Emotions and colours, and using anger for change

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This is a Stereo Forest production from StereoForest

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.com.

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Information, resources and opportunities to support the show

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and connect with others are available at StereoForest

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.com slash Daily Reconnect.

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This podcast is for informational and educational purposes

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only and is not a substitute for medical

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advice, diagnosis or treatment.

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If you have specific mental health concerns, please

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consult with a qualified healthcare professional.

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Now, on to the show.

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In today's episode, we will practice an exercise

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that uses emotions and a color palette to

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connect with the present and then we'll explore

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how to use anger again, our theme of

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the week, to motivate us towards shared goals.

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Welcome to The Daily Reconnect.

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It's now March 12th and I'm your host,

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Janda Han.

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This quick session aims to bring you back

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to the present moment when you're feeling disconnected

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or adrift from reality.

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Together, we will rediscover our place in this

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unpredictable world, our physical bodies and our wandering

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minds.

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Let's reconnect with what's real and present here

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today.

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After we complete this exercise, we will gather

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the strength within us to tackle our day

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and continue navigating what is often a struggle

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life in these fairly wild times for many

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most.

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Anyways, let's take the elements that resonate during

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the following exercise and you can leave behind

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anything that doesn't work for you.

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Modify whatever you need to while we progress

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through the exercise.

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You are not required to follow anything exactly.

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I'm giving you full permission here to adapt

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and improvise.

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Something doesn't click, just let my voice be

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the thing that you hear and connect with

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or find your own path to connection.

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This is your moment for you to re

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-center and reset.

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Today, we're using emotions in order to reconnect

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with ourselves so we can connect with each

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other.

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Any environment you are in is fine for

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this exercise as long as you can take

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a moment for yourself.

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You can be seated or standing or walking

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at a comfortable, sustained pace of your choosing.

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So find that comfortable position or pace and

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take a few deep breaths before you begin.

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And now let's bring your attention to your

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emotional state.

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Notice how you're feeling in this moment.

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Is there like a dominant emotion or a

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mix of emotions going on?

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Allow yourself to acknowledge and accept your emotions

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without any judgment.

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And it's also okay to use an approximation

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of your current emotions or use prior days

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to inform what you might be feeling.

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Delayed processing emotionally is real for many of

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us and it's also a valid experience.

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Now imagine that each emotion has a color

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associated with it.

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For example, joy might be yellow or sadness

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might be blue or maybe anger is red.

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Allow yourself to see these colors for your

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current emotions in your mind's eye and just

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notice how they might interact with each other

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or overlap.

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Now notice any insights that might arise from

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what you notice from this palette or notice

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that there might be a lack of one.

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If it is difficult for you to understand

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your current emotions or perhaps it just doesn't

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make sense or it's too stressful to assign

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the colors, know that this is entirely valid

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as well and it's also an important thing

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to notice.

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And continuing with this visualization, imagine that you

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can use color to heal and balance your

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emotions.

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Perhaps you can surround yourself with a soothing

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green light to calm your anxiety.

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You can try using this technique in order

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to help reconnect you during times of the

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day where you feel disconnected from reality or

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you notice yourself dissociating.

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Imagine a color that might be able to

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bring you back to the present moment or

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help you analyze what's going on or address

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any anxiety.

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And finally take another deep breath and when

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you're ready open your eyes if they're closed

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or bring yourself back to this present space.

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Notice how you feel and take this sense

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of emotional awareness to help you throughout your

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day.

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And now we will continue on to some

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motivation.

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So as our exercise comes to a close

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and you find yourself reconnected to this present

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moment, I invite you to notice any anger

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that you might be feeling or remember any

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anger that you may have felt during the

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recent days or weeks if that's something that

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isn't present for you today.

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Your anger might be a quiet smoldering feeling

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or perhaps it's an intense fiery feeling or

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perhaps it's momentarily absent because we're dissociated.

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But as you recognize it, it might be

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a frequent visitor in your days right now.

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Our world gives us plenty of reasons to

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be angry.

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We have these economic systems that prioritize a

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few people's profit over the basic needs of

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many.

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We have so much political everything going on

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right now that point the finger at vulnerable

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communities quite frequently and that might be some

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of us.

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We have environmental destruction continuing and the personal

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impacts of these systemic failures, they show up

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in our days every day, in our financial

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stress, in our health struggles, in our communities

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that are fractured apart right now.

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And despite what you might have been told,

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feeling angry about these real things in our

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lives doesn't mean that you've failed at being

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mindful or failed at meditating or failed at

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being present.

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Quite the opposite.

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It means that you're paying attention to what's

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going on right now.

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It means that your moral compass is functioning

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just as it's supposed to as a human

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being.

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The problem isn't that you're angry.

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The problem is that we've been conditioned to

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experience anger alone, in isolation, to see it

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as a burden that we individually have to

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manage and process alone or suppress in so

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many of our communities and situations in the

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workplace and so on.

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We're taught that anger is unprofessional or unattractive

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or inappropriate.

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And these messages often serve a purpose for

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someone because isolated anger rarely leads to things

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changing.

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So what happens when we bring our anger

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into a relationship with other people, around other

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people, when we gather and honestly name what

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we're angry about?

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Something happens.

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Something transformative.

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We discover patterns in our individual experiences.

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We begin to trace these patterns back to

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their systemic roots.

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And most importantly, we begin to imagine or

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come up with ideas for collective responses.

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So today, I encourage you to take your

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reconnected presence and use it to reconnect with

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other people through authentic conversations.

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Share what you're angry about, not as a

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complaint, but as an offering, a piece of

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your truth, some vulnerability that might resonate with

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someone else's experience.

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And as you listen to the responses to

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other people's anger, notice the shared values that

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emerge amongst you.

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Are you all hungry for more meaningful connection

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or economic security or for a sense that

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your contributions are valid or valued or matter?

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Are you looking for sustainable relationships with the

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environment?

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These shared values are the foundation upon which

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movements for change are built.

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Remember that every significant social transformation throughout history

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began with people coming together to name their

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shared pains and their shared dreams and their

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shared values.

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Reasonable work days and voting rights and environmental

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protections, none of these things came from people

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suppressing their anger, but from communities coming together

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and channeling it towards very specific collective goals

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that are sustained until they're reached.

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Your anger is telling you something very important

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about your values, so let's listen to it.

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When joined with other people who share them,

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it becomes a renewable source of energy for

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creating that concrete change, for continuing over time.

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It helps you persist when the work gets

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really difficult.

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It keeps you honest when compromises seem easier

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than transformation.

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So as you move throughout your day today,

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I invite you to carry both your centered

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presence, your connection with reality, and your honest

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anger as tools for reconnection with yourself, with

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other people, and with the possibility of a

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world that can be aligned with those deepest

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values that we share.

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You are not alone in what you feel,

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and together we can contain the wisdom and

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the power needed to create meaningful change.

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You are here, you're capable, and there is

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great power within us connected again, and the

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world is so much better with you in

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it.

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So that's it for today.

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It's Wednesday, March 12th.

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Thank you so much for joining me here,

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and let's connect again on Friday.

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Thank you for listening to The Daily Reconnect.

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Episodes are released on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

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every week.

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This show was created, written, hosted, edited, and

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produced by Jen DeHaan.

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Links to contact information, ways to support the

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show, transcripts, the free newsletter, and our community

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discord can be found in the show notes.

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This is a Stereo Forest production.