Beyond Anger To Healing

By Diana Harris | Guest Writer 

While meditating last night upon the pandemic of hate/anger in our country, this message came to me. What emerged was a pathway to dealing with anger and a reminder of our Divine Potential.

We are beginning to see what our anger can do to relationships and, even more so, to ourselves. This feeling/seeing/knowing is for our personal development and understanding of energy and responsibility. Believe it or not – our increasing awareness is good, albeit sometimes uncomfortable. Learning to know ourselves is necessary to humanity’s evolutionary progress. If we slow down, we can feel the emotions/beliefs we hold in our bodies. Our emotions/beliefs can heal when we feel and acknowledge them.

Anger can be insidious if left unchecked. It demands your life force energy and feeds off it. Some people allow their anger to become their identity, so they constantly look for excuses to justify their rage or someone/something to direct their anger to. They wear their anger like a badge. It helps the holder to feel special, and it masks their role & responsibility in the drama. Anger, out of balance, can blind us to truths. It also can keep us in a cycle of denial, feelings of entitlement, or victimhood. These unattended thoughts disrupt our natural flow and block our good.

Science has proven that unhealed anger and other repressed emotions can significantly diminish our health. They can cause illness. Anger and hate short-circuit the connection to our Hearts Wisdom, our clarity, and our life force energy. Anger allowed to fester becomes a noxious weed in the Garden of our Lives. Our society does not teach us to deal with emotions in a healthy manner. We learn to deny/suppress the less than pretty feelings. This practice has not served humanity well. All emotions, including anger, serve as a barometer. Our feelings let us know where we are in our beliefs and thoughts. They let us know the direction that we are heading. Anger is a secondary emotion. There are other emotions at the core of it. Helplessness, shame, hopelessness, fear, and jealousy are examples of core emotions. If allowed to remain unaddressed, they can erupt into something destructive to others and ourselves.

I offer some steps to help us to understand and navigate our anger more effectively:

• Checking in with yourself is an essential first step. How did you feel before you got angry? (tired, irritable, hungry, happy, etc.) This practice helps you take a step back from the intensity and process your feelings.
• Ask yourself if your assessment of the situation is accurate. To gage this, ask yourself:
• Why am I angry? Be specific.
• Did I do anything to contribute to the issue in words or deeds?
• Is there another way for me to look at this situation?
• Am I operating with all the information that I require to make a decision? Do I need to ask more questions?
• What emotions did this event/person trigger? Does that emotion have some history?
• Is fatigue, other stress, hunger, etc., colouring my anger? Would I feel differently if I took the time to sleep on it or walk it off?
• Were my principles violated or values attacked?
• Is this part of a larger pattern of behavior? Mine and the other persons?

Sometimes it helps to write out your answers and anything else you feel. This practice releases the energy from your body. Writing it out can help us go deeper to get to the issue’s root. This process provides a path to a clearer understanding of ourselves. It helps us cultivate empathy because we learn to honour, listen, and feel ourselves. This space is hallowed ground. Cultivating compassion toward ourselves carries forward into our lives and our relationships. The quality of our lives and relationships improve.

 I offer this visualization as another tool:

Close your eyes for a moment. Breathe deeply and steadily. Relax into your body. In your mind’s eye, envision your life as a garden – do you see/feel mostly greenery, flowers, brambles, weeds, or a mixture? What are the colours, what is the landscape, and what feelings arise? Observe and note these. They are present-day indicators of the state of your Heart and mind – your inner landscape. Allow the garden or landscape to take shape without interference from your mind. Whatever images you see serve as helpers. Your visualization is not a place of judgment. Accept what you see as a path to greater self-awareness and power. Weeds (dandelions not included) in the landscape may indicate disruptive emotions like anger in the Garden of your Life. Brambles could represent tangled or deeply seated feelings. Remember to view the scene as a whole. Is it cold or warm? Sunny, overcast, or dark? Breezy, windy, or calm? All have significance. Your senses are registering more than you know. Trust the wisdom of your Heart to help you to understand. Feel into its wisdom.

Try this visualization more than once. You may find it a helpful resource in your spiritual toolkit with practice.

Anger is neither positive nor negative, but it does serve a purpose. It shows us through our discomfort what needs to change. It is human nature to look for the reason or/and what needs to change outside of ourselves. I suggest that we start from within ourselves. Our anger may be asking us to review our beliefs and thoughts. There may be some that no longer support our aspirations or personal growth. The review process is an empowering first step. If there are other variables to consider or address – you will approach them with greater self-awareness and grounded presence. Lasting change is an inside job.  As you navigate this process, please forgive whatever shadows you discover within yourself. Forgiveness and healing work together. Forgive the other people involved, as well. Forgiveness is a process. Be patient. This work reminds me that each of us has the power to recreate our lives by pruning and cultivating our inner landscape. If each of us did this – our world would undergo massive healing. In truth, our grievances are smaller than our Potential. When we open our Hearts – we give our Potential space to bloom.  Each of us will come to realize that we never left the Garden. We have simply forgotten it was right there in our Hearts.

With Love and Deep Respect for our Journey!

Originally published at DianaHarris.net and reproduced here with permission.

About the Author

Diana Harris is a nationally recognized intuitive counsellor, holistic healer, medium, and educator. Spending 20+ years honing her abilities, Diana is frequently sought after for the accuracy of her intuitive and mediumship services and dynamic workshops. Mixing compassion and humour with her abilities, Ms. Harris gently lifts the veil of fear and illusion to empower her clients and students to honour their Highest Potential. Her style is evocative of the well-known aphorism: “Know thyself, and thou shalt know the world.” Diana has a deep connection to Mother Earth and works with her Wisdom Keepers. She incorporates her knowledge of archetypes, vibrational medicine, angels, and shamanism into her practice. This ancient knowledge is a methodology for self-understanding, healing, and spiritual growth.

Ms. Harris has touched the hearts of thousands through her speaking engagements. Many have dubbed Diana the “Happy Medium” because she brings Light and Joy to her work.  She has been featured on DiggRadio Boston, WBZ, Explore Your Spirit, Hawaii’s Inspiration Radio, and others. Her short stories were published in the book Love Like God, 2011.Her writing has been featured in: ByRegion, Spirit of Change, Explore Your Spirit, Sedona Journal of Emergence, OmPlace, Transcendent ezines, and others.  Ms. Harris has a growing list of national and international clients. She is currently working on a solo book project. Learn more about Diana at dianaharris.net.