YoGA FoR AnGeR MAnAGeMent

Yoga for Anger Management | 27
Cortex is essentially the main part of our brain immediately
below the skull. But among all parts below the skull which is
most important in dealing with our emotions? A part which
is most important is that which lies behind our forehead and
this is called the Frontal Cortex. Through a small story you
can understand its importance.
About 100 years ago, there was a person who was working
on a road. At that time working on roads was a very laborious
process where people were to use Gunpowder and had
Steel Rods or the metal rods with which they had to break
stones. So this person was using Gunpowder and blasting the
rocks and in this process, something really terrible happened
to him, the metal rod went right through the forehead through
the skull. One would imagine that after a terrible accident like
that the person would die immediately. But that did not happen.
This person continued to live for another twenty years.
But was he normal? The answer is no. He was drastically
altered. From a very peace loving, quiet and good citizen he
became extremely aggressive, abusive and the type of person
who would be easily arrested and be in Police custody. Why?
The part of the brain which lies immediately behind the skull,
the Frontal Cortex that is really vital to help us behave within
the norms laid down by the society that is damaged in his
case. This part is so vital that it has become commonly known
as the Character Cortex. Then how should we train our brain
to function more at the cortical level and less at the level of our
instincts or at the reptilian level? How then do we train the
part of the brain which is there in a shark or in a reptile and
how then do we cultivate the part of the brain which is pecu-
Yoga in Education for Total Personality Development SERIES - 8