What does yoga tell me to do with my anger?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#19

Point well taken.

It should be noted that one of the things unique to Yoga, over and above other systems, is that it provides a framework. It (Yoga) does not “tell you what to do”, per se. And of course once human beings get involved (reading the Sutras or the Pradipika or the Gita, et al) anything at all can occur…and usually does. So there’s some slightly dogmatic, slightly militant “interpretations”.

Yoga does however guide us in knowing that feelings are valid. They are part and parcel of the spiritual experience inside the physical form. They WILL occur. You WILL have them. And they are to be treated just as any experience is to be treated…with an even temperament. Therefore it is not a matter of having or not having anger (or grief, or fear, or joy) it is a matter of learning not to be reactive with the feelings.

Reactivity falls into rote behavior from patterns etched in the consciousness (samskara). It inhibits mindfulness. It also creates agitation in the nervous system, and finally it can lead to attachment (raga) and aversion (dvesha) which you can learn about on your own by reading on the topic of the Kleshas.

Try observing your emotions, regardless of what they might be, without branding them or reacting to them. See if you can muster a smile about having them in the first place right when they are at their most potent. Stand next to yourself and become the observer of you.

Organically anger manifests (primarily) in the liver. And, of course there are specifics in asana for toning the organic body, including the liver. Nutritionally the work would be to reduce toxins and chemicals in one’s diet as the liver is the primary blood cleaner, cleansing the blood form the digestive system before passing it to the rest of the body.

Pranayama can also be used to deal with anger. In fact pranayama is almost always use as a dealing practice. The inhalation and exhalation should each have a focal point and this may vary depending on the practice and the practitioner.

Meditation relative to anger is to complex to explain in this medium.

Hope this helps. I’ve addressed each of the four branches of the yoga I teach - meditation, asana/pranayama, nutrition, and applied philosophy.

#20

Anger is there because you feel that there will be mind control more than prana control.

if you are going to increase prana then mind will reduce control over body which means your senses will respond less in all unnecessary situation and make cool your mind.

but for that one have to do kundalini meditation or any meditation which must be backed by shaktipat or kundalini awakening or prana awakening or bio energy awakening. if you are doing meditation with out awakening of kundalini then you are just trying to awake kundalini unknowingly.

so the best method to control anger is to do meditation regularly and increase prana energy in you.

#21

IA, has already given a fairly good comprehensive answer on Yoga’s perspective on anger.

I will add my 2 cents here. Anger is considered the most major negative emotion in Yoga, and in fact the the root of all negative emotions and highly destructive to the mind and the health in general. Ordinarily, we do not really see how anger could be the root of say lust, greed, worry, depression, conceit etc, but examine closely and you will find it plays a causative role. The root cause of all emotional and mental suffering is desire(one of the noble truths of Buddhism) That is because when we desire something honestly, if we do not get the object of our desire, it produces frustration and frustration builds up into anger. That anger can then manifest in the form of lust, because when we do not what we want easily, we may begin to lust after getting what we want. In most cases, what is really being expressed here is a lack of love and hence the anger of having no love. Anger can also manifest in the form of greed, because we want something so much we refuse to share it with another. Most of the time, this lack of sharing is born out of anger towards life and others. Anger may also manifest in the form of anxiety and worry, because when we want a certain outcome, we begin to fear a lesser outcome and hence we become angry about those outcomes.

In some way or the other anger plays a causative role in all mental and emotional suffering. Hence, to learn to manage anger or to even eradicate anger, is to effectively manage or eradicate all mental and emotional suffering. So there is no single magic bullet technique really to deal with anger, eradicating anger in fact informs the main purpose behind Yoga and why the Yoga system was developed in the first place(to end all suffering) The simple answer to your question then is practice Yoga. The more you practice the Yoga system the more you will gain freedom from anger, and generally all kinds of mental and emotional suffering. It is not a case of following a few Yoga techniques, practicing some canned routine or applying a formula whenever anger arises, it is a case of sincerely and diligently practicing and integrating the system of Yoga into your life.

The philosophy of why Yoga works cannot be exhaustively dealt in a single reply, but I can present a you a very general in one line gist of it: Yoga trains your your mind to be less reactive and more proactive. The more you practice, the less reactive your mind will become and more proactive. The emotional anger response is triggered by a thought in your mind when certain kinds of stimulus presents itself, which is a behaviour you have learned over time such that this particular thought has now become associated with that emotional response and it has a become subconscious habit of your mind and body. In fact, if its over a very long time, it can go to the level of unconscious habit. Now, while it is relatively easier to deal with our conscious habits and changing our responses, it is more difficult to deal with habits that we are not aware of. The principle of Yoga then is to expand your awareness to bring the subconscious and the unconscious under your conscious control, like a torchlight illuminating the darker areas of the room so you can see the content.

Please remember this is not going to happen overnight, because we are dealing here with an issue that is deep-seated in your unconscious mind. However, through the constant practice of Yoga and its multipronged system which attacks the mind from every angle, you will begin to notice your habits more, gain more freedom between stimulus and response, and eventually be able to eradicate the unconscious causes completely and be completely free of anger. Your success depends on how sincere, focused and determined your practice is.

#22

Just as slight addendum to the previous post: Yoga is often marketed as a problem-specific program, such as, “Yoga for Anger management, Yoga for Diabetes, Yoga for personal and social effectiveness, Yoga for fitness, Yoga for bodybuilding, Yoga for sexual competence, Yoga for success, Yoga for happiness” While, I am not denying that these programs maybe of some benefit, they are mostly well marketed and superficial gimmicks to make money. Had they just gave you a single Yoga system for every problem you can think of, then they would soon run out of Yoga products to sell you. Dividing problems into dozens and hundreds ensures that they can keep their Yoga business going.

The truth is, no matter what your problem is, it is addressed by the general Yoga system. Your specific problem could be anger, anxiety or depression, but the solution is still the same: Yoga system. You maybe wanting better physical health, more relaxation, increased intelligence and memory, or more personal and social effectiveness in your life, but the solution is still the same: Yoga system. Whatever your problems or goals, the Yoga system is the solution.

Now what do I actually mean by Yoga system? I mean the full holistic mind-body training system prescribed by Patanjali in the Yogasutras consisting of all 8 limbs. A practice that neglects any of these limbs will suffer. Your life is not divided up into compartments mind, body, soul, lifestyle, diet, work, leisure, your life is a system which is made up all these components working in relation to one another and when they all work together synergistically it leads to a successful life. Similarly, if you are desirous of success in Yoga, your practice must be based on all 8 limbs working together. This means your investment in Yoga is not as some gimmick or technique, but it is a total investment into Yoga as your entire life. Your entire life must become Yoga.

#23

[QUOTE=Surya Deva;79222]Just as slight addendum to the previous post: Yoga is often marketed as a problem-specific program, such as, “Yoga for Anger management, Yoga for Diabetes, Yoga for personal and social effectiveness, Yoga for fitness, Yoga for bodybuilding, Yoga for sexual competence, Yoga for success, Yoga for happiness” While, I am not denying that these programs maybe of some benefit, they are mostly well marketed and superficial gimmicks to make money. Had they just gave you a single Yoga system for every problem you can think of, then they would soon run out of Yoga products to sell you. Dividing problems into dozens and hundreds ensures that they can keep their Yoga business going.

The truth is, no matter what your problem is, it is addressed by the general Yoga system. Your specific problem could be anger, anxiety or depression, but the solution is still the same: Yoga system. You maybe wanting better physical health, more relaxation, increased intelligence and memory, or more personal and social effectiveness in your life, but the solution is still the same: Yoga system. Whatever your problems or goals, the Yoga system is the solution.

Now what do I actually mean by Yoga system? I mean the full holistic mind-body training system prescribed by Patanjali in the Yogasutras consisting of all 8 limbs. A practice that neglects any of these limbs will suffer. Your life is not divided up into compartments mind, body, soul, lifestyle, diet, work, leisure, your life is a system which is made up all these components working in relation to one another and when they all work together synergistically it leads to a successful life. Similarly, if you are desirous of success in Yoga, your practice must be based on all 8 limbs working together. This means your investment in Yoga is not as some gimmick or technique, but it is a total investment into Yoga as your entire life. Your entire life must become Yoga.[/QUOTE]

This may be a stupid question. When you mention ones entire life becomming yoga I know that definately includes spiritualitly. Can you apply the yoga system to whatever religious beliefs you have? I realize that yoga roots from hindu and buddha beliefs, but it seems like many people with different belief systems are doing yoga. Sorry for getting off track from the main topic. Just would like your opinion. thanks

#24

[QUOTE=kyogagirl64;79223]This may be a stupid question. When you mention ones entire life becomming yoga I know that definately includes spiritualitly. Can you apply the yoga system to whatever religious beliefs you have? I realize that yoga roots from hindu and buddha beliefs, but it seems like many people with different belief systems are doing yoga. Sorry for getting off track from the main topic. Just would like your opinion. thanks[/QUOTE]

But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

Psalms
Cheers

#25

[QUOTE=Fixed;79224]But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

Psalms
Cheers[/QUOTE]

Thanks :slight_smile:

#26

[QUOTE=kyogagirl64;79223]This may be a stupid question. When you mention ones entire life becomming yoga I know that definately includes spiritualitly. Can you apply the yoga system to whatever religious beliefs you have? I realize that yoga roots from hindu and buddha beliefs, but it seems like many people with different belief systems are doing yoga. Sorry for getting off track from the main topic. Just would like your opinion. thanks[/QUOTE]

Namaste, thanks for your question. The simple answer is Yoga is not a belief-based system, it is completely practical. However, having said that practicing Yoga does require a basic understanding of some of its theoretical principles and as Yoga is a metaphysical system, it does mean accepting certain Metaphysical principles. These are the principles of Samkhya which can be very briefly summarized as

  1. The existence of a higher self(Purusha). This is the true essential self of you, which is pure, free and unbounded wisdom, love, peace and knowledge. As you perceive reality through the filters and noise of your mind(known as chit vrittis) you get a very distorted and unclear perception of your Self, hence you form a pseudo-concept of self. In Yoga, you are working towards removing all those filters and clearing away all that mental noise to get a crystal clear vision of your higher self. Hence, a certain amount of devotion and love is required towards your higher self. This component of devotion which is a crucial drive in Yoga is the religious aspect of Yoga, but there is a lot of flexibility in Yoga in how you interpret your ‘higher self’ that can cover many religious interpretations: Common interpretations are
  1. Advaita Vedanta: The universal self, Brahman
  2. Dvaita Vedanta, Sikhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism: The supreme creator, God
  3. Samkhya Yoga: The individual pure self, the soul
  4. Buddhist: The pure natural and unbound state, Nirvana
  5. Jainism: The universal state of pure wisdom, love, compasssion and intelligence
  6. Secular Humanism: The optimum mind state of functioning

The realization of the “higher self” therefore forms the core of all religious experiences in Yoga, but the interpretation of the nature of the higher self can be numerous to cover pretty much every possible religious and non-religious interpretation.

  1. The existence of an unmanifest nature or field that responds to you and serves you(Prakriti) In Yoga it is said “The seen exists for the sake of the seer” That is this entire material reality is not purposeless, it is stirred into motion by the behaviour of people and manifests what is needed for their continual evolution. This understanding that such a field exists, will make you more responsible for your actions, speech and thought, because every action will cause nature to respond. In this worldview, you are not a tiny insignificant spec in the vast universe, you are an active participant in shaping and moulding reality and your actions, speech and thought play a significant role. In like manner, the actions of others, the environment and events in the universe have direct effects on you. This understanding of the complex causal roles everything plays is called the laws of karma and living your life as per those laws is known as dharma.

  2. The existence of metaphysical dimensions, afterlife and reincarnation. Practicing Yoga to realize the higher self makes no sense if your life is temporary, because the realization of the higher self presupposes lifetimes of evolution.(The Buddhists say millions and billions of lifetimes) Hence, one requires to see thing from a wider cosmic perspective, and not feel like that they must attain liberation in this life or else. Nature will give us many opportunities to evolve. This of course requires accepting that you are not this body(you will see this phrase “I am not this body” repeated ad nauseum in Yoga literature) you are a spiritual being and you will survive physical death. These core principle is one of the most religiously contentious for atheists, Muslims, Christians, Jews. The former two principles are relatively easier to accept with some interpretation, but this one stands in strong contradiction to others. Many Muslims, Christians, Jews and Atheists will struggle in reconciling this with their religions, unless they appeal to the esoteric versions of their religions which accept reincarnation etc

Now, is reincarnation an essential principle we must accept in Yoga? I am afraid so. It makes no sense to begin a Yoga path in life without accepting reincarnation. As the practices we are doing presuppose a total ontological separation between us and the objects of this world re body, mind, ego, intellect and the causal laws of manifestation of how intellect becomes ego, ego becomes mind, mind becomes body etc. Yoga progress cannot happen without this ontological separation. If you were the body, Yoga would not work because there is no higher self to realize. Furthermore, the progress which happen in Yoga is mostly invisible because it is so subtle and minute to detect, some people can be mediating for their entire life and not detect any significant progress, and others may make some progress, but their life ends before they achieve their goals. In the Gita Prince Arjuna asks this question to Krishna, “What if I do not achieve the goal of Yoga in this lifetime, then I am neither a winner in Yoga or a winner in this wordly life, I am a loser on all counts” to which Krishna responds, “Whatever progress you make in this life, will carry on until your future life, an aspiring yogi who fails to attain the goal in this life, will be born in the household of yogis and continue their progress”

So to sum up accepting ones identity as spiritual being on a sojourn on Earth and reincarnation is an essential principle of the Yoga system, not accepting it will cause problems on the path of Yoga, such as doubt, confusion, complacency and depression. But Yoga does not expect you to believe it blindly either, you need to understand why it is true by understanding the philosophy of Yoga. Understanding and acceptance of the philosophy is a prerequisite to beginning the practice.

Finally, I will point out some of the problems in people of non-dharmic religions practicing Yoga, such as a Christian. As Yoga requires you to accept many principles which will practically convert you to Hinduism:

  1. The acceptance of the Higher Self
  2. The acceptance of the law of karma and dharma
  3. The acceptance of reincarnation and metaphysical dimensions

This is why it is very difficult to separate Yoga from Hinduism. Adherents of other religions will find it difficult to reconcile without reinterpreting their own religions to make them more “Hindu”

#27

This is way too fascinating not to include, while doing some of my own research on the subject, I stumbled upon this:

Search for the Houston Chronicle, January 22, 2004. A guy (in Texas no less) was sentenced to do yoga to help him control his anger!

The real question here is, did it work? Couldn’t find that!

#28

Surya Deva thanks so much for the lesson. I really enjoyed the reading and your wisdom. Now I ask myself if Im wasting my time doing yoga. I have a belief system and it doesnt match nor will it ever match the yoga system. Maybe Im wrong but I believe that you can pick and choose and still feel enriched. Time will tell.

#29

Yes, it is difficult to practice Yoga consistently if you have a belief system that conflicts with it. In such cases, practitioners will pick and choose certain aspects of Yoga which appeal such as techniques like postures, breathing exercises or maybe even some of its ethical guidelines like non-violence, which have shown to be very beneficial and efficacious. However, it is not a complete Yoga practice, and will not be as effective.

Generally, I would recommend Yoga only to those who are comfortable with and sympathetic to Hinduism. After all, Yoga is officially the practice of Hinduism.

#30

Are you wasting your time doing yoga? Never mind the physical benefits, never mind the mental benefits… you’re concerned about your belief system? Your belief system is your own system. If you believe in things that are contradictory to Hinduism… yogaism… or whatever ism you want to add, then of course, stay true to your beliefs. Nonetheless, in my limited experience, it seems clear that yoga - for all its benefits - can be practiced FOR its benefits, without having to believe in the numerous gods of the ancient yogis. Does anyone here believe that yoga MUST be practiced as a religion? I’m really curious about this point! In fact… as the judge says, it can be practiced solely for its “practical” benefits which include a LONG list of practical benefits… including - in this discussion forum - anger management. Does anyone disagree??? (that is a genuine question, btw)

#31

[QUOTE=lalalemon;79252]Are you wasting your time doing yoga? Never mind the physical benefits, never mind the mental benefits… you’re concerned about your belief system? Your belief system is your own system. If you believe in things that are contradictory to Hinduism… yogaism… or whatever ism you want to add, then of course, stay true to your beliefs. Nonetheless, in my limited experience, it seems clear that yoga - for all its benefits - can be practiced FOR its benefits, without having to believe in the numerous gods of the ancient yogis. Does anyone here believe that yoga MUST be practiced as a religion? I’m really curious about this point! In fact… as the judge says, it can be practiced solely for its “practical” benefits which include a LONG list of practical benefits… including - in this discussion forum - anger management. Does anyone disagree??? (that is a genuine question, btw)[/QUOTE]

+1.
Agreed
Cheers

#32

Yes, of course Yoga can be practiced for its benefits. It is obviously a well documented practice and shown to be highly effective. However, Yoga is very much a religious practice, and if one does not practice it as a religion it not going to be completely effective. This does not mean that one abandons their own religion to practice Yoga, but it does mean that one has to reconcile ones own religion with the religion of Yoga i.e., Hinduism.

As I argued above, Yoga is not just a set of techniques, it is an entire system which is based on its own epistemology, metaphysics, psychology and ethics. Yoga very much becomes ones life. In this sense it very much is a religion. If you are serious about Yoga for instance, you will eventually find yourself reading Hindu texts like the Upanishads, Mahabharata, Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, Yoga Sutras, Samkhyakarika, Samkhya Sutras, Shiva Samhita, Hatha Yoga Pradapika and as everything within the Hindu pale is interconnected you will find yourself deeply immersed in the Vedic world, reading and practicing Ayurveda, Jytoshia, Vaastu. This forms part of the core discipline of Yoga(svadharma) of self-education and self-introspection.

Yoga is almost like a portal into the Vedic universe and once you go through that portal you are bound to end up Hindu. However, I only say this for people who are serious about Yoga, and not those who just have a superficial interest.

#33

End up hindu? Yoga tells us not to identify our selves with our bodies. If we then start identify our self as a hindu then yoga is obviously not working.

#34

Hinduism is not really a self-identity but a group identity in order to classify the beliefs, practices of a group and its members. Whether somebody calls themselves Hindu or not, if they subscribe to a certain set of beliefs and practices classified as Hinduism, they will be called Hindu by others. If you somebody praying 5 times a day to Allah, reading the Quran, attending the mosque you would call them “Muslim” Similarly if you see somebody practicing Yoga, believing in reincarnation, self-realization, reading Hindu scriptures you would say “Hindu”

I am not actually saying non-Hindu’s cannot practice Yoga. They should practice Yoga, but they will need to reconcile Yoga with their own religion.

#35

Now you are talking from the view of a mind just because anyone would call you hindu if you do yoga and read bhagavad gita. But the most interesting is how you identify your self as. How others identify you,has no value for you and you should not identify as others assume you are. Then you play their game of the mind. I i read english papers and talk english does that make me english, or if i have thoughts in english? No one is english unless seen from body identification.

Religion is for mind , yoga takes you beyond mind(turiya is beyond mind) A true yogi works for the whole a hindu goes to work and then he tries to do what little he can. It is not the same even if belief is shared. Dont forget the saints seeing the truth handed down the veda so that wordly people could also make progress ive told you before but you seem not to have grasped that. They didnt take credit as they didnt write it so why should any hindu take credit for it?. Yoga tells us we are not the doer which the makers of veda clearly understood not taking credit for it.

But i could of course be wrong now as i dont really know nothing , find out for your self.

#36

You have a very romantic view of Yoga, but one which is not really supported by the scholarship or the facts.

If you read the literature the authors of various Yogic texts did indeed take credit for their authorship. In fact the Yogic philosophical school, like other philosophy school in India has developed from debate of various authors, putting forward ideas and debating them among each other in rigorous manner.

Labels and classifications are simply useful conventions that we use to identify things. If we see somebody who is praying 5 times a day, reading the Quran, attending the Mosque we say they are “Muslim” That is because they share those class characteristics which define a Muslim member.

To say Yoga is not a religion obviously shows a complete ignorance, or perhaps misunderstanding of the fact Yoga is something which has developed in the religions of India, more specifically in Hinduism, but the Jains and Buddhists also have developed their own distinct Yoga practices. The aim of Yoga is to end all suffering one experiences permanently and attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death and total transcendence self-realization or god-realization. So Yoga very much is part of a religion and is classified by conventions of language as a religion. Which religion? Well, Yoga is broadly a common aspect of all dharmic religions, but strictly speaking it is Hindu, because it accepts the Hindu philosophy of Self(Buddhism does not accept the Self) and is based on Hindu philosophical underpinnings of purusha and prakriti.

There is this airy-fairy idea that sees Yoga as some universal science or universal truth and therefore as not a religion, but this kind of outlook fails to see that the Yogic universalism are based on specifically Hindu philosophical underpinnings, and these truths are not universally accepted in all religions. So if a Christian member wants to practice Yoga, they are obviously going to face conflicts because the truths of Yoga coming from Hinduism are in stark contrast to the truths in their bible e.g., reincarnation. Therefore, to be forthright about this to any Christians wanting to practice Yoga is a good thing, rather than feeding some airy fairy, vague ideas “Yoga is universal, it is for every religion” Sooner or later, they are going to learn from their pastors that Yoga is in contradiction with their faith.

As for just practicing physical Yoga as in only the asanas form. Well this is not Yoga, this is a Western appropriation of Yoga customized to fit Western modern secular beliefs where Yoga becomes only an exercise system. If one is practicing this form of “Yoga” then they don’t have to worry about religion. However, this is not really Yoga, and when I meet Western Yogis telling me they are yogis because they can do the headstand, I don’t recognize them as yogis. Nor do I recognize many Western Yoga teachers as real Yoga teachers. They teach exercise, they are really fitness instructors :wink:

#37

to treat anger… do any exercise. sports… regulary

also bhastrika pranayam is good

to it regulary

#38

Yoga tells us we are not the doer which the makers of veda clearly understood not taking credit for it.

This does not mean not taking credit for something you have authored. If this attitude was really true in Vedic culture than we would never seen any names associated with any of the literature, we would just see text without any names or everything signed anonymous. This is not true, for we know the Yoga sutras are by Patanjali, we know Panini wrote the Asthadhyayi; Vyassa wrote the Mahabharata; Valmiki the Ramayana; Kapila the Samkhya Sutras; Charaka the Charaka samhita etc.

Even if you think about in terms of common sense if you have written some original work or done some original research you obviously will want credit for it. Your name will go down in history, you will get given opportunities, you will win wealth, fame and status and influence. This is why plagiarism is considered such a bad thing, for the plagiarizer deprive another person from their rights to the privileges that they themselves gain by claiming anothers work as their own.

Not being the doer means that everything is driven by the gunas(the fundamental drives of nature) and that we should relinquish our notion of doership in our actions, meaning that we should act only for the sake of what is needed or what needs to be done not for the sake of personal profit, but the sake of the action itself. Hence, in the case of Arjuna, his warrior being that of the duty is to uphold righteousness and he should act only for its sake and not for his own sake. But relinquishing doership does not mean that one stops doing, one stops using language or observing social conventions, or participating in social rituals or daily rituals like eating, drinking, reading, writing.