Holding Anger With Kindness

Hi, and welcome to this meditation on holding our anger with love and kindness. Living and existing in this world as we are, there's a lot to be angry about, but if we allow our anger to consume us we can lose sight of our sense of connection with those around us. Loving kindness is a practice of compassion for ourselves and for others, where we're cultivating feelings of kindness and care and offering them as a way to create a sense of connection. When we experience an intense emotion like anger, if we can take a moment to be with the enormity of its presence, we're likely to react in a way that we'll regret. Anger holds information about us in relation to others and despite what we've been told, experiencing anger isn't bad. But what we decide to do with this anger is what matters most. Anger can teach us about our needs, what we value and the importance of boundaries. So in this practice, we're invited to transform our anger with kindness and we aren't invalidating our anger, adding love on top to avoid or ignore how we're truly feeling. But we're learning how to hold anger in a way that won't burn us. Settling in, you can be sitting upright, or lying down, whatever feels right for you in this moment. And we'll begin with the eyes open to a soft and gentle gaze, just taking in our surroundings, noticing our space, and creating that sense of safety wherever you are. And now, taking a few deep breaths. Inhaling in through the nose, and exhaling out through the mouth. On the next exhale, you can continue to keep the eyes open, or close them, whatever feels right for you. And now just noticing the body, noticing the slight curve or bend in your spine, your feet connecting to the floor, and feeling that gentle pressure or contact with the surface beneath you. And now just noticing the breath. Noticing its natural rhythm, as you draw the breath in and breathe out. And now bringing to mind a place that you love. A place that makes you feel love, safe and at peace. Maybe you've been there before, or it's a place you've been dreaming to explore. And as you continue to breathe, allowing those feelings to expand and grow with each in breath and each out breath, connecting to those feelings of maybe warmth, happiness, ease and joy. And now offering these feelings of tenderness and warmth to yourself. Repeating these three phrases. May I be safe. May I be peaceful. And may I be at ease. And just continuing to breathe, remembering those feelings and just allowing them to expand. And when the mind begins to wander, that's okay. Just gently guiding it back to this moment, back to those feelings of warmth and love. And now bring to mind someone that you're in conflict with, and just noticing how the body responds. And again,...