How meditation can change the way we experience anger

First things first, the relation between anger and meditation might be confusing. But, truth be told, there is a deep relation between anger and meditation. So, to understand the connection between them, we need to first understand anger itself.

Anger has many stages to it. We all know that anger often appears due to the presence of other emotions such as frustration, jealousy, greed and fear. These emotions can emerge unconsciously and sometimes we are not able to control them.

“For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

So how do we learn to become more mindful of these negative emotions as they arise and react to them in a positive way? There can be many tools to prevent or control them, but meditation practice is certainly a good place to start with. Meditation is not just sitting still with eyes closed; there is much more to it. Meditation can help our conscious mind to become aware of our unconscious mind.

Now, our anger and the emotions that cause it do not come about consciously. They are caused by an instinctual reaction to negative situations. Meditation helps us to subdue such reactions by keeping us grounded, calm and peaceful.

“When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred."
-Thomas Jefferson

So, this brings us to the next question, How can we be mindful, when we are in a state of anger? By practicing meditation, we can become more aware of feelings of anger as they start to bubble up in us, and we can choose to not get carried away with them.

Meditation isn’t a quick fix, but with time and practice, we can become more and more mindful of our emotions and our reactions to them.

“You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger."
-Buddha

Get started with meditation now by downloading Medito, the free-forever meditation app. Available on the App Store and Google Play.