Yoga, when originally conceived by the Indian Yogis was not a ‘technique’ to counter the everyday woes of human beings. It was not a set of methods devised to get rid of our bad habits. It was just a way to get near to the actual realm of our body. It was a way to live as the nature wished us to.
However the modern inquisitive mind always needs to see things fitting into its requirements. And, today one of the greatest requirements of the professional and personal development is to control one’s temper. Thus our modern logical mind has very rightly formulated the yoga medicine to cure the anger. Actually, Yoga is nor meant for anger management, neither for stress management, not even for increasing memory! Yoga is a holistic way to control the mind and all the ‘management’ stuffs mentioned are just the byproducts of it.
There are three ways to deliver anger.
First is to suppress it. This is achieved through certain techniques that primarily involve delaying the response to the anger by counting, or drinking water or taking deep breaths etc.
Second is to express it at inappropriate objects (of course not at the so called reason of anger). This may be done by keeping your bad boss’s picture in your home and punching at it regularly.
I am not joking, it really works in a wonderful way!
And the third way is to divert your attention from the subject of anger. This can be done by reading book, watching a movie, listening to your favorite piece of music.
These three ways are, however, just workarounds for the anger, they are not the solution for anger. The suppression and diversion are equivalent to piling up of explosives, one right (or rather wrong) spark and it will blow up everybody around, including itself. These methods, in a long run, are damaging to the mind and consequently the body. The other method of expression of anger is ineffective in a long run and after sometime you’ll get fed up with punching the photo of your boss and again start feeling like actually killing him.
Then, what different way has Yoga got for anger management?
The yoga doesn’t prescribe us the way to control anger; rather it makes us surpass it. Which means not to get angry at all! This is possible by first changing our outlook to anger and other different emotions of humans. They are nothing but the instant reactions to the environment guided by our previous conditionings. Thus, first we should come out of the belief that the way I am reacting is the only appropriate way to react to the particular situation. There is really no loss in not getting angry! We can experience the anger, the cause of anger, and the process of getting angry and still be happy. In fact this is the only way we can be happy.
Now, the secret is that we cannot learn some tricks and apply it when anger strikes us. Rather we need to develop a habit of not getting angry. Anger management is not about managing anger after it has occurred; it is about staying away from anger.
Learn the meditation and pranayaam, and get your mind away from day to day frenzy. This will initiate you towards the control of mind, which is essential in controlling anger. Along with this discovery of peace of mind, keep questioning yourself about why you get irritated, what leads to it, are there any similarities in the process of you getting irritated every time? Ask yourself about the thought patterns that arise in your mind following the fit of anger. Keep getting deeper into these questions by running the process of you getting angry in your mind several time. Just sit and recall some of the instances when your were furious. Now, try to remember each minute detail of the steps that lead to the explosion of your temper. Initially, this practice may make you angry once again. But, if you do this for 3-4 times you will cease getting angry and you will start noticing at least some of the stupidity involved from your side. Then as you go on you will find the sheer uselessness of anger at some of the moment. You will yourself declare that for 90% of the time your getting angry was idiotic.
Now, once you have realized it, do not just laugh it away. Try to remember this fact every time you feel your blood pressure building up. Now do not say that you are angry before you can realize that you are going to be angry. Just practice, and then you’ll be able to notice each breath coming. Yoga helps you to become more and more aware of you physical and mental activities by teaching you pranayaam. Pranayaam is actually subsiding your breathing process to the maximum extent. This helps you to feel each breath coming in and going out. Thus you will know what is meant by being witness to a physical activity. Then comes the meditation that will make you observe the thoughts in your mind. Thus you’ll be able to become witness to the mental and physical activities.
Apply this and become observant to the process of anger. Become witness to the anger itself. With this attitude you will be able brush-off those situations with a smile that makes others angry.
You can find many such articles on my Blog. [http://yogablossoms.blogspot.com]
