Chances are if you’re feeling stuck right now in anxious reactions, it’s not the first time. And, most likely you’ve tried some things, have some tools that work at times, and you keep on the lookout for new techniques that might get rid of anxiety. This week, several times I’ve had conversations about reaching points where, frankly, people just get tired of trying so hard. I get it. Burned out from trying to be on top of managing anxiety so it doesn’t get out of hand…and then it does anyways. It can be frustrating and make you feel like why keep trying?!

YOGA OF EMOTIONS

I wanted to take some time to share about a specific aspect of the Yoga perspective on all this. Let’s call it the Yoga of Emotions.  Who knows, maybe there will be something that helps you have a shift in how you’re feeling stuck in anxious reactions right now.

What I’m about to share comes from a philosophy of Yoga that is the basis of Patanjali Yoga Sutras, is touched on in the Bhagavad Gita, and influenced Hinduism. It’s called Sankhya Yoga and is laid out in the scripture or text, Sankhya Karika.

This philosophy categorizes everything into two primary principles – Purusha and Prakriti. 

Putting it simply, Purusha is That which doesn’t change, isn’t touched by cause and effect, and is eternal. Prakriti is everything that does change, subject to the laws of cause and effect, and has a beginning and an end.

At this point, everything we ‘know’ is Prakriti. This includes things we can see and touch, like everything in the room around you right now. It also includes things we can’t touch, like emotions, thoughts, our roles, etc.

Purusha is the essence or base of ‘Who I am.’ We can call it our ‘soul’. But it’s not just the essence of humans, but of everything…but let’s actually just keep it to everything living. I think that’s a bit easier to conceptualize.

ANXIETY THROUGH THE LENS OF THE YOGA OF EMOTIONS

Let’s take a moment now, to see anxiety through the lens of Purusha and Prakriti. 

A question to start with:

• Does the reaction you have, which you call ‘anxious’ or ‘anxiety’ always present, never changing, and without beginning or end?

Chances are you came to the conclusion that, ‘No’, none of that is true for anxiety. Even though you might dislike this reaction, it changes, comes and goes, and has a beginning and ending – even if it keeps happening. You have many other emotional experiences between times when you feel anxious.

This is so important to understand!

Since you answered ‘No’ to the above question, an anxious reaction IS NOT who you are. It can’t be – simply because it changes.Any time you say, “I am anxious,” this is a false statement. The true statement is: “I feel anxious right now because ________.”

There is only a one word difference between these two sentences but the energy and try meaning of them are profoundly different. 

The ‘I Am’ is most likely something you might, at best, have had moments of sensing it exists, but quickly lose that sense. You know, those moments where you feel connected to something bigger, grander, or higher than yourself. It’s hard to THINK about Purusha because the mind itself is Prakriti. Yes, the mind is constantly changing, evolving. It is NOT ‘Who I Am.’ 

Unfortunately, the mind can’t think its way to Purusha. BUT, we need the mind to move towards this higher wisdom, so let’s not vilify it! 

Yoga, on a much deeper level than a pose class, is a path of practicing discernment of Prakriti until one day a person not only knows but becomes the ‘I Am.’ This is what we call Self-realization or enlightenment. 

I JUST WANT TO STOP FEELING SO ANXIOUS!

I know, I know…you just want to stop anxiety and be free from it once and for all. In order for that to actually, 100% happen, it’s Self-realization you’re unknowingly desiring. 

Because anxiety and the anxious reaction is Prakriti, it can’t be eradicated as long as you are living life as a typical human being. And this isn’t bad! No, it’s not time to give up…

Instead it’s an opportunity to SHIFT your intention with anxiety and ALL emotional reactions. You can stop taking it so seriously and bring a bit of playfulness into this! (A journal reflection: Where did your judgement of anxiety and anxious reactions start?)

The brilliant thing about understanding that the nature of your emotions is Prakriti, i.e. they change and are subject to cause and effect, means that they absolutely, positively cannot last forever. They will change and have to change since that is their nature.

Trust this! Accept it!

THE NEXT STEP WITH THE YOGA OF EMOTIONS

Because now, you no longer need to put energy into ‘fixing’ the reaction or making it stop. Both of these are a misdirection of your energy. It’s no wonder you have felt stuck and on a hamster wheel! This mentality of ‘fixing’ and ‘stopping’ emotions is another way we focus on controlling something that can’t be controlled.

What we can control, though…

Is what ACTIONS we take when an emotional reaction happens.

Here’s a second question for you:

• Where is the emotional reaction happening?

When you tuned into the news recently, whether you read it or watched it, there was most like an emotional reaction that happened. Where did that reaction originate from?

Over the next week, take some time to observe emotional reactions and let me know! Email me at tlgingrich@samyayogahealing.com or DM through Messenger (Twyla Gingrich) or IG (Samya Yoga Healing).

And we’ll go over Part 2 of the conversation in a week – if there’s no need to fix or stop an emotional reaction…then what action do we take instead?

What reaction is happening right now?

Shanti.

 

P.S. Prakriti and Purusha, along with Patanjali Yoga Sutras are the lens through which we view emotions in my 12-week program that helps midlife women get out of the cycle of anxiety, find their voice, and move through conflict confidently. Curious and want to know more? Awesome! Let’s chat. Schedule a time that works for you. I’d love to connect!