How to Transform Negative Emotions?

This morning I practiced the Fusion of Five Elements – a Taoist meditation practice for transforming negative emotions. Over time, this practice has helped me a great deal in gaining control of my emotions.

According to Mantak Chia, a Taoist master, ancient Taoists believe that emotions contain life-force energy. Expelling or suppressing unwanted, negative emotions drains our life force. A better way is to experience them – permit them to emerge but not run wild and out of control.

The first step toward doing so is to turn our senses inward and practice inner observation. Taoists believe that emotions are stored in the organs. Each organ has an opening where we collect the sensory data such as smell, taste, sight and hearing. The organ itself stores certain emotions – both positive and negative. By turning our attention inward, breathing out unwanted emotions, we cleanse our inner organs and prepare them to receive desire emotions.

Below is a summary of the five elements, corresponding organs and emotions.

To explain the entire practice is beyond the scope of this article. However, I encourage you to sit down for 10 minutes and say hello to your organs one by one – after all, they have been working so hard for you without your acknowledgement.

Become aware of any emotion or sensation in each organ as it manifests in the form of a sound, taste, color, shape or feeling. Simply observe without judgment. If you sense something you don’t like, breathe into that area and let the unwanted sensation dissolve with your breath. It is simple but quite effective from my experience. Keep me posted on yours!