I wait for the sensations to calm down, trying not to identify with them. When you identify with a feeling, it tends to turn to stone and you carry it around with you. I put my hands on my heart and close my eyes and say: 'there, there, I recognise your feelings and it's okay to feel them, they're coming from a good place'.
This reminds me of a book written by Laura Huxley, wife of author Aldous Huxley, called You Are Not the Target. She gives great advice gained from her psychedelic experiences on how to avoid creating "ice cubes" that will dam the flow of experience. I liked it because her exercises are practical.
As an example, imagine the energy of something that made you really happy. A memory from your past. Try to relive that moment and how that positive energy made you feel. Laugh and smile if that's how the event made you feel. Next imagine something that made you extremely angry or sad. Try to feel the energy of that moment, the anger or sadness. Cry if you must. Go back and forth between these two extremes of emotion. Now imagine the energy of a mountain or the waves of the sea, which is neutral. This energy is neither positive or negative, emotionally speaking. It just is. After going back and forth between the positive and negative memories a few times, focus on the neutral energy of the mountain or the waves. If you do this exercise for a few weeks, then you will start doing it automatically in moments when you feel extreme emotion threatening to overwhelm your self. You will reach a neutral Zen-state of being that will allow you to remember that you are not the target.
Of course, you should keep a baseball bat handy, just in case you are. 😆
Have you ever done a yoga nidra? It follows this formula too. If we are sad, we understand happiness also exists in the world. I love this. Thankyou.
YES! THATS why we call these things 'practices' - the more we do it, the more automatic it becomes, and it becomes our default in times of stress. So it makes sense that those who have only practiced 'anger' only have that reaction. Imagine the world if we all practiced kindness and compassion! Wow!
Ahahah this made me laugh out loud. But it also validates that sometimes it's okay to lash out or explode ... It's not end of world and we can go back to our practice.
I have not done yoga nidra, but I'm not surprised they developed a technique along these lines. The yogis are very advanced in this department with a variety of techniques, and we're still catching up in the west. You're also right that it's good to blow off some steam once in a while, Viking style. :)
If you want to try one, there's many on the Insight timer app. I like Jennifer Piercy but you can find more traditional ones too. I was trained to teach or deliver it. The yogis were so advanced! They did do studies on your brain on yoga nidra and it's quite remarkable.
I'll check it out! There is so much we still don't know about how our brain operates.