Take a minute to recollect a time when you have been so angry that you did or said things you would never do otherwise. And regretted it later.
Anger is an energy. It is a strong emotion. It can take over you. Your anger is not you. It is a raging wave that takes you for a ride when not kept in check.
But anger is also a useful emotion used to protect what you have – it could be protecting your child when you scold her for doing something harmful to herself, protecting your possession – “Hey you! That is my phone – How did you get it?” or protecting your self-respect – “Don’t you talk to me like that!”
Used wisely and in control, it is an effective tool. But the problem arises when you let your anger take over you. That is when you yell at your child, bash the person who stole your phone or abuse your friend who took you for granted.
Now take a minute to recollect a time when you have done something that angered someone so much that they lost it with you.
In the hunter-gather days, anger was a useful emotion to fight away creatures that may harm you, protect your spaces that you have marked for yourself from intruders and command respect when someone did not treat you well. And it was okay to let your anger get over you fast before you gave it a thought because usually situations were life or death scenes, and if you started to think whether it is worth getting angry – you might just get killed!
But today, we don’t live in such an environment. So, anger creates more problems within us and affects our relationships with others. Practicing mindfulness gives you the space in your mind which helps you to choose the response rather than react instinctively. So even if you choose to be angry the anger is well within your control. Mindfulness also helps you to observe thoughts with respect to anger.
Practicing mindfulness by observing your thoughts for a few minutes on a daily basis helps you to be mindful more often. When we are mindful, we understand the nature of our emotions like anger with clarity and can play a role in contributing to peace in the world.
Click on the link below to practise a short guided meditation (11 minutes)
Bell The Mind 