There must be a myriad of ways people handle negative thoughts and emotions - anger, paranoia, fear, frustration, defensiveness, etc. If you're an aware and caring enough person to NOT take it out on other people (often those close to you) - which of course is destructive - Taiji has a lot to offer.
I've repeatedly found that the meditative and repetitive aspect of practicing any, or a combination of the exercises in our Taiji system very effective in calming and neutralizing any negative emotions or thoughts that may be uncontrollably looping in my mind. These negative angry thoughts can result from worries, stresses from work, financial pressures, relationships or any ridiculously trivial item from the media/internet that is designed to get a knee-jerk rise from you. In particular negativity can be strongest if you are alone, or even if you are around people but don't have close enough relationships/can't communicate openly with people who will emotionally support you - which probably encompasses the majority of us men (no source, just my opinion).
Sinatra was a prime example of how his negative emotions got the better of him, often to his own detriment. Sure, his success is partly because of his drive, self-confidence and powerful emotional make-up. And sure it's impossible for us to relate to the pressure of his unprecedented fame, nor is it possible for us to relate to the environment and attitudes of his family (in particular his mother), background and time which was far different from ours. But, by any standards he had an anger problem...one minute charming, artistic and kind, the next violent, insulting and abusive. Often he reacted in a knee-jerk way to real and imagined provocations and slights and took it out on others, sometimes to people who were close and who had his best interests at heart. On occasion his anger directed at people was completely unjustified (Kelley, "His Way...", 1987).
Someone like Sinatra who was not mindful enough to take responsibility for his thoughts and actions could have benefited a lot from a mindful exercise like Taiji. Of course it seems ridiculous to imagine "The Chairman of The Board" in America in the fifties putting down his glass of Jim Bean, Johnnie Walker or Martini, telling all his bodyguards, fellow rat packers and hanger-ons to "beat it!" and instead seeking solitude and immersing himself in movements such as "Fair Lady Weaves the Shuttle" but, he would've been better off in the long run.
I like to imagine that if he had been motivated enough to practice mindful exercises such as Taiji seriously he would've been able to gradually calm himself down from an agitated, angry state into one of calm and peacefulness, perhaps even one of forgiveness or acceptance. He certainly had a sensitive, soft tender side to his character that people responded to in his singing, so anything's possible. The net effect would've been that he would not have hurt, alienated and cut off people who really were loyal to him and who had his best interests at heart, nor the press. In the longer term, with constant practice he would've developed a enough of a self-awareness to interrupt all the triggers that lead him into an aggressive and volatile state and responded with actions that reflected greater equanimity and reflection. That is not to say that he would have lost his "fire" or "passion" or "balls" if you like but in Taiji and karmic terms he would not have wasted his energies in unnecessary destructive emotions and actions, and instead responded in a more rational, controlled manner which wouldn't have led to further negative consequences.
Authour - Lee Chang Tye
https://www.relaxedmindtaichi.com
I've repeatedly found that the meditative and repetitive aspect of practicing any, or a combination of the exercises in our Taiji system very effective in calming and neutralizing any negative emotions or thoughts that may be uncontrollably looping in my mind. These negative angry thoughts can result from worries, stresses from work, financial pressures, relationships or any ridiculously trivial item from the media/internet that is designed to get a knee-jerk rise from you. In particular negativity can be strongest if you are alone, or even if you are around people but don't have close enough relationships/can't communicate openly with people who will emotionally support you - which probably encompasses the majority of us men (no source, just my opinion).
Sinatra was a prime example of how his negative emotions got the better of him, often to his own detriment. Sure, his success is partly because of his drive, self-confidence and powerful emotional make-up. And sure it's impossible for us to relate to the pressure of his unprecedented fame, nor is it possible for us to relate to the environment and attitudes of his family (in particular his mother), background and time which was far different from ours. But, by any standards he had an anger problem...one minute charming, artistic and kind, the next violent, insulting and abusive. Often he reacted in a knee-jerk way to real and imagined provocations and slights and took it out on others, sometimes to people who were close and who had his best interests at heart. On occasion his anger directed at people was completely unjustified (Kelley, "His Way...", 1987).
Someone like Sinatra who was not mindful enough to take responsibility for his thoughts and actions could have benefited a lot from a mindful exercise like Taiji. Of course it seems ridiculous to imagine "The Chairman of The Board" in America in the fifties putting down his glass of Jim Bean, Johnnie Walker or Martini, telling all his bodyguards, fellow rat packers and hanger-ons to "beat it!" and instead seeking solitude and immersing himself in movements such as "Fair Lady Weaves the Shuttle" but, he would've been better off in the long run.
I like to imagine that if he had been motivated enough to practice mindful exercises such as Taiji seriously he would've been able to gradually calm himself down from an agitated, angry state into one of calm and peacefulness, perhaps even one of forgiveness or acceptance. He certainly had a sensitive, soft tender side to his character that people responded to in his singing, so anything's possible. The net effect would've been that he would not have hurt, alienated and cut off people who really were loyal to him and who had his best interests at heart, nor the press. In the longer term, with constant practice he would've developed a enough of a self-awareness to interrupt all the triggers that lead him into an aggressive and volatile state and responded with actions that reflected greater equanimity and reflection. That is not to say that he would have lost his "fire" or "passion" or "balls" if you like but in Taiji and karmic terms he would not have wasted his energies in unnecessary destructive emotions and actions, and instead responded in a more rational, controlled manner which wouldn't have led to further negative consequences.
Authour - Lee Chang Tye
https://www.relaxedmindtaichi.com
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