2. WHAT IS FORGIVENESS ?
Forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself. It is a
release from the burden of anger and pain. When
you choose to forgive, you choose to live in the
present and the future instead of the past. It does
not mean to forget but it does mean to release and
go on. Forgiveness doesn't happen on it's own,
you must choose to forgive.
3. POINTS ABOUT FORGIVENESS:
Forgiveness is not forgetting.
The pain may not be completely gone. One can
forgive and still grieve a loss or feel pain from a
wound.
Damage and wounds can take time to repair.
Forgiveness does not deny responsibility for
behavior. You have simply committed to not hold
the other person in debt.
4. AN INDIVIDUAL EXERCISE IN FORGIVENESS:
Write down with pen and paper all of the things that you
have done wrong. It is imperative that you write.
Read the list.
Now say "I did the best that I could with the knowledge
that I had at the time. I now forgive myself and go free."
Destroy (burn or shred) the list.
Repeat the exercise for each of the other people who
have hurt you.
Now begin a new to live your life without the burden of
unforgiving pain - it is unnecessary suffering.
5. WHAT IS ANGER ?
Anger is an emotion characterized by unfriendliness
toward someone or something you feel has
deliberately done you wrong.
Anger can be a good thing. It can give you a way to
express negative feelings, for example, or motivate
you to find solutions to problems.
But excessive anger can cause problems.
Increased blood pressure and other physical
changes associated with anger make it difficult to
think straight and harm your physical and mental
health.
6. WHAT YOU CAN DO
Controlling anger before it controls you
Give Yourself Permission to Express Anger.
Combine Mental and Physical Effort for Anger
Control.
Never Hurt Others in the Process.
Totally Let Go, Without Hesitation.
Strive to Forgive.
7. ANGER MANAGEMENT-THE GIFT OF
FORGIVENESS
Absorb your upset feelings as you inhale, and feel what is there for you.
Utilize your upsetness to help generate forgiveness.
Remain emotionally balanced as you feel a wider range of your
emotions.
This Practice will lead you to go beyond feeling angry or resentful and
limiting what you are capable of feeling and appreciating.
This Practice invites you to use the built up energy of anger or
resentment, as the catalyst for generating forgiveness.
The more you are able to feel anger or resentment while not fully giving
into it and losing yourself, the more you will be able to enter onto a path
of forgiveness.
As always, the key here is to take your time, speak slowly, breathe
deeply, and pause between sentences. Keep each sentence short and
concise. This is important. Long sentences lead to sloppy thinking and
getting lost. You are to speak each sentence out loud if you are in a
space that allows for this. It can often be helpful to repeat this process
for several rounds in one sitting, letting your words change as you go
along.
8. If your sense of anger or resentment is strong, you might
likely have to do this Practice a number of times before
you are able to fully agree with what you are saying. This
is often an important part of the process. If necessary,
please do give yourself the opportunity to speak the
words while still feeling a bit out of alignment with what
you are saying. This is part of opening up to the gift of
forgiveness.
"Today, I am feeling into my relationship with ... ... . "(Name a person or
situation that is troublesome.)
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Feel the Movement in your body as you sit
quietly.
"Today, I am feeling into my anger (resentment) in this regard."
9. "Today, in feeling my anger (resentment), I realize that I am missing out on
the opportunity to experience the blessing of serenity.
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Look around at your surroundings as you sit
quietly.
Today, I realize that beyond my anger(resentment), I would also like to feel a
sense of deep inner calm."
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Listen to your surroundings as you sit quietly.
"Today, I realize that I can help improve my overall emotional response to life,
by giving myself the gift of forgiveness."
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Feel the Movement in your body as you sit
quietly."
Today, I realize that I would like to exchange my anger (resentment) for a
sense of peace and calm."
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Look around at your surroundings as you sit
quietly.
10. "Today, I realize that feeling a sense of forgiveness, leads to feeling calm, and
at peace with myself.
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Listen to your surroundings as you sit quietly.
Today, I realize that I can breathe in anger (resentment), and breathe out
forgiveness and compassion."
Pause, Breathe. Deeply In AND Out, and Feel the Movement in your body as
you sit quietly.
"Today, I know that I can face my anger (resentment) again tomorrow, with a
sense of serenity."
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Feel the Movement in your body as you sit
quietly.
"Today, I can rest in the grace of the world and be free."
Pause, Breathe. Deeply, and Feel the Movement in your body as you sit
quietly.
I hope this practice will help you to fulfill the longing of your spirit. That
you achieve peaceful victory over your anger as you travel ever closer
to living the life your heart longs for.
11. BENEFITS OF ANGER MANAGEMENT
Judgment
Anger that is not controlled leads to poor decision making. Once you can
better manage your anger you will exercise better judgment and also
have more control over your impulses.
Stress
Being able to manage your stress better is one of the long term benefits
that you will immediately see how to do. This is an objective that is
taught in anger management. With better control of yourself, you will find
that it is easier for you to avoid situations that would otherwise become
stressful.
Less conflict
You will find that you go through less conflict. There will be fewer
problems with co-workers, family members, parents, and children. You
will learn the skills that lead to more peaceful interactions with other
people.
12. Better communication
Often times anger and angry situations would have been avoided if
the people involved knew how to communicate better. Many
problems are solved when people know how to be assertive. When
people do not know how to assert themselves properly angry
behavior is often used instead.
Relationships
Another benefit of anger management classes is that you will be
more comfortable in your personal relationships. There are many
people who do not like being around the people they love because of
anger. You will be able to avoid this difficulty.
More empathy
Anger management training will teach you how to be more
empathetic. This is where you feel what another person is feeling.
You will find everywhere that you go that the people who can
empathize are highly respected. With this skill, you will be able to get
people to cooperate with you more easily too.
13.
Know your responsibility
You will recognize what you are responsible for in the way you think
of anger. By that I mean that you will know when you are the cause
of a problem and when you are innocent. When you are not at fault,
you will also be able to know how to keep a situation calm and yet
still assign the blame to where it should rightly be.