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Hey, guys. It's Bex here. Has forgiveness become a four-letter word in your life? Well,
stick around for my four-minute meditation on letting go of anger.
I want to share a little story about something that happened just ten minutes before shooting
this video today. I was on a car ride with my husband and the universe once again gave
me an opportunity to learn a lesson. About ten minutes into our ride, he did something
that really got on my nerves, and I decided --irrationally so -- to be really angry about
it. I gave him the silent treatment. I sat there and pouted for the entire car ride.
Then something really interesting happened. About 35 minutes into the ride, I looked over
and he was fast asleep, snoring. So my anger that I wanted him so badly to feel was really
all inside of me, and I was the only one being affected by it. He was totally cool.
So to hopefully prevent you from making the same mistake I did, I'm going to lead you
through a little meditation that will help you to turn your anger into something beautiful.
Let's get started by finding our easy seat. You can be in a chair or on a pillow -- wherever
is comfortable for you. You can sit in lotus, half-lotus or one foot in front of the other.
Inhale your shoulders up to your ears and then exhale your shoulder blades down your
spine. This will have you sitting up nice and tall. Place your hands downturned on your
knees or upturned to receive the energy around you.
Close your eyes and start to pay attention to your breath. No need to change the pattern
of your breathing. Just observe the natural rhythm of your inhales and your exhales.
On the subject of forgiveness, there's a very interesting quote that's often attributed
to Buddha, but most likely came after him. It compares anger to a hot coal that we hold
in our hand with the intention of throwing it at another person, but really only burning
ourselves in the end. That was exactly what happened on my car ride
tonight. I was holding onto this anger, this hot coal, with the intention of affecting
my husband, but really only ruining my own experience, making the moment miserable for
myself. I did a little research on coal and ashes,
and what's left behind a fire is burned. When I look at my fireplace, I see these beautiful,
hot pieces of wood -- these little coals, that are certainly beautiful to look at, but
I wouldn't want to touch them. So that's the anger. That's the coal we're holding in our
hand. In this research, I learned that you can take
ashes -- coal -- put it in soil, and fertilize your garden. This will help to amend very
acidic soil and allow breathing room for plants to grow. So this coal -- this anger -- when
given away frees us from pain and the energy can be rechanneled, repurposed, to grow something
beautiful. How awesome is that? I want you to imagine yourself literally holding
a piece of coal. You have this coal in your hand. You're placing it into the ground, and
you're watching a beautiful flower, or maybe even a tree full of flowers, grow from the
soil. Your anger is gone. You are free, and you have given life to something beautiful.
See the flower. See what you've grown. One last inhale to open your eyes.
Did you see it? Did you see the flower? That's what it takes: this change of mindset. I know
some things are so big hard and so hard to forget and to forgive. But if you practice
every day to let go of that, to understand that it's really not the other person who
you're hurting -- that it's you who you're hurting with your anger, holding on to that
resentment or that grudge -- then maybe you'll be able to release it just a little.
Remember the hot coal. Give it away. Release yourself from the pain and let something else
beautiful grow. Thank you so much for joining me for this
meditation. If you have a request or a topic for another meditation, go ahead and leave
it in the comments below. I love you and I'll see you around.
Remember to subscribe for new free videos every single week and visit me at BexLife.com.
Or you can stick around for a little bit longer and click on the thumbnail on the left for
another meditation, or on the thumbnail on the right for an exclusive BexLife workout.