Transforming aggression and anger through sound meditation


Increasingly Western psychologist are employing meditation techniques such as Mindfulness as part of effective therapeutic practices in dealing with range of conditions such as depression, pain management and dysfunctional behaviour arising from conditions such as unmanaged anger .

Research in Development Disabilities has published the findings of a study that used mindfulness-based self-control strategy for an adult whose aggression had precluded successful community placement. The individual was taught a simple meditation technique that required him to shift his attention and awareness from the anger-producing situation to a neutral point on his body, the soles of his feet!

It was found that after practice he was able to apply this technique in situations, which may have previously given rise to aggressive behaviour. Results show he was bale to increase self-control over his aggressive behaviour and No aggressive behavior was seen during the 1-year follow-up.

Negative emotions such as anger have been shown to greatly impact on our physiology and health. According to research by the Heartmath Institute, a five-minute outburst of anger has been shown to affect our immune system for almost 6 hours. Feelings of irritation, frustration, and anger create a state of emotional incoherence within us, where our parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems get out of sync.

Mindfulness and Symran (sound or mantra meditation) have been shown to be beneficial in managing and ultimately transforming negative emotions into positive traits and temperament.

Exercise:

Symran (by Dav Panesar)


Ref: Nirbhay N. Singh, Robert G. Wahler, Angela D. Adkins, Rachel E. Myers, Soles of the Feet: a mindfulness-based self-control intervention for aggression by an individual with mild mental retardation and mental illness, Research in Developmental Disabilities 24 (2003) 158–169

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