Living Yoga: The Wisdom of Anger by Ashleigh Stewart

"I sat with my anger long enough, until she told me her real name was grief." – C.S. Lewis

I recently read a comment in an online yoga teachers' forum. The commenter expressed the opinion that angry people are weak, and that it is entertaining to watch them display their anger. The discussion that followed inspired me to write about anger today.

I consider myself a compassionate person, someone who tries to see beyond people's perceived weaknesses. Comments like the one I read leave me feeling disappointed.

Looking through compassionate eyes, it seems obvious that someone experiencing anger is often feeling pain, hurt, or frustration without knowing how to process it. Anger is frequently the result.

Comments like this remind me that we still have much to learn about the nature of our so-called "darker" emotions. I use the word darker intentionally, not because I believe anger is bad or negative, but because I believe there is much light to be shed on our understanding of it.

As a yoga teacher and practitioner, one of the greatest gifts yoga has given me is the ability to embrace, feel, process, and release all of my emotions without judgment. Being a yogi does not mean you never experience difficult emotions, nor does it mean there is something wrong if you do. It simply means you have tools to understand and navigate them with greater awareness.

Yoga has not only helped me navigate my emotional landscape, it has also helped me understand that emotions such as anger are important teachers. We have much to learn from them, and they hold just as much value in our growth and well-being as the emotions we tend to label as positive.

Acknowledging difficult emotions is not only crucial for our emotional and mental health, it is essential for the growth of consciousness. Negative emotions are like signposts, pointing us toward the very places that require healing, attention, or growth. We could not expand without them.

These emotions help us define our desires and inner longings because they point directly to what feels out of alignment. When we become aware of what we do not want, we gain greater clarity about what we do want. In this way, our emotions become a compass, guiding us toward a more fulfilling and authentic life.

The culture of toxic positivity is widespread these days, and I am not afraid to say it. We glorify slogans such as "good vibes only" and often treat difficult emotions as something to be avoided. While there is nothing wrong with cultivating positivity, ignoring emotions such as anger means ignoring the wisdom they carry.

Sometimes we need our discomfort to guide us. We need it to show us where we have abandoned ourselves, where we need change, or where we are longing for something more meaningful. Understanding our emotions can be the first step toward creating a life that feels more aligned.

Negative emotion often indicates that something is out of balance. It may point to dissatisfaction in a relationship, a career, a circumstance, or even within ourselves. By examining our emotions and asking questions such as, "Why do I feel this way?" or "What would I rather be experiencing?" we begin to create new possibilities. These reflections help us move toward a different experience of life.

As a yoga teacher, discussing the true nature of yoga is deeply important to me. Yoga means "to yoke" or "to unite." In order to unite with our highest self, we must first embrace all parts of ourselves, including the uncomfortable ones.

Yoga is not simply about postures, flexibility, fitness, or exercise. It is an ancient system for living that invites us to understand, process, and integrate every aspect of who we are. When practiced fully, yoga asks us to face ourselves honestly so that we may move toward a state of union with our soul and with the Divine.

Suppressing emotions such as anger is ultimately an act of judgment. Not only does it prevent us from understanding our own suffering, it limits our growth and development.

While anger is often categorized as a negative emotion associated with weakness, powerlessness, or a lack of self-control, my experience has taught me otherwise.

I know because I have lived it.

I was very angry for a very long time.

For lots of reasons.

For a long time, I believed my anger was something I needed to overcome. As a yoga teacher, I sometimes questioned whether I was somehow failing spiritually because I still experienced it. Shouldn't I have been more peaceful? More accepting? More "zen"? It took me years to realise that anger wasn't evidence of failure. It was evidence that something within me was asking to be seen. Beneath much of my anger was grief. Grief for the people I had lost, the dreams that had changed, and the parts of myself I had abandoned simply trying to survive.

What I came to understand is that anger is rarely a sign of weakness. More often, it is evidence of powerful energy seeking expression. Beneath anger there is often passion, creativity, purpose, and a deep desire for change.

In my own life, anger frequently arose when parts of me felt unheard, suppressed, or misunderstood. It was often the voice of something within me longing to be expressed. Like fire, that energy can become destructive when ignored, but transformative when understood and directed.

According to Ayurveda, the sister science of yoga, anger is closely associated with Pitta dosha. Anger embodies the hot, sharp, and intense qualities of the fire element. It is often accompanied by frustration, impatience, and irritability.

Fire is the energy of transformation. It has the power to illuminate, inspire, energize, and create. Yet when left unchecked, it can also consume and destroy. The challenge is not to extinguish the fire, but to learn how to work with it consciously.

Within the yogic understanding of the chakra system, anger is often connected to both the root chakra and the solar plexus chakra. The root chakra relates to grounding, survival, stability, and personal power. The solar plexus governs action, will, determination, confidence, and the expression of our ideas into the world. When energy becomes blocked or creativity remains unexpressed, it can manifest as frustration and anger.

When our energy is balanced, emotions move through us naturally. Anger becomes information rather than identity. It becomes something we experience, learn from, and release.

Understanding our doshas and the energies of the chakra system can provide valuable insight into our emotional landscape. Together, Ayurveda and Yoga offer a holistic framework for understanding the relationship between mind, body, and spirit.

These ancient sciences have helped me navigate many of my own challenges. Through them, I have learned to understand myself more deeply and to create greater balance, harmony, and flow in my life.

When I first came across the quote, "I sat with my anger long enough, until she told me her real name was grief," I understood it intellectually. It wasn't until I lived through my own experiences that I truly understood its depth. When I stopped resisting my anger and became curious about it instead, I discovered it wasn't asking me to stay angry. It was asking me to listen.

If you are seeking greater emotional wellness, balance, and self-understanding, yoga and Ayurveda may offer a path worth exploring.

You do not need to have all the answers before you begin. Simply start where you are. The decision to move toward healing carries its own power, and often that first step is enough to guide you toward the people, practices, and opportunities that are right for you.

You have the ability to change yourself and, in doing so, change your life. Yoga and Ayurveda are powerful tools for supporting that journey. You deserve to experience a life that feels aligned with your deepest values and desires, while cultivating a sense of mastery over your mind, body, and emotions.

Perhaps the question isn't, "How do I get rid of my anger?" but rather, "What is my anger trying to show me?" Sometimes, if we sit with it long enough, it quietly reveals its true name.