Anger can make you rage with annoyance and make you do things that afterwards can feel comical or worse hurtful to others. When you angry and in an active conflict, sometimes decisions are made based on egos and what people might think, rather than what a sound and well-adjusted person would do. In such a situation, you can be tactless and insensitive to those around you and especially those you are conflicting with. Even if you don’t regularly get angry, then the burst of emotions can make you feel nauseous and some people even end up crying during bursts of anger.
Irrespective of the kind of person you are, meditation for conflict resolution is a great way to calm your mind and thoughts to bring out words that feel well-adjusted according to the situation. If you meditate for conflict resolution, it is likely that regrets after the conflict has ended are decreased. So, we have put together a list of 5 proven techniques of conflict resolution that are based on meditative practice.
Understanding Conflict and Its Impact
Before we begin to understand how to meditate for conflict resolution, let’s first begin by understand how conflict is perceived from the mind of a meditator. From the calm and collected mind of one who meditates, conflict is simply a disagreement. There can be correct and incorrect parties, but a disagreement based on difference of opinion, views and perspectives forms the basis of a conflict. If conflict remains for too long, it can cloud judgment and decrease self-awareness, which means that each party is a victim in their head and everybody else is simply there to annoy them.
You Can Also Read This Article: Ancient Meditation Techniques
The Cost of Workplace Conflicts
The impact of a conflict is something we do not talk about, even though conflicts can cause major damage, especially in a formal setting like workplace. Certain practices, lack of understanding and lacking compassion can result in anger from employees towards other employees or those acting as a manager. Irrespective of the cause of conflict, when conflict arises in a workplace it has significant consequences
On the person or employee, conflict can result in severe stress and burnout from work, and if they are exposed to conflict that arises from biases, prejudices or workplace bullying, then anxiety, depression and even suicidal thoughts can be seen
On the company, workplace conflict can result in a decline in productivity because employees are not committed to their work and not satisfied with their work environment. Anger at boss or company can also cause a decline in work quality.
Psychological Effects of Unresolved Disputes
Not just work, if you have conflict in your life then quality of life can decline. Based on how you respond to conflict, it can decrease focus on tasks and put a pause to any productive activities you might want to do. As a result, you end up feeling drained and lacking any energy to complete mundane activities.
Conflict and anger from conflicting situations can also reduce any calm energy within you. Things you did to relax or kindness you had for others can feel like chores you are unwilling to do.
The Power of Meditation in Conflict Resolution
As humans, we are bound to feel strong emotions. Whether it is happiness and contentment with life or anger and frustration that arises due to other people of circumstances. The description of meditation in the face of such strong emotions is that it deeply affects your heart and creates a calm. Meditation is very powerful, it can help you communicate the truth of your emotions, creates awareness and helps to deal with the outcome.
Scientific Evidence: How Meditation Changes the Brain
Guided meditation for dealing with conflict is seen to have major effects on angry people, but there is more to meditation than just conflict resolution. The research findings of a study conducted by researchers in Norway found meditation can change the brain. What it means is that meditation makes certain areas of the brain working highly active. The prefrontal cortex, amygdala and hippocampus allow for decision=making, emotional regulation and memory, which is highly activated by meditation.
Key Moments: When to Use Meditation for Conflicts
So, if the amygdala, prefrontal cortex and hippocampus are changed through meditation, the outcome for this situation is to include meditation in daily life for conflict resolution. The time to use mindfulness meditation for conflict resolution is:
- When you are stressed and even small tasks feel like too much effort
- When any and all reasoning has gone out
- Feeling no empathy for others or situations is also a great time to start meditation
5 Guided Meditations to Resolve Conflicts – Transcripts
1. Mindful Breathing for Immediate Calm
Anger is resonated with chaos, powerlessness and an emotional outburst that can impact any person that comes in your way. It is highly destructive and can cause your mind to whither and relationships to be affected in a way that never heals. This is why, as soon as you feel an anger outburst coming, breathing meditation technique is the perfect to promote a sense of relaxation and pause.
Transcript:
- As soon as you get angry, ask others to remind you or make an effort to breathe
- Whether you are standing, sitting or lying down, take a deep breath in
- Inhale for 3 seconds and focus only on your breath
- Hold your breath for 2 seconds
- Exhale for 4 seconds
2. Loving-Kindness Meditation to Cultivate Empathy
Oftentimes anger stems from frustration and it grows into chaos due to a lack of empathy. This is why, you have to work on your empathy and remind yourself how others feel when you are getting angry. Mindfulness meditation in this way helps you acknowledge the harm and hurt caused by your anger and effectively channels empathetic thoughts.
Transcript:
- To resolve conflicts and manage emotion surrounding anger, move forward by taking out time for loving kindness meditation
- Sit down on crossed legs and with a straight back
- Conduct a breathing exercise to calm body and mind, while focus on your heart
- Afterwards, repeat the loving-kindness mantra
- May I be happy, May I be safe, May I be peaceful and May I give and receive peace
- Fill your brain with the wisdom of these words and fixate on the present moment
3. Body Scan to Release Tension
Anger over time can have physiological effects because numerous studies have found anger reaction to cause an upset of immune system and digestive system, while the cardiovascular system that is connected to depression and anxiety can also face problems. To ensure that you are protecting your physiognomy and releasing any built-up tension, then body scan meditation is perfect to respond
Transcript:
- Most people complain of muscle tension in the chest, arms, shoulders and jaw after a fit of rage
- To work on muscle tension, lie down on a yoga mat in a calmly designed environment and close your eyes
- Do not focus on your reaction or key moments when you were angry
- Instead, focus your thoughts by breathing meditation for 5 minutes
- Now begin the body scan by choosing one part of your body to meditate. It can be the mentioned body parts or you can choose to focus on upper body only
- As you breathe out, notice how the muscles react. Focus on their movement
- Feel every twitch of muscle
- What feels comfortable, what is hurting, where is it hurting?
4. Visualization for Peaceful Outcomes
To cultivate a response system to your anger, so that you do not go into a fit of rage, visualization meditation can help. Kindness, being grateful and being compassionate are sensations that can be turned into a visual of you to react in a calm manner to hurtful situations. The way it works is that you can design a visual that brings calmness inside
Transcript:
- Find a comfortable and relaxing position to meditate
- Close your eyes and straighten your back
- Focus on your breathing and bring calmness to the body
- Now visualize the person, event or situation that is making you angry
- For example, if a person is angering you then bring them into your head and let the thoughts come as they are.
- You might feel negative energy, but focus on how you feel and why is there an animosity
- Now imagine life from their perspective. Why are they behaving in a certain way? What might be their objectives in causing you harm? It can be that the person is facing issues and they are simply projecting anger of other things towards you
- Repeat this meditation until positive thoughts or neutrality fill your head
5. Transcendental Meditation for Long-Term Harmony
If anger is something that is ruining your life, whether it is experience at work or your loved ones are negatively affected by it, then transcendental meditation is something you should give a try. Either enroll yourself in a class or download YouTube videos to get started on your journey to resolve conflict.
Transcript:
- Find a calm spot in the house, sit down and begin transcendental meditation
- Close your eyes and take deep relaxing breaths for 15 minutes
- In this time also free your head from any residual thoughts
- Repeat a mantra for 20 minutes and focus on its words
- Anger mantras are, ‘Let it go’, ‘within me is peace’, and ‘it is what it is’
- With time and practice, transcendental meditation will cultivate a compassionate approach to conflict, empathy and understanding for others, which will help you connect more deeply.
Implementing Meditation in the Workplace
Creating a Meditation-Friendly Environment
If you are someone who deals with workplace anger or deal with a workplace bully then meditation can help in managing employees. Coworkers who witness fits of rage and colleagues who are impacted by anger of a leader can be positively impacted by meditation.
Our suggestion is to first report such behaviour and seek help from organisational policies against bullying and anger. Then to resolve conflicts, a meditation space in the office can help. Separate a room for breathing exercises and make policies lenient on taking breaks for meditation during the day
Training Programs: From Novice to Expert
Meditation is a powerful tool to learn to practice patience, kindness and empathy. These are attributes that make effective leaders, managers and employees. So, training programs can be planned with regular practice to repeat meditative techniques and tools.
- A bi-annual training session on meditation or a company meditation retreat can work wonders.
- You can also train employees on meditation for anger management, by setting up a meditative room within work premises and encouraging them to use it
- Tracking progress on meditation through KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) can also prove highly effective in maintaining meditative tool within the workplace
Measuring Success: Tracking Conflict Resolution Progress
Key Performance Indicators for Conflict Reduction
If you are meditating for anger and conflict resolution, then tracking your progress is a great way to keep motivated in your journey. Contrarily, if you are a manager dealing with an employee with anger issues, and want to track them for appreciation, then setting up KPIs can work highly effectively.
Here are some milestones in anger management through meditation that can work:
- Meditating as part of your routine every day
- Learning to reduce thoughts as you inhale and exhale
- Being free from distractions during meditation
- In times of anger, using lessons of meditation to calm yourself
- Growing empathy for others
Employee Satisfaction: Before And After
In the workplace, when mindfulness meditation has been used, it mostly shows high satisfaction from the employees. On this topic, a research has found that employee satisfaction is deeply affected by meditation because management is perceived to show more empathy and make considerations for the wellbeing of workers. As a result, before and after scenarios show positive growth
- Samantha found her boss to be more vocal with appreciative words after meditative tools highlighted the importance of gratitude
- Jacob felt that his co-workers were more friendly and did not ignore him during lunchbreaks because they formed a deep relationship after meditative training
- Bill felt he became a much more empathetic and less angry manager after he started meditation because visualization of kindness helped him regulate emotions.
FAQ’s:
What are the 6 rules for conflict mediation?
- You have to work actively to resolve conflict
- Treating each party with respect is a necessity
- Communication is key, so any built-up emotions must be shared
- Each party has to be willing to compromise to ensure resolved conflict and emotions
- Actively listen to others, rather than vocalizing only your emotions
- Each party must be given ample and equal time to share their perspective
What are the six peaceful methods of resolving conflicts?
- Meditating by a third party that is neutral
- Negotiation between warring parties
- Active listening and compromising on major points
- Collaboration on working projects to foster friendliness
- Empathy through meditation that can help understand opposing perspectives
- Arbitration and litigation from a court
What are the 6 C’s of conflict management?
- Context: why has conflict occurred?
- Condition: under what circumstances people acted that way?
- Cause: what is the direct cause?
- Consequence: what is the fallout afterwards?
- Contingency: what might happen now?
- Co-variance: what can be possible outcomes?
Can I Meditate Without Focusing on Anything?
Yes, transcendental meditation is a technique that helps to foster a distraction free and highly concentrated thinking on a singular thought. However, if you are new to meditation, then we recommend seeking professional help, like a class or session to get you started
Could Mindfulness Help You Control Your Anger?
Yes! Mindfulness brings empathy and compassion into your thoughts. If you are empathetic, then you understand another person’s perspective about why they may be doing something to you that makes your life harder. Mindfulness also makes it easier to forgive and move on.
