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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
Benefits of Mindfulness: Mindful Living Can Change Your Life
Mindfulness 101: A Beginner's Guide
Note: This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical conditions and is not a substitute for consulting with your personal healthcare professionals.
It happens in a flash: One moment you're driving along feeling fine, and the next, you see red, your heart starts pounding, energy surges down your arms, and you begin hurling insults at the driver of the car that just cut you off.
You’ve been hijacked by anger.
Whether anger rises abruptly in a fiery explosion or burns slowly over time, it can effectively take over.
Employing mindfulness can help you manage angry feelings and protect you (and others) from their most damaging effects.
Anger is a psychophysiological response to perceived threat or danger.
But it’s also a complex emotion, one that can be triggered by thoughts or circumstances that may not be actual threats but that still trigger an angry response.
Anger is also often tied up with other emotions, such as hurt, guilt, or shame, and linked to underlying conditions such as anxiety or depression.
You might feel angry because you're lonely.
Anger may mask unresolved hurt.
Sometimes, anger emerges when our values or personal boundaries have been violated.
Your anger trigger may be witnessing injustice in the world.
What is true is that you’re not wrong for feeling anger. We are responsible for how we express and act on our anger, but feeling it in the first place is not a flaw.
Anger, in fact, is a vital emotion that can motivate us to act. Social movements are typically sparked by anger that “This isn’t right.”
And anger can be a catalyst to make personal changes in response to something that isn’t working for you.
These are examples of healthy anger: You witness or experience something that doesn’t feel right, anger stirs, and you channel that energy into a response that has a better trajectory.
Unhealthy anger is a different story.
When anger causes you to explode in fury, you may experience relief, but the wake of that angry outburst can have far-reaching consequences for our relationships, our health, and how we get along in the world.
If anger is chronic or all-consuming, over time it can negatively impact your social, mental, and physical well-being.
When the brain registers “anger,” the stress response is activated—an instantaneous fight-flight-or-freeze reaction that prepares you to face a perceived threat:
These physical changes help us deal with danger, and the body is equipped to manage them. When we perceive that we are safe, the body naturally comes back into balance.
The trouble begins when anger doesn’t recede and we remain on high alert. Some of the health concerns associated with chronic or unchecked anger include:
Anger can also be addictive, creating an adrenaline-fueled sense of power and invincibility and forming a hopped-up habit loop whenever you perceive a slight, feel inconvenienced, or experience any circumstance that you don’t like. Anger management training is often used to control anger caused by an addictive response.
Mindfulness meditation helps calm the part of the brain that controls emotional regulation, making angry outbursts less common. It also strengthens the area of the brain responsible for executive functioning, giving us access to a wider range of cognitive tools and responses in any situation.
Meanwhile, regular mindfulness practice can quell the rumination that often fuels anger. By keeping attention in the present moment, instead of dwelling on the past or anticipating the future, mindfulness helps redirect attention away from repetitive thoughts and storylines that make us angry.
And there’s this: When we meditate, we allow thoughts and feelings to rise and pass, without judging them or needing to hold on to them. In this way, mindfulness meditation helps us to see that feelings are often transitory, changing on their own when we don’t identify with them so strongly.
Practicing mindfulness cultivates a more relaxed state overall, where even normally upsetting circumstances are less likely to trigger us. It’s like there’s a buffer between the upset and us: We recognize something isn’t right and we may feel anger rising, but instead of flying into rage, we control anger by holding a broader awareness of the situation, checking in with ourselves, and choosing how to best respond.
One of the best ways to deal with anger is to recognize it. Trying to suppress your anger or push it away isn’t helpful. It’ll only make it stronger and more likely to show up elsewhere.
So, acknowledge it. You might even say, “Anger is here.” Naming an emotion helps us to be with that emotion instead of being controlled by it.
Next, slow down. Take a few deep breaths, exhaling audibly out your mouth.
Focus on your body. Are you sitting or standing? Where are your hands? Tune into any physical sensations, such as heat or pulsing. Maybe your jaw is tight or your breathing is fast and shallow. Just notice what’s there.
If you’re sitting, you might stand up and move a bit. If you’re standing, shake out your arms and walk around. Moving your body will help discharge some of the energy.
As your heart rate and breathing begin to slow down—signs that the stress response is receding—see if you can explore your anger. This isn’t a deep psychological exploration, but a curiosity. Sometimes just underneath anger is another emotion, such as fear, frustration, or shame. Just notice what’s present.
Offer yourself a moment of compassion. You’re not “wrong” for having anger. There’s a reason you feel the way you do, perhaps a very good reason.
And know that by taking these steps you are already working to overcome anger and to channel these strong feelings in a healthy way:
In pausing, breathing deeply, and slowing down, you are disrupting the stress response.
And you’re giving yourself an opportunity to determine how things go from here.
Take another deep breath. Check in again. Where is anger now? Has it shifted or changed in any way?
Consider what you might do next. Here are some ideas:
It can. Aggression and violence are expressions of uncontrolled anger, when the emotion feels so overwhelming that you lash out to expel the energy, typically toward someone or something.
Research suggests that mindfulness can help reduce violence and aggression in some important ways.
Mindfulness meditation develops greater emotional regulation and executive functioning, giving us access to a wider range of cognitive tools and responses in any situation.
It also quells rumination that often fuels anger, and helps us feel more relaxed overall.
Sometimes sitting down to meditate has the opposite effect than you expect. Instead of feeling peaceful and relaxed, your mind races, your body feels tense and uncomfortable, and you notice irritation and even anger.
Anger and other “hot” emotions often run just under the surface, like a furnace, fueling rumination and keeping us on high alert and ready to jump into action.
When you stop physical motion and intentionally begin to reign in your thoughts, that underlying irritation is revealed. What more, it can make it worse—at first.
In these moments, your mindfulness practice becomes a laboratory for working with thought and emotion.
Enjoy these articles, stories, and guided practices for incorporating mindfulness into every day.
Talks and meditations from leading authors, experts and scientists.
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Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
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The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
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Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
- Lauren
Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
- Kirtus
I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
- Lydia
So calm and soothing. I love the new bundle with Kelly Boys, she’s brilliant!
- EJ
Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
- Lauren
Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
- Kirtus
I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
- Lydia
So calm and soothing. I love the new bundle with Kelly Boys, she’s brilliant!
- EJ
Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
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You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
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Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
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I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
-
I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
-
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