Anger hardens you and prevents you from seeing things clearly, disrupting the flow of life. Creating tension in the body and weakening your immune system. Anger builds walls that eventually you need to tear down. For these walls only trap in your pain. You think the suffering is just; the anger lets you feel that way. The trapped pain in your body leads to illnesses, diseases, more stress, and anxiety. The person suffering is not the one you are directing your anger towards; instead, it is yourself.
Anger is often an impulse. It stems from emotions or a lack of control over them. Anger is the result of being unable to control your vulnerabilities, such as fear, sadness, and loss. These emotions create discomfort in the body, and we don’t know where to place them; a subconscious way of shifting that attention makes you feel in control. Think back to a time when you were angry. Your body stiffened, your muscles tightened, your body pumped out stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. In a sense, you created a body rigid and without flow.
Imagine if you replaced anger with softening. Leaning into your vulnerabilities. Find strength and courage in the unknown and uncomfortable feelings you may experience. Softening is about allowing things to be. Easing into the person you are, loosening up, letting go, relaxing, and going with the flow.
Softening is an art form. A way of life. It requires patience. Tenderness. Care. Above all – love for yourself, loved ones, those around you, the community, the earth, the good, and the bad. It’s all-encompassing. Softening is a state of calm, allowing and accepting things to be just as they are. You ease your body, and in return, your mind quiets here too.
Breath by breath; you can get there. Open your mind to how you can soften.