Dealing With Anger Through Yoga and Meditation

According to Patanjali, the mind (Chitta) is made upears, are you slouched over so that the breath has
of three components - Manas, Buddhi, and Ahamkara.to work harder to enter and exit the longs and
These are the three astral or instinctive-cerebraldiaphragm? Are you focusing easily on the words in
sheaths or veils of our existence. They make upfront of you, or are your thoughts rambling towards
what is called the manomaya kosha. Anukarattasome small injustice that happened earlier in the day?
chitta is the super conscious mind which is free fromDid someone forget to refill the coffee pot or take
the lower emotions. It is not ruled by theout the trash? Do you feel slighted by the actions of
instinctive-intellectual aspect of ourselves. Patanjalianother - even if in some small way? Though we
tells us in the yoga sutras that ignorance calledcannot change the behavior of other people, we can
avidya, the ego (asmita), passion (raga) and anger ortake a moment to become aware of our own bodies
aversion (dvesha) and abhinivesha or clinging to lifeand breathe. We can take a few moments to
the fear of death are all the kleshas or obstacles.become mindful, and release any tension of small
These same obstacles appear in Mahayana Buddhism,grudge which we are holding. Whether you are aware
and we are given similar ways to overcome them.of it or not, that small grudge will soon fester into a
Anger is one of the most powerful and difficultseething wound ripe for an explosion if you do not
emotions to overcome, as it is fueled by the ego'spractice mindfulness. Buddha's teachings simply tell us
relentless need to be in charge. Anger can be kept into realize that all things are ephemeral, all are fleeting.
check, once we are given some insights about itsThere is no guarantee that someone will start taking
formation and clues to its undoing.out the trash or that your boss will finally recognize
The true mind does not exist as an extension of theyour sheer brilliance at work, but there is a
emotions alone. Although we may feel that we areguarantee, that you can change the way you react
our emotions - we can feel so deeply connected toto these little injustices.
our fear, our anger, and our passions - all of ourThere may come times in your life, as a parent, a
longings that they become us - this is an illusion. Thefriend, a boss an employee, when you need to
ego has as much of a modus operandi to keep youexpress yourself sincerely and forcefully. There
in fear and anger as a fortune five hundred companycomes a time when the message urgently needs to
has of keeping its stocks high. It will often lie, steel,be put across. The difference between
cheat and cajole, all to keep us in a place of lessercommunicating in a tirade and convincingly and
power. Although anger makes us feel strongerpowerfully urging others to follow your lead is all in
temporarily, we often can feel deflated andthe emotions. Surely, Ghandi and Martin Luther Kind
frustrated after it has run its course. It leaves anfelt sorrow, regret, anger and fear in the face of
irrevocable trail through the body in a physiologicaltheir respective obstacles, and though they each
and energetic sense as well, often wrecking havoccommunicated in a powerful manner, neither of them
on the hormonal system, the digestive system andlost themselves in the emotions of anger and fear.
the mind. If that same fortune five hundred companyThis would have watered down the effectiveness of
was Exxon in the 1990s - it would be the same astheir messages. By communicating with their
the dumping of hormonal crud into the bloodstream.emotions under control, they were able to speak to
It takes a long time to clean up and is quite a mess.the similarities between people, convincing those who
Extended bouts of anger even start to rewirewere not previously inclined to agree with them, that
synapses in the brain, causing it to be easier forthey indeed had something relevant and important to
anger to escalate and reason to predominate thesay. They had to use perseverance and fortitude to
thinking in subsequent boughts of emotion. This iscontinue communicating without anger in the face of
one reason why the yogic sutras of Patanjali as welltheir marked challenges, but they did so, again
as the writings of Buddha urge us to keep our angerthrough releasing their anger, and redirecting that
in check.power in a more effective way.
The first step in lessening the emotional reactions,Patanjali tells us that with yoga, meditation and
including and especially anger, is to become aware ofbreathing we can become more mindful. We can
it in its earliest stages. Most of us carry small burdensmindfully release tension in the body by bringing our
of anger with so little awareness, that when weawareness to the fact that it is there in the first
finally break and scream at a car passing us downplace. Those of you have practiced yoga for awhile
the highway too fast or lose our tempers in theand then take a short break, come back to it to
presence of those we love, we hardly know whererealize that in even the span of a week, the body
all the emotion came from. Anger begins as smallhas stored away a host of tension and frustration.
resentments or stress that we hold within the body.Daily yoga practice is to the body and the build up of
If you check your breathing right now, in this veryanger what a good dose of clean air and sunshine is
moment while you are reading this article, are youthe environment. Instead of choking on the pollution
breathing deeply, and fully in a relaxed manner, or areof our emotions, we can air them out in breathe
you slightly hunching your shoulders up next to yourmore deeply.