The emotion I most often reflect upon is anger, as this seems to have so many different meanings and most often far from the deeper truth of what is felt within the body. In other words anger seems to be the “go to” most often, in place of other emotions, perhaps a little more vulnerable to express or feel.

Anger was explained to me by a shamanic teacher, as the emotion we access when we are most often sad inside. I can recall this message resonating deeply with me, as I knew I had a lot of sadness and grief within my being, however my outward response always felt so harsh (angry).

Anger tends to be a more external expression, rather than an internal feeling. Perhaps our cultural conditioning has promoted the hiding of such things as sadness, fear, or grief. This practice keeps us thinking in our heads, not with our hearts. Our heart does not feel anger, it feels lack of love, therefore has a feeling of sadness. This feeling then brings anger because we cannot control whatever is causing the sadness. Anger is quick, irrational and often leads to so many other damaging outcomes, yet this is the “go to.”

Perhaps we can view our anger as the inner-child that is simply crying for love. What love can we provide? What is the fear, grief, or sadness that we need to work with? In meditation we can understand ourselves more clearly, then we can bring the clarity into our daily practice and watch the anger melt away.

Our world needs far less anger and exponentially more space to process our sadness and grief. Having compassion for those who are angry helps us understand our inner-sadness and offer love in return.