"Ruth King has articulated the painful history, patterns, and traps of a raging heart and offers the skillful means for liberation in their very midst. This is revolutionary work." – Jack Kornfield, author and co-founder of Spirit Rock Meditation Center.

With a background in clinical psychology, organization development, coaching leaders of Fortune 500 companies in business decisions and conflict resolution, King considered herself to be a high-functioning professional woman. Yet, she had a problem with every authority figure she worked with. "In my opinion, they didn't know what they were doing, they never gave me enough credit, they always fell short of making the mark, and they always needed me—whether they knew it or not. Yet, you would have been in for the fight of your life had you told me I was enraged."

It took a prolapsed mitral valve – a congenital heart condition – in the prime of her "superficial success" to awaken King to her rage. At this crossroad, rather than succumb to a downward physical and emotional spiral, King ventured into stillness. She become conscious of her childhood traumas and the feelings, thoughts and patterns they elicited in her. She took responsibility for her behavior in response to the past and in the present. She examined the deep implications and intentions of her life. And, in a quest for peace, King developed sacred practices for uprooting her own rage inheritance.

In the book, "Healing Rage: Women Making Inner Peace Possible," (Penguin, 2007) King relates waking up from surgery, silenced by a tube down her throat and tape across her mouth, under blinding light, amidst loud monitors, and a monster machine forcing her to breathe. She was alive and she was livid. "I couldn't speak, but my eyes were screaming: Who the hell are you people? What have you done to me? Get me out of here! I want out, out! … these strangers, whom I considered enemies at the time, not only had control over my heart, they had more access to my heart than I did."

I met King at her home high on a Berkeley hill that scared my car into whiny second gear to climb. The big comfy sofa with a beige patterned blanket offered comfort and security. I sipped peppermint tea from a Laurel Burch cup as the author gestured in long graceful movements as she recounted how she ascended her mountain to author, life coach, consultant, and retreat facilitator on the forbidden subject of rage.

"I came here to do this work. There's a certain level of knowing, or in process, with this topic of rage that I've been in since the beginning. I haven't always known it to be an assignment, but I feel that it's always been a part of what I'm here to work on."

"Now, the pivotal moment that got me to understand that it was indeed an assignment was when I had open-heart surgery at the age of 27. Only to recognize in retrospect that that was the beginning of me opening my heart. Open-heart surgery was in fact the beginning of me opening my heart which had been wrapped tight and sealed shut to that point. And, I was just kind of a raging maniac out there, with such righteousness about it. What I felt about rage was that it was just the absolute truth. There was just no space anywhere in my thinking that there could be another possibility that would enter."

"But, when I was in the recuperation of my open-heart surgery where it was required that I depend on other people for my well-being. It was in the stillness that I would begin to remember what I had been running from up to that time. Some of what I'd been running from was just a really harsh and physically abusive childhood, and the deal I'd made early in my life was that I couldn't wait to get out of the crazy situation. I'm never gonna be controlled again."

"And, of course, when I was recovering from this surgery, heart wide open, opened heart, wounded heart, all of these memories were indeed consuming me. I was able to really get that I was scared, I was hurting, and that rage is the deepest truth that wants to be told.

The deepest truth is that we find a way to flow with what life offers without harming ourselves or other people – that ultimately we want to be kind. Kindness is our nature. That's a divine inheritance that we have. By the time we're 12, we have forgotten [that kindness is our nature] because of some trauma."

"Most of my work was with organizations around conflict and problem solving. I got paid really well to point out to authority figures how screwed up they were. I had to look at that. Why am I mad at every boss I have? And, it's because I'm still p——d off at authority, and mad that I don't have power and control."

"So, looking at that and being able to study it intimately, which is why I'm here this time, afforded me the privilege to write about it and to turn it into a form of service – intentional service, as opposed to being just my own personal story. I recognize that this work is about this experience, and the series of experiences, and this journey was indeed preparing me for this offering of the book."

In "Healing Rage," King presents six Disguises of Rage: Defiance; Dependence; Depression; Devotion; Distraction; and Dominance. We don the armor to cope with a chronically frightening life and "manage the intolerable threat of shame that may awaken traumatic childhood memories. … We perceive these obscure expressions of rage as being safer and more acceptable than truth itself."

Essential to overcoming the legacy of rage, we must delve into childhood experiences that set us up in the first place. We cannot circumvent the trauma by employing intellect alone. The book guides us to break habitual hurtful patterns; to center ourselves in difficult situations; to stay true to ourselves when others rage; and to stop contributing to our own suffering.

The intense work of King's retreats and workshops is appropriate for those who have already embarked upon self-reflection and have a stillness practice that supports and encourages deeper examination and progression. King provides safety and expert guidance through the process. For those just beginning to regain consciousness, she offers life coaching.

Working through King's program, with the book or in person, infuses power, compassion and joy. Celebrating the self, embracing even the dark, reveals the impermanence of rage and inspires living more fully in the present. "The wisdom of rage is fuel—already on fire within us, and these fierce energies have the power to wake us up, transform our lives, and create legacies that liberate the heart."

King is founder and president of Bridges, Branches & Braids—an organization working with negative emotions in positive ways. Her audio CD of meditations "Soothing the Inner Flames of Rage" is available on her Website. For all her work, King weaves Eastern and Western psychology, leadership development, systems theory, shamanism, metaphysics, meditation, and teachings from wisdom traditions.

King has added Sister Circle Chat Room to her Website in conjunction with Tele-chats and a writing group for all. She will soon offer events in her new community, Charlotte, NC.

Ruth King desires for us: "May every one of us become more curious and less frightened by rage. May manifestations of rage be acknowledged as pain and treated with the greatest compassion possible. May we look at one another's rage, recognize ourselves, and fall in love with what we see. May our good deeds open hearts in ways that heal the roots of suffering throughout the world for all beings."
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Diana deRegnier writes from the San Francisco Bay Area. Her articles appear in Internet and print publications around the world. Contact Diana at spiritlinks@comcast.net © Copyright 2009 by Diana deRegnier.