Blowing a Little Angry Wind

A few days ago, I got rip roaring angry. I felt like one of those cartoon characters that I used to watch every Saturday morning when I was a kid -- the pressure cooker inside of me got hotter and hotter until it finally blew, resulting in steam coming out of my ears.

The holistic model of yoga (think Koshas) can be understood clearly when experiencing anger (the emotional body) -- your physical body changes (your muscles tense, your face gets red), your breath body changes (your breathing gets choppier, shorter, and more rapid), your mind changes (your thoughts become negative), and your personality changes (you become more aggressive). Change one of these bodies and all the others are affected.

One of my favorite ways for dealing with anger is working with the breath body -- I make a conscious effort to change my breathing. I lengthen my exhales, sometimes retaining my exhale. Often times I'll work with anger in a non-yoga fashion -- I'll dump the emotional charge by journaling. Sometimes I'll even deal with it in a Buddhist way -- I'll send Metta to the subject of my anger. 

How you deal with it isn't the most critical thing here -- it's THAT you deal with it. Unresolved or tamped down anger can cause vata prakopa. What, you ask, is vata prakopa? It literally translates as "angry wind" and can found in many Ayurvedic texts. The concept of vata prakopa is simple -- anything we do that agitates the breath causes us suffering. Often, this suffering results in illness (everything from flatulence to infertility to irritable bowel syndrome).

Think about it -- unexpressed anger lodges itself in the body causes muscles to tighten and breath restriction. Over time, this stress (both emotional and physical) causes disease. It's the ultimate stress-related illness. Feeling/expressing/diffusing the anger enables the prana to flow more freely. When it moves freely throughout the system, we are healthy, we feel better. 

How can we affect the flow of prana? Two ways:

1. Breath -- pranayama or conscious breathing
2. Attention -- mudra or bandhas

The other day, I went with the first way and then I went off the yoga grid by dumping my emotional charge in a journal. The result -- I calmed down quickly and I easily put the situation behind me. No angry wind here!

If you'd like to read a bit more on this topic, click here for an interesting article from the Ayurveda standpoint. 

If you're a fan of dealing with emotions by working with your hips during asana, click here for some excellent hip opening advice (complete with video) from fellow yogi Eoin Finn. 

A word to all of you wise yogis out there -- don't get your wind angry!

Namaste!

Comments

[james]

hi

my 3 years of experience with yoga has taught me that there can be a more holistic exercise than yoga.

a complete workout for mind and body

http://www.squidoo.com/yoga-beginners

[yoga sutras]

Hmm… I read blogs on a similar topic, but i never visited your blog. I added it to favorites and i’ll be your constant reader.

[yoga menstruation]

I'm not really bothered by the whole yoga as a sport thing. Some practice yoga for the exercise, some do it for health reasons while others do it for spirituality. If doing it as a sport brings awareness to the practice on whole, then great.

[Catalyst Yogi]

Sat Nam, (reverent greetings)

Good article ! There is also a powerful pranayam for relieving anger found in Kundalini Yoga called Sitali Breath (cooling breath)

Here's how you do it ...
- sit with a straight spine - curl your tongue like a taco and INHALE through your curled tongue - EXHALE through your nostrils - do this for 3 mins and watch the anger move through your body !

Try it

peace and love to ALL,

Catalyst Yogi
http://www.catalystyogi.com/
http://twitter.com/catalyst_yogi

[rand(om) bites]

Laura wrote pretty much what I was thinking also. Yoga has helped me deal with anger and reacting to it most of the time but some days I just need to let it out. Timely post, I actually wrote in my journal the other day about something making me cranky and soon after it seemed easier to let go. Great blog hon!

[Laua Murru]

I don't become angry often, but when I do, it's a spontaneous reaction. In an intant, I can feel the heat rising through me. Yoga has made me more aware of my emotions and how my thoughts can take over my body. By stepping back and taking a moment to breath deeply, I'm able to diffuse my emotional reactions, whether they be anxiousness, fear or anger!

Laura
http://nittygrittyfitness.com

[Bob Weisenberg]

Great advice, Diane.

I was startled to learn the other day that I've been using a kind of Yoga technique unknowingly ever since the mid-seventies. To help deal with job stress, I read a book called "The Relaxation Response" by Herbert Benson.

I had long since forgotten that Benson was an early researcher into the health benefits of Yoga and related meditation. I been using the techniques, similar to what you describe above, without being aware of their origin.

Now I'm anxious to go back and look at the book with my current interest in Yoga.

Bob Weisenberg
http://YogaDemystified.com