Just for Today...I will not Anger

Just for today...I will not Anger

Anger is wasted energy, and it drains our life force energy. When we stay in this emotional state for too long, it can make us weak and susceptible to illness. My own fiery energy is no stranger to anger, so I speak from experience. When we allow anger to rear its ugly head, no matter how good we may feel in the moment, it does not last! We end up feeling worse than we did before, and that lousy feeling sticks around all day.

It is hard to shake it off, so how do we begin to let go of anger? Let us look at how we can work on that...

Understanding the emotion of Anger:

In my experience, anger often resides in the past. Past regret makes us resentful and we sometimes carry it into our present and our future. As we get so entangled in the emotion, it becomes difficult to release it and it prevents us from moving forward.

Anger can become a major distraction and an obstacle on our spiritual path. There are so many layers to anger, that one cannot even come up with an opposite word for it without digging deeper into its source. Often, we confuse anger with hurt or disappointment or betrayal.

Anger is like a "reaction emotion" or a "secondary emotion" that we use as a defense mechanism. It is the "fight" of the "fight or flight" mode. Anger, often, is not aimed at the antagonist, but rather at what they are bringing forth from deep within us. The underlying "feeling" or "emotion" of anger, is what really needs to be addressed. Delving in deep and asking ourselves the difficult questions, is one way we can begin to understand the source of our anger response. We should ask ourselves questions such as: "Why did I react with such Anger?; What was the underlying feeling or emotion that was most triggered?; Do I feel disrespected or disregarded?; Do I feel like I am being judged? Am I jealous? ; Am I hurt?; Why am I feeling defensive?; Am I angry because I feel guilty? ; Do I fear failure?; Do I feel unloved?; Do I feel threatened?; Do I see a piece of myself in that person, that I do not like? Maybe I don't want to see or hear the truth?" There are just so many questions to ask yourself to begin to understand the underlying contributors to Anger.

Let's try this for today, if you begin to feel anger:

1. question yourself,

2. reflect what may be the primary emotion that is triggering your secondary emotion of anger.

3. Write this feeling down.

Re-sist the Re-action Once we begin to understand anger, resisting the re-action is our next challenge. We can do this by making a choice to take a step back and pause. Pause will allow us to resist the fight or flight mode. We give ourselves the gift of time to show us exactly where we need to heal within ourselves before we lash out. We gather our inner strength in the pause, as we breathe into it. With a calm and present mind, we can begin to prepare ourselves to review the situation.

Re-View

Now that we have re-sisted the re-action, we can now "re-view" the issue at hand. The review process is important because it will lead us to a better response and then ultimately, we can then begin to come up with a resolution.

So how do we re-view? Figuratively speaking, we can put on a new pair of glasses! We look at the situation from a different point of view. We try a new angle by looking at it from a different perspective. We can pretend that we are a neutral outsider looking in. Perhaps, for a moment we put ourselves in the other person's shoes. What do we see? What do we feel? Are we beginning to get a different perspective or a better understanding of the situation?

Write down some thoughts and sit with it.

When we look at things from a different perspective we can see and hear the message or the lesson. We begin to open new doorways to finding peaceful solutions.

Re-Solve

As we begin to look at these triggers as a healing opportunity and as an opportunity for growth, we learn to re-act less, and re-view more. A resolution will naturally and magnetically flow in with little effort on our part because we have now opened the doors to allow it to happen organically.

Peaceful resolutions benefit all players.

Reiki helps us manage Anger

To live fully balanced, in mind, body and spirit, we must learn to leave the past in the past and focus on the here and now. That is why the Reiki precepts, begin with..." Just for today".

We are being invited, just for today, just for now, just for this very moment, to choose to be present without anger.

Anger deprives us of joy and love. We cannot move forward on our spiritual path until we release the habit of falling back on this emotion that masks our true feelings. Anger is in essence, a cover up of something deeper within us. The practice of Reiki reels us back in and anchors us into the present so that we may set an intention and focus on our own self-healing without the distractions of past or future. You can easily give yourself this gift, with the simple meditation below and following the steps above, along with chanting the Reiki precepts to remind us to be present and allow the universal life force energy to flow where it may.

Just for Today,

Place your hands in gassho position - (hands together in prayer position with your thumbs pressed against your heart center) and repeat:

Just for Today, I do not Anger

(repeat this precept throughout the day or whenever you feel challenged. Do not think about yesterday, don't think about tomorrow, I want you to just focus on Today.)

Breathe into this precept and visualize yourself rising above any challenging situation and connecting in with your higher-self;

Breathe in peace, exhale anger

Breathe in calm, exhale anger

Breathe in forgiveness, exhale anger

Breathe in understanding, exhale anger

Breathe in love, exhale anger

Now, breathe in...and on the exhale fill your entire space and beyond with:

Breathe in peace, exhale peace

Breathe in calm, exhale calm

Breathe in forgiveness, exhale forgiveness

Breathe in understanding, exhale understanding

Breathe in love, exhale love

Namaste.