Emotions play a very important part in our lives. If there is no emotion, there is no life. However, if emotions control you, then you are in a mess.
We often get caught up in emotional storms and we may not know what to do. We may feel out of balance. Such situations arise in everyone’s life. Is there a way we can be prepared? How can we master these emotions that seem to overpower us?
Many times, emotions come in forcefully. What can you do when emotions like anger arise?
Emotions are More Powerful than Thoughts
Anger is the distortion of your true nature and it doesn’t allow you to shine forth fully. However, you may remind yourself a hundred times that you shouldn’t get angry, but when the emotion comes, you are unable to control it. Emotions are much more powerful than your thoughts.
In this article, we will explore a few wisdom sutras and practices that can help you master your emotions.
Attend to the Spirit
The thought is like the gatekeeper of the house. You may think, “Oh, I will be happy”, but when emotions come, they barge in with such force that all your thought processes just disappear. The situations overpower you. But beyond the emotions is the radiance of the soul, the spirit. Techniques like Sudarshan Kriya and meditation aim to transcend the thought level and reach that level of consciousness from where everything runs.
Your Center is All Positive
The structure of human consciousness or the mind is very similar to that of an atom. The positively charged protons are in the center of the atom, while the negatively charged electrons are only on the circumference. Similarly, even in human consciousness, all the negativities and vices are only in the periphery. The center of your existence is all positivity. You are akin to the structure of an atom. Go back to your center where you find that all your emotions just dissolve. Here is where the breath can help you lead you to your core.
Pay Attention to Your Breath and Meditate
Breath is the connection between the body and mind. Learning about the breath is very important. For every rhythm in the mind, there is a corresponding rhythm in the breath, and for every rhythm in the breath, there is a corresponding emotion. When you cannot handle your emotions directly, you can handle them through the breath. Breathing techniques like Pranayama and Sudarshan Kriya along with meditation are the perfect antidote to negative emotions.
Be like a Child
Have you noticed when children are crying, it takes them just a few minutes to smile back? But as adults, if we are upset, it takes us maybe one or two months or even more to bring the smile back.
Any negative emotion should remain only as long as a line stays on the surface of the water. Getting upset is normal, but to carry those emotions for months or years together is not healthy.
So if an emotion, say anger, is in your mind chewing and chewing, then it is like cancer and will eat you away. Purity of emotion is essential for yourself and for everybody.
Don’t Lose Your Awareness
Emotions like anger in itself are not bad. Lord Krishna got angry once. He had promised that he would never take up any weapon in the war, but he waited and waited, and nothing happened. So, he took up his Sudarshan Chakra.
Some situations warrant showing anger, but when you get angry, have you observed what happens to you? You are shaken completely. Look at the consequences of getting angry. Are you happy with the decisions you have made or the words you have spoken in a state of anger? No, because you lose your awareness. But if you are completely aware and are acting angry, that is fine.
Be Present
Anger is always about something that has already happened. Is it of any use getting angry or sad about something which you cannot alter? The mind vacillates between the past and the future. When the mind is in the past, it’s angry or upset about something that has already happened. And when the mind is in the future, it’s anxious about something that may or may not happen. When the mind is in the present moment, anxiety and anger appear so meaningless. Spiritual practices like meditation help you maintain your centeredness and not to be shaken by small events. We can reorient our mind; reorient our brains, to be in the present moment. We then become positive, creative, and happy.
Reverse the Tendency of the Mind
The memory often tends to hold on to the negative. If you are given ten compliments and one insult, what do you hold on to? You forget all the ten compliments and hold on to one negative thing. You need to reverse this tendency. That which reverses this tendency of holding on to the negative to becoming positive is yoga and spirituality.
Don’t Be a Football
Many times, we get overly disturbed by others’ words or opinions. When someone criticizes you and says bad things about you, do not react. Don’t become a football of their opinions.
Don’t worry what others are thinking about you. In fact, nobody has time to think about you. Look into yourself and see what is right and what is not right about yourself.
People criticize you for two reasons. One is that they love you and are your well-wishers. While criticizing or commenting about you, they are putting their love and friendship for you at risk. It is a positive criticism and you should be able to take it without getting too emotional. On the other hand, if someone is criticizing you because they don’t know you, or are jealous or angry at you, then know that they are small-minded, and you should have compassion for them.
Faith, Surrender, or Valor
Awaken the valor in you. Don’t feel like a Mickey Mouse of your own emotions. Have faith that you will be able to handle your mind and emotions. Either through faith or surrender or valor, you can overcome your turmoils.
Remove All Labels
If you label yourself that you are emotionally weak, you will become emotionally weak. Remove all labels that you put on yourself. “I am an angry person.” – No, you are not. No child has come onto this planet being angry and agitated. And as we have seen earlier, the center of your existence is all positive. All the negativities and vices are only in the periphery. Similarly, sometimes you get angry, dejected, or sad, but your true nature is peace and love.
Honor your emotions and keep them under control. Do not suppress your emotions but don’t be a victim of them either. Use your emotions to your advantage, rather than being carried away by them. Master your emotions and be a mastermind.
