#35 of the 37 Practices of the Bodhisattva Continued

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#35 Habitual disturbing emotions are hard to stop through counter actions. Armed with antidotes, the guards of mindfulness and mental alertness destroy disturbing emotions like attachment at once, as soon as they arise. -- This is the practice of the Bodhisattvas. (JAPID- Jealousy, Anger, Pride, Ignorance, Desire) 
 
By Thich Naht Hanh on Tuesday May 31st, 2016 http://upliftconnect.com/release-anger-mindfulness/
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I've been working on this a lot lately. I realized a long time ago that I don't want to have any of those troublesome feelings (jealousy, anger, pride, etc), so I've always pushed them down. I show my happy face for as long as I can, until I explode. Then whoever is within sight of me gets a good idea of what my ego really thinks of them.

I've tried a couple of different ways to deal with these thoughts and emotions in a positive way. One thing I tried was imagining the thought leave my mind on a little cloud. The idea is to repeat this process over and over again until the thought stops coming. I'm a little impatient, and I gave up very quickly trying this thing that my psychotherapist mother taught me. I read lately that it is important to acknowledge the thought/emotion before you let it go, so I tried that, even though I was a little confused about that.

I most recently tried replacing each negative thought with three things for which I'm grateful. That one worked the most. It definitely raised my vibration. The problem is that I would forget to stop myself, and I would lose myself in the negative thought track so deeply that I banged my toes 5 times in one day before I realized what I was doing with my thoughts!

I found an article, and posted it on my group page How to Release Anger Through Mindfulness, that describes how to handle anger. Anger is a part of you, and every part of you deserves love. Thich Naht Hanh uses a metaphor comparing the anger to a small child that has become upset. Just as you would comfort and love that child to help him calm down, do the same to your anger. Love that part of yourself, comfort that part of yourself, heal that part of yourself, gently encourage that energetic knot to loosen so the Chi can flow freely.

Honestly, this idea is still blowing my mind! I encourage you to read the article http://upliftconnect.com/release-anger-mindfulness/  and let me know what you think. I can't wait to see your comments.







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