What to do when negative emotions become too strong

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Hi All,

This is my second post in this forum. I got some great replies for my first query. Hoping to get same response for this one as well.

My query is that what to do when some strong negative emotions like anger, hurt or sadness overpower me and I don’t feel like practicing. Great yogis say that you should never leave your practice. But sometimes the emotions are so strong that it becomes an effort to even sit for meditation. Though this doesn’t happen very often and there are also times when I overcome these emotions and get on the mat and come out of my practice with the feeling of peace.

some background: I am 29 yrs old female from India. I started learning yoga some 4 yrs back . But I joined certified Iyengar yoga 10 months back. I feel my real asana training started with Iyengar classes only. But I had to leave those classes because of reasons mentioned in earlier post. I had learnt some pranayam tecniques and meditation from my previous teachers. Right now I am practicing on my own. My practice includes : some gentle asana practice using props and support (as taught in iyengar classes), some alternate nostril breathing and meditation.

#2

Anger, hurt or sadness… hmmmm, the emotional ingrediants of spiritual alchemy. The practise of Asana’s must go on disregard of your emotions. Some times we begin practise on a happier note and sometimes on a sad note. But once you’ve begun practise, let go off the emotions. The only striving you need to do is to begin practise. The asana’s strenghthen your physical body which in turn strengthens your mind. Life will go on and so with all of these emotions. I would suggest you to read and be open to the incredible wisdom that comes from some fantastic human beings. You could try Eckhart Tolle’s Power of Now. It’s a great place to begin. Also read up on energy psychology or the EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) which is a simple yet incredible tool to handle the emotions we feel. Once again, let the wheel of emotions not deter you in your practise!

#3

So there are two parts to your question (it seems) …

The first is what to do with or how to deal with emotions that bubble forth and the second is how to prevent “things” from interfering with your practice.

On the second part there is an obvious piece that can be addressed and that is the nature of Yoga being more than asana. Of course this is something I’ve stated over and over but when it fits it fits. Just because one is not doing their asana practice it does not mean the practice of Yoga is dormant. On the contrary. So I would encourage (my) students to examine how they are practicing Yoga above and beyond asana and be grateful for this and kind to themselves in the process.

Now, staying with this I should state that my teacher would say “there is no option as it relates to asana. It is simply a must do.” And he practices daily no matter what. But I cannot say that from my mouth because I allow “things” to get in the way of my practice and it would lack integrity for me to tell you to do something I myself am not (yet) doing.

To point number one, practice has to become something we do not [I]feel[/I] like doing or not doing. It has to become like rising from bed, getting dressed, opening our eyes … and this is part of the work - to not allow highs and low to dictate the practice AND to moderate how we respond to these potential highs and lows so that we can have equanimity of mind.

#4

Thanks @maximus76 and @InnerAthlete for your kind responses…

@InnerAthlete : Your reply was so heart warming… Especially the part about practicing yoga above and beyond asanas.

#5

Asanas is only preparation for meditation. So if one can have a steady pose skipping asanas is not leaving your practice. Yoga is not limited to asanas. One should however working on his/her mind everyday.

Patanjali, in his Yoga Sutras defines asana as follows:

स्थिरसुखमासनम् ।

sthirasukhamaasanam - posture should be steady and comfortable (sutra 2.46).

In Raja Yoga, asana refers to the seated postures suitable for meditation. When one can maintain a steady and comfortable posture for a long time in meditation, then only the mind can be controlled and made free of 'chitta vrittis" or fluctuations of the mind.

#6

Your question makes me question what exactly are negetive emotions, are they involuntary feelings which usually arise from inner or outer conflict?

I geuss sometimes our resistance to a negetive feeling, can make it a whole lot worse. It’s normal to feel nothing sometimes, to feel angry, sad, happy, moody. Maybe if we just allow ourselfs to feel it, it will eventually pass. Lots of sad things happen in world and sometimes we get cought up in them or we ecperience something painful ourselfs, our outter world suffers which can cause inner conflict.

I have had similar experiences were I’m really not feeling like practising, I just have a little break from it, then I always enjoy it more when I come back to it.

I know theres a lot of talk of disipline, some say you preactice every day no matter what and must be a lot.of sense in this including the fact We dont want our practice to be dependant on our emotion that day. But it can be difficult.

I just believe if we really don’t feel like asanas, then we should spend more time on what we do feel like, gradually we will see that the more we practise the better we feel so we will always want to practice hehe.

Go easy on the body, :slight_smile:
God bless & goodluck getting back into it

#7

The question touches many things when we expand the orbits of our vision.

First, ‘postures’. Taking that to mean only body postures robs us from richer interpretations. It would make our asana practice much deeper when we take it as body postures + emotional poise + intellectual position. All three provide base for higher states of Samadhi.

Secondly, ‘negative’ emotions. This has a shade of subjectivity and imply that negative emotions are unwelcome, positive are ok. We need to take it as “restrain negative, then even positive, thus ultimately all emotions”. A human being without emotions may sound like a robot. But if one’s journey is towards the ultimate truth, nothing should sway.

Now I have a different take on ‘negative emotions coming in the way of asana practice.’ InnerAthlete has already said this ‘there is more to yoga than asanas’. Yoga is about mind and the real yoga exercise is self-study. Even during the asanas or even otherwise one needs to be observing and understanding oneself- especially the mind-states. Some scientists find phenomena like eclipses or tornado as excellent opportunities to study what is normally not available. In the same way, overwhelming emotions, better if they are negative would be a great moment to find out where they come from and what triggers their sweep. One should go into asana routine more determined to get intimate with the raging emotions. I do this, it pays.

#8

Hmm, very intresting suhas tambe. I will also try this

#9

One could tell one self. These are not my emotions whenever they arise.

#10

@All,

Thanks for taking time to respond to my query. It seems that every body goes through these kind of experiences in the beginning of journey and as we go deeper and deeper in our practice, these issues will have less impact. I am also just a beginner but I hope one day I will also reach that stage…

Thanks again for these insightful replies…

#11

To break away from negative emotion / thoughts try take soft and deep inhales and gently lift the sternum, without dropping it on the exhales. I find negative emotions cannot take root in a body filled with positive prāṇa / energies ! :stuck_out_tongue:

#12

Thank you for this post. I often feel the same. When I am frustrated or sad, I resist practice. I also let my surroundings dictate my practice sometimes. When I don’t feel comfortable in my environment, I will not practice.
Lately, I have been doing better at overcoming this, but it is difficult.

#13

Namaste

I am often not in a good mood in the mornings as I work irregular hours my practice is often not on same hours. working nightshifts et.c.
But I have sort of wowed to do at least 4 rounds of surya namaskar first thing when awakening. This is manageable to my mind to do. Most often having started these surya namaskars make me continuing with more asanas and some pranayama as well.

Surya namaskar is en excellent panacea for both the physical and mental issues.

If looking at the three [I]Gunas[/I].Often depression or low states of mind are tamasic. And to come out of tamasic states can be done by activating raja guna,
which may be done by physical movement. This leads then on to sattva state(balance, light).

Swami Shivananda from Rishikesh recommended some brisk movement (walking) with om chanting in the [I]Ajna chakra[/I] (eyebrow center).
This activates rajo guna and also turn it to more light harmonious energies with the
OM mantra vibration.

Personally sometimes I find some brisk movement doing mantras to music, like dancing to
kirtan (mantra music), with some hatha yoga moves like backbends, cobra intersected, being excellent.
Along with some chanting. The mood is bound to improve.

Fear is counter acted by a yoga and meditation practice as it will increase the sense of oneness with the universe.
According to yogic scripures the main cause of fear is the identification with the body which makes one an isolated ego with the rest of the world as outside forces, which may be threatening.
(This wiew is also an illusion which make the practice of yoga and meditation all the more important to
get a more real and true wiew of the world).

Contemplation of chapter 2 of Bhagavadgita is also good for fear I think. For those
interested in the yogic philosophy.

Best regards

#14

Hey yb23,

If you are feeling an overwhelming amount of negative emotion after practice, it’s time to slow your practice down a bit until the extreme emotions subside. Try to find a balance between no practice and intense practice. If you stop practice altogether, it will be difficult to process these emotions and continue the purification process. On the other hand, if you plow through practice without regard to the severe symptoms, you will get overloaded. Find that balance by pacing your practice.

#15

[QUOTE=yb23;81751]

My query is that what to do when some strong negative emotions like anger, hurt or sadness overpower me and I don’t feel like practicing. Great yogis say that you should never leave your practice. But sometimes the emotions are so strong that it becomes an effort to even sit for meditation. Though this doesn’t happen very often and there are also times when I overcome these emotions and get on the mat and come out of my practice with the feeling of peace.
.[/QUOTE]

just keep going…it is easy to be a master on a desolated mountain;)

analyze your emotions. ask yourself where re they coming from…most often they come from ego…hence we lean about ego and how to handle it

#16

Emotions tell us to take action in our lives, we should listen to them, not bulldoze over them with practice.
You may need to see a counselor.
Abstracting and generalizing your emotions, with thinking such as “they come from ego”, is sometimes a way of denying the painful and very personal issues, and even traumas, that are giving rise to them.
However we sometimes live in an environment where our problems cannot be voiced and our experience is not respected; in such situations we may feel that the emotions are best buried.