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Transforming Anger

By Dakota Sexton
Web Editor


Who doesn’t want to live yoga off the mat? The answer to that seems kind of obvious, especially if you observed the turnout at this past weekend’s Being Yoga conference at the Omega Institute. We all want to be more compassionate, calmer, and definitely less angry. But most of us don’t have an easy time doing that in our every day life, no matter how advanced our asana practice is.

Seasoned teachers like Darren Rhodes and Elena Brower, who visited Omega to give their off-the-mat advice during the weekend’s many on-the-mat asana classes know that first-hand. As Rhodes framed his own anxiety on the opening night of the conference, when he’s not teaching and traveling, he’s worrying about teaching and traveling.

The same kinds of problems affect how we approach anger and compassion too: during her workshop Yoga for a Broken Heart, Seane Corne focused on her personal experience with how you can’t just namaste your way out of a bitter relationship or a heated interaction. If you spend all your time trying to be the most politically correct yogi, the anger or grief or other emotion you don’t acknowledge will cumulatively build and take control.

That’s how we end up leaving explosive voicemails or writing completely over-the-top break-up emails while drunk, Corne wryly noted—because we fail to acknowledge our animal nature, our irrational half.

So what’s a compassionate yogi to do? According to Pandit Rajmani Tigunait in the latest issue of Yoga International, the last thing you want to do is to suppress your anger. Anger is a much stronger form of energy than kindness and compassion and can be a more powerful unifying force, he says. Give his article a read to learn how to channel your anger and see it as a way to experience your own inherent fullness.

And THEN: Share your own story with us. How were you able to express your anger wisely and purposefully? We want Yoga International to become a wider forum for fearless honesty and intelligent discussion.

Also in the fall issue

Try our 10-minute home yoga practice

Discover four simple ways to make the fruits of summer last well into fall.

Learn how to build the determination and confidence you need in an asana sequence to practice the challenging pose Tittibasana.

Photo (cc) by Flickr user Robert Francis; original artwork by Shepard Fairey

  • cecilia

    I come from a very agry family, where violence was the answer for the problems, I got married with a very angry man, and one of my kids start on the same path. I discovered yoga around 10 years ago, and since then it has been very steady transformation in my life, and it is my deep purpouse to transmit all my learnings to my kids. I have seen the effect on them, my son is a junior in high school and I have seen how is coping his stress and anxiety with his athletic training after school. He runs every day 4 miles in a very hot weather and that how is has release his tension, he comes home happy to make homework and go to bed, to wake up early the next day. For me those has been great examples (for me my gentle yoga and meditation and for my teenager his strenous workout) on how we can channel our fears and anger and been concious about it.

  • Lynea Gillen

    Thank you for this very important discussion. I think the issue of anger and sorrow is often overlooked in the yoga community. I’ve been to week long yoga workshops where people were breaking down in sorrow and anger, and, as a counselor, I was concerned that there was no one available to help them through their emotional experience. I taught yoga to boys in a behavioral classroom for many years. Many of them had deep shame about their anger and their power. They were often given the message to “take deep breaths” and “learn to control it.” When I first began asking them to allow their angry powerful sides to come out and play, they were terrified – and so was the staff. But I learned that this was exactly what was needed. We used theater games, movement and sword fighting to help us learn to train the warriors within. We used wood chopper to help us find the strong voice inside. Then, we could direct the warrior toward fighting for peace and compassion. It was a powerful practice. I continue to teach this practice to boys and girls in my private practice – many who are adopted and have trauma. It is so important to honor the fight that lives in their young bodies and has kept them alive through very difficult experiences.
    I’m looking forward to more discussion about this important topic.
    Sincerely,
    Lynea Gillen
    Yoga Calm for Children

    • Anna Bain, CYT

      I’ve learned that anger, and fear comes from a feeling of not being in control, or someone/something trying to control me. Thic Nhat Hanh says to treat anger as a crying baby in need of attention. First is to acknowledge the emotion (go to the crying baby). Second is to breath in to the feeling (pick the baby up and comfort it). Next is to determine the reason for the angry feelings (determine how to meet the baby’s needs). Finally, regaining a sense of control by finding a new perspective, a way to approach the situation from a positive perspective. Does this work for me all of the time? Honestly, no but the more I practice, the better I do. It helps to honest about what I’m feeling and being able to express to someone, “I feel angry because I think …….is happening.” Then the other person can help me regain perspective. I also work with adolescent in-paitients in a psychiatric hospital and use asana, pranayama techniques, as well as the above mentioned technique. They are surprised when I tell them anger is not a bad emotion because it can acutually protect us or motivate us to make changes. I tell them the trick is to learn to manage the emotion instead of the emotion managing us!
      Namaste,
      Anna Bain, CYT