The afflictive emotion of anger – including the range of emotions from low level irritation, frustration, resentment and jealousy to full blown rage – is one of the most destructive forces we face as human beings. This is true of anger experienced in our personal lives as well as societal anger that wreaks so much havoc upon people everywhere.

We have each acquired our own personal anger patterns due to our conditioning in life; we certainly don’t consciously choose to be irritable, resentful or angry. Thus, we can be gentle and understanding of ourselves as we are today, while at the same time knowing that with mindfulness we can create new conditions that will help to uproot anger and bring more joy into our lives.

Buddhist psychology offers much wisdom for working skillfully to transform anger through the practices of mindfulness and the cultivation of understanding and patience. These teachings have proven beneficial for over 2600 years in helping individuals to uproot anger and experience more joy in their lives. 

In our workshop we will explore the following fundamental principles essential for loosening the knots of anger, including:

• What is anger
• The destructiveness of anger and how it has manifested in our lives
• The sources and causes of anger
• Is anger ever useful
• Using understanding to unknot anger and cultivate patience
• What to do when anger has already arisen in the mind

The workshop will include instruction, reflections and practice opportunities through interactive exercises.

The workshop will be held at the FCM Practice Center, 6501 N. Nebraska Avenue, in Tampa from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm on Saturday, April 14. The cost is $75. If you have questions, please email us at info@floridamindfulness.org.

Workshop Leaders

Bill Mac Millen has been a practitioner with the Florida Community of Mindfulness and a student of FCM's teacher Fred Eppsteiner since 2013. He is an aspirant in Thich Nhat Hahn's Order of Interbeing (OI) and a student in FCM's Dharma Transmission Program. Previously Bill worked in law enforcement with the Tampa Police Department and as an investigator in the communications industry before retiring in 2016.

Angie Parrish has been a student of Buddhism and mindfulness for over 20 years. After a 1999 retreat with Thich Nhat Hanh, she became a student of Fred Eppsteiner's and a member of the Florida Community of Mindfulness. Angie brought the fruits of her experience in mindfulness and meditation into her professional career as an employee benefits consultant for a wide variety of organizations, including many employee training programs. She teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and is a frequent teacher of mindful living classes.