Dealing with anger mindfully takes effort and practice. Anger is a complex emotion that can serve to protect us from harm or motivate us to set appropriate limits, create healthy boundaries, or create change in our lives.
However, if we hold onto anger without expressing it and releasing it, it can negatively affect our health. Through meditation, we can practice feeling it, finding healthy ways to express it, and then let it go.
The mind in which anger arises is also the mind that holds it, hides it, fans it, justifies it, or suppresses it. That’s why this first step is crucial–before we can understand, befriend, tame, and transform our anger, we have to recognize it clearly and acknowledge it frankly. This is no small task. —Ron Leifer
Mindfulness is awareness of the present moment with kindness and curiosity. When we practice mindfulness, we practice meeting all of our experience with this attitude. A mindful approach to anger allows us to meet anger with kindness and curiosity.
When we attend to anger with curiosity and compassion, we more completely embrace the wholeness of our human experience. What small step can you take today to recognize and acknowledge anger and meet it with kindness and curiosity?