to allowing the intention of compassion
to settle into your unconscious,
so that your thoughts and your actions
can be in alignment going forward.
And now, let's take three final deep breaths together,
taking a deep inhale in,
holding it for a beat, and exhaling it out.
Again, an even deeper breath than the one before,
feeling it weave in and out of your muscles and cells
and exhaling it out.
And last time, your deepest breath yet,
sending that oxygen through your entire body
and solidifying this intention in your heart.
And when you're ready, you can open your eyes.
(ethereal music)