08 Jun Discover a Path to Uproot Your Anger (Part II)

There is a simple, and effortless technique exists, which greatly help to dissolve emotional patterns of your anger. It is 20 minutes daily practice of mindfulness meditation morning and evening.

If you always thought meditation is just emptying the mind. Then, you got it wrong. It is untrue. This fallacious idea is even found in some meditation sites, which is a little worrying.

Certainly, we want in meditation to reduce the amount of thinking that goes on. Most of us are plagued with thoughts that arise seemingly without cause. It’s rare to experience more than a few moments without some thought arising. And although this is very common it’s not healthy. Many of the thoughts that arise in the mind are supportive of emotions of anger, sadness, depression, and self-doubt. So that’s why we want to reduce the amount of thinking we do to have a rest from this near-relentless onslaught of thoughts.

What is Mindfulness Meditation?

Mindfulness meditation is unique in that it is not directed toward getting us to be different from how we already are. Instead, it helps us become aware of what is already true moment by moment. We could say that it teaches us how to be unconditionally present; that is, it helps us be present with whatever is happening, no matter what it is.

This practice, which is very simple, is also quite difficult, mostly because our minds are not trained to be present. Instead, we spend most of our waking hours in distraction and random, discursive thinking. Because we have never cultivated this ability of the mind to simply be present, our ‘mindfulness muscle’ is weak, and we find we have little control over our thinking process.

Working with Anger Mindfully

Mindfulness meditation can help in many ways not only to manage your anger and also to fade away completely from your mind.

Mindfulness can help

1. to identify the root cause of  your anger.
2. to be aware of the physical sensation of your anger.
3. to accept the thoughts without being judgmental and
4. to transform the negative thought pattern into positive ones.

How can it be practiced?

The practice of mindfulness involves deliberately resting one’s attention on present moment sensations such as the breath.

1. You can be in a relaxed posture, and close your eyes.
2. Gently shift your attention on your breath. When you notices that the mind has drifted away from the breath, gently brought back to the breath.
3. Now slowly shift your attention to the experience of being angry. Think back to a time when you experienced anger, relatively recently. You don’t need to choose your worst episode. In fact, it’s wise to start with something smaller. Envision and experience what happened, allowing yourself to feel the anger again, right now.
4. Other emotions, such as sadness or fear, may arise as you remember the episode. For now, see if you can stay with the feeling of anger.
5. Where in your body do you experience it? Explore this feeling. You may be tempted to try to push it away. Instead, investigate how it feels, noticing gross and subtle sensations. As you notice a sensation, inquire whether it increases or decreases in intensity. Does it change or move? Is it warm or cool?
6. Practice bringing compassion to the anger. The feeling of anger is normal, part of being human. We all experience it at times. See if you can cradle your own anger like a mother cradling a newborn. What happens if you hold it in this way, with tenderness and care?
7. Try to accept the feeling as it is.
8. Try to think of a positive approach to handling the situation that provoked your anger. Do not try too hard, If you can’t come up with the positive thoughts, it is completely fine. It will appear to you as you practice this technique regularly.
9. Then, slowly bring your attention back to the breath and stay with it for a while, letting your emotions settle into the spaciousness of your breath and awareness.
10. Then in your own time, you can come out of the meditation  by gently opening your eyes.

Reference

http://www.mindful.org/mindfulness-of-anger/