Let go of anger

In Let go of worry I stated the 5 Reiki principles and talked about the first principle of Reiki — Just for today, I will let go of worry. This article will discuss Just for today, I will let go of anger which is the second Reiki principle. (These principles are 5 well-known common-sense axioms not exclusive to Reiki, by the way.)

Practice kindness

The best way to let go of anger, in my humble opinion, is to do the third Reiki principle — be kind to all living things. When we are being kind we don’t feel anger and won’t feel anger even if a sudden horrible event occurs — unless we are being dutifully kind and our heart isn’t really in it, in which case we’re missing out on the beauty of feeling kindness. But if our heart feels kindness and we perform acts of kindness out of the goodness of our heart, then anger and other negativity will not come near. Practice kindness every day and anger will fade away into a distant memory.

Human doings

The world can be a weird and wicked place, and a stressful job, neighbours or environment can force us to live to survive rather than live to thrive. Anger can be constantly bubbling under. All kinds of pressures can pull and push us away from being ourselves — and we need to be ourselves.

Human beings

You are a human being — not a human doing or a human being clever or a human being tough or a human being wise — we are human beings. Human beings naturally be but most of us struggle to be, especially in such unnatural times. So let’s focus on being because (this may surprise some people) natural human beings rarely get angry.

Can we do nothing, not even think? Just be? Just experience whatever is happening in this moment? With a little practice every day, we can appreciate our breath coming in and going out, coming from nothing and going back to nothing. It can be very pleasant. Depending on thoughts and circumstances, it can also be difficult to do such a simple thing. We need to somehow detach ourselves from those thoughts which can lead us all over the place and attach ourselves to being. For help in doing this, I often turn to Prem Rawat who has a way of connecting me to contentment.

Finding time

Learning to be is definitely worth practicing and a little regular practice will help greatly with letting go of anger. We may think we don’t have much time to spend on being but if we can’t find time to enjoy this one life and our one unique existence then what are we doing here?

A little trick

A third way to let go of anger is to press down on the inside of the tip of the little finger of either hand. What! An instant fix for anger? Yes, but it’s not easy to remember to do it in the heat of the moment. Anger is an unconscious emotion and if we are conscious, if we are in a state of being, we can keep anger at bay. So can we flip from unconscious anger to conscious little-finger-pressing? Again, practice is needed. By daily practice of being, we become more conscious of emotions as they arise, so as soon as we feel some irritation, press that little finger and any anger that will have followed should dissipate. By creating a habit of little-finger-pressing, there is more chance of remembering to do it if anger comes along.

By the way, I have not studied anger management nor do I have any professional qualification in psychology, psychiatry etc, so if the advice given in this article does not work for you, please seek professional help. My tips shouldn’t do anybody any harm though, so enjoy and have a good day!

(Day 16 of the #100DaysToOffload Series)