Anger Management Technique

How to Be Free from Anger

There are some excellent techniques in yoga and ayurveda to help you deal with anger issues and help you free yourself from anger.  Anger, as I have mentioned previously, is simply energy and many of the problems that anger leads to is due to the storm of powerful egocentric and aggressive thoughts that arise as a result of it.  For long term peace and tranquility there is nothing better that meditation for dealing with anger.  Techniques such as Zen Meditation Technique, So Hum Mantra Meditation or Smiling Buddha Meditation for Happiness are great for this.  But, a more active and immediate method for dissipating anger and finding the calm within comes from the school Kundalini Yoga.

Before jumping into this technique let me point out some of the other articles on the website which also provide ways to deal with anger successfully.  From Yoga Therapy there is the technique described here, Anger Management with Yoga Therapy.  From the healing school of Ayurveda there are the following breathing exercises which are excellent for cooling the system and pacifying anger and irritation, Sheetali Pranayama for Anger and Stress Mangement and Seetkari Pranayama to Lower Blood Pressure.  Feel free to try these, or combine them with the meditations above and the exercise below to create a nice anger management program for yourself.

If you are new to yoga, please be sure to follow the guidelines on how to practice yoga which I have detailed in the following 2 articles, Beginner’s Guide to Yoga Practice and Guidelines for Kundalini Yoga Practice.

Anger Management Kundalini Yoga Exercise:

a. Instructions for practicing Anger Release Technique:

This technique is quite simple to practice and it’s design is to help you get rid of the anger that is within consciously and then find the peaceful and infinite dimension of you being to promote calm and tranquility.

• Sit up straight.  You can do this exercise sitting on the floor cross legged, sitting up on your heels in rock pose or even sitting on a stool.
• Now close your eyes and allow any anger within you, suppressed or otherwise, to rise up so you can get rid of it.
• Next, remain angry, make fists, extend one arm out and start to punch forward with alternating fists.  So as one arm punches forward, the other retreats.  Breathe furiously as you do this.  Allow all the anger energy to be consumed by your vigorous punching.  Keep going if you feel there is more irritation or rage energy you need to get rid of.  You your breath of help you keep going.
• After completing the exercise lower your arms and relax completely.  Put a gentle smile on your face and bring your awareness to your breath.  Breathe into your heart center and out from your heart center.  So feel each breath moving into the center of your chest and each breath emerging from there and flowing out.  The heart center or Anahata Chakra, is the seat of love and forgiveness and this exercise and subsequent breathing will help open and balance this center for you.  Feel love, affection and forgiveness start to flow.
•  Remain in this way, calm and peaceful for as long as you like.   

b. Duration for Anger Management Technique:

• You can do the active portion of this exercise for 15 seconds to 3 minutes.  You can do the breathing in and out of the Heart Center for as long as you like.
  

c. Benefits of Anger Release Exercise:

• Helps release suppressed anger, irritation and frustration.
• Helps one consciously learn to release and be free from anger.
• Helps to overcome hurts and frustration.
• Helps bestow peace and tranquility.
• Helps to tone the chest and shoulders.

d. Practice Tips for Anger Management Exercise:

• Don’t be afraid to get angry when doing this practice.
• In general, don’t judge yourself when you get angry.  We all get angry and there is nothing wrong with that, it is ok.  Just learn to observe anger when it does arise and don’t get swept away with the ego empowering, hateful, negative thoughts that anger ignites.  Instead, try to use this opportunity to practice forgiveness and love.
• The real sign of a yogi or monk is keeping their composure and equanimity when faced with stressful and upsetting situations.  So use those situations to practice Mindfulness and use these situations as opportunity for spiritual growth.