Welcoming Hatred Guided Meditation

This meditation is part of a series that focuses on what we might typically see as our “harder” or less acceptable emotions. Many of us have learned to push away these less desirable emotions based on a variety of reasons, perhaps religious, cultural, or social. Yet we know that it’s not healthy for us to repress emotions, and our meditation practice helps us create space for what is present within ourselves, even if it’s hard to face.

We want to learn to understand our emotions better, what they’re trying to tell us, and identify how they show up in our body, so that we can then work with our emotions and use the gifts they bring us instead of fighting against them. We'll explore how shame serves as a guide to help you live according to your own moral code. My teachings and the following meditations have been greatly informed by my study of Internal Family Systems Therapy or “parts work,” Somatic experiencing, and the book “The Language of Emotions” by Karla McLaren.

If you'd rather listen, you can hear a recording of the information below on Insight Timer.

Understanding Hatred

Let’s begin by normalizing your experience of hatred. Hatred is, like all emotions, a natural human emotion. It’s an intense and laser-focused form of rage and fury. Hatred is what you experience when you project something that is repressed in you onto another person. When you can get curious about the object of your hate and dig into what exactly it is that you hate, it can provide you with valuable information about parts of yourself that need integration. 

Through an Internal Family Systems lens, hatred can serve as fierce, protective parts trying to keep exiled parts of your system safe. If you are able to begin to turn toward your feelings of hatred, your hatred will gift you with an ability to look at hidden or suppressed parts of yourself. Jungian psychology describes the concept of the shadow, which contains all of the parts of yourself that you have cut off in order to be acceptable perhaps to your family, friends, or society in general. If you can approach it with curiosity, your hatred can be a pathway to learning about these suppressed aspects of yourself.

How hatred can feel in your body

Let’s talk somatics for a minute. Hatred can manifest as physical sensations in the body, such as tightness in the chest or a knot in the stomach. Some research has linked feelings of hatred  to heightened cortisol levels and overstimulation of the nervous system, putting you into fight or flight mode. Hate can feel fiery in your belly or chest and like pent up energy that you need to vent out. It can provide a surge of adrenaline and even lead to heart racing and muscle tension. By tuning into these bodily sensations, you can deepen your understanding of yourself and work with your body and emotions toward healing.

What has fallen into my shadow? What must be reintegrated? 

Hatred serves as a signal from your soul, highlighting aspects of yourself that have been suppressed and need to be reintegrated. By examining the perceived flaws in the target of your hatred, you can identify and integrate the parts of yourself that you have not been able to express. The light of your hatred can help you observe these parts of yourself that you may have formerly rejected and work to bring them to wholeness.

The Power of Hatred

Despite its negative connotations, hatred holds immense power—the power to illuminate the darkest corners of our psyche, the power to catalyze profound transformation. It is a force that, when channeled with awareness, can lead us on a journey of self-discovery and integration. By embracing our hatred and the insights it offers, we can tap into our inner strength and forge a path towards wholeness.

The Relationship Between Adoration and Hatred

Adoration and hatred may seem like opposite ends of the emotional spectrum, but they share a common thread—they both stem from our inability to fully accept ourselves. When we admire someone, we project our idealized self onto them, while hatred arises when others reflect back the parts of ourselves we reject. By understanding this dynamic, we can see adoration and hatred as two sides of the same coin, in that they can both point you to a deeper understanding of yourself. This is good to remember–if it feels too tricky to start with working with your hatred, start by thinking about someone you adore and what you’re projecting onto them as a means to get in touch with your shadow.

Do I have to like everyone?

Of course not! There’s a difference between not enjoying someone or not liking how they behave, or just not wanting to be around someone and the intensity of hatred. If you’ve got an intensity of emotion toward someone, and you can’t detach, that’s projection. So let this intensity of emotion guide you to what might be in the shadow and what might need to be reintegrated.

Conclusion

I hope you’ll join me in the meditation that follows as we get in touch with our hatred to create space to examine our own shadow. As we journey together, remember that hatred, when approached with respect and curiosity, is a guide to help you integrate lost parts of yourself. Trust yourself, welcome your emotions, and allow hatred to play its role in acting like a mirror to your own soul.

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