How Your Anger May Be Harming Your Health
– Six Ways to Cool Down
Posted on February 27, 2014 by The Alternative Daily
We all get angry
sometimes, it’s a natural human emotion. Also, let’s face it, sometimes life
situations can be pretty enraging! However, some people get angry often, and it
can become a vicious cycle that can become both destructive to your health and
to your relationships with others.
Unfortunately, trying to
shove your anger down instead of exploding can be even worse. According to
WebMD, suppressing anger can lead to depression and anxiety issues down the
road, and lead to altered cognitive patterns as well as stress. Prolonged
stress that is not managed can lead to an array of chronic illnesses.
Long-term anger (both
explosive and suppressed) that is not dealt with can also lead to the
following:
§ Heart disease
§ Digestive distress
§ Skin problems
§ Deteriorating social relationships
§ Issues in the workplace / loss of opportunities
§ Possible violence against yourself or others
Although it may sometimes seem like you
anger is controlling you and not the other way around, there are many things
you can do to keep it in check. It may take some repetition, trial and error
and hard work, but try the following few tricks:
Visualization
Some people call this
method ‘going to their happy place.’ During a time that you are not angry, and
feeling relaxed, close your eyes and think of a place that soothes you and
makes you feel at peace – real or imaginary. Take a moment to note the colors,
sounds and smells that you experience there.
When you feel your anger
coming on, make yourself pause for a moment, close your eyes, and visualize
yourself back in that place. Remember to breathe, and try to smell the smells,
hear the sounds and see the sights and colors that you associate with your place
in that moment. Remain in your place for at least 30 full seconds, longer if
the situation will allow. Some people find it useful to count backwards from 30
slowly while performing visualization.
Deep
breathing
The rate at which you
breathe can have a huge impact on your anger and stress levels. When we get
angry, we tend to take short, halted and shallow breaths, elevating our blood
pressure and making it much more difficult to relax. If this kind of breathing
is continued for a long period of time, it can even send us into rage or panic
mode.
Next time you feel
yourself becoming angry, take a step back and focus your attention on how you
are breathing. Then, start taking slow, deep breaths through your nose, pausing
for a few seconds after the exhale before you start the next inhale.
Make sure you don’t hold
your breath in for too long before exhaling, and when you do exhale, try to
empty all of the air out of your lungs before pausing, and then inhaling again.
It sounds simple, but it is a time-honored trick that works.
Journaling
If you experience anger
on a regular basis, it may be therapeutic to keep an ‘anger journal’ to record
your feelings. Doing this can serve a couple of purposes. First of all, writing
down your feelings in a place that only you can read them gives you a chance to
thoroughly vent without hurting anybody’s feelings. Also, it gives you the
opportunity to go back and read the thoughts and feelings that you had while
you were angry.
Many people, after they
have calmed down, don’t remember exactly what they were angry about in the
first place. This is especially true if they are experiencing anger at
irrational things.
When you read what you
wrote when you were in the thick of a rage session, you can then start to
identify the patterns of what made you angry, and what pushed you over the
edge. If you know exactly what makes you angry, and the process by which your
feelings spiral out of control, you will be much more equipped to deal with it
early on.
For this reason, try to
be as detailed as possible in your journal entries, and include what happened
before, during and after the incident, if you can. However, if you just need to
‘rant’ and then fill in logistical details later, that works, too.
Meditation
Yes, we recommend
meditation a lot – because it really does work. If you suffer from chronic
anger, making a point to perform regular meditation can really help you shake
off what is bothering you, especially lingering negative emotions, and help you
to focus on the present moment. It may take a little practice, but once you’ve
meditated for a little while, you may find that you get to a place where all
burdens and outside distractions fall away, and you can really get to the root
of your being, beyond all the anger.
Even if you do not have
much time in your busy schedule, meditating for just five minutes when you wake
up in the morning, and five minutes before you go to bed at night, can work
wonders.
Simply find a quiet
place that you can sit comfortably, physically relax every part of your body,
paying special attention to any tension in your chest, shoulders, neck and
face, close your eyes, focus on your breath, and dismiss all rushing thoughts
as they come. Do not try to repress them – just let them flow through you and
exit your body.
If you wish to receive
instruction in meditation, look around for glasses or sessions in your area. No
matter which type of meditation you choose, and there are many, the discipline
you will learn may dramatically affect your state of mind, as well as your
physical health.
Exercise
Have you ever heard the
phrase, ‘blow off some steam?’ That is exactly what doing some cardiovascular
exercise can accomplish. If you are feeling frustrated or angry, try going for
a run, swim, bike ride or fast-paced hike – something that takes a little bit
of endurance and gets your heart pumping. Not only will this send a rush of
endorphins to your brain, it will also draw your focus away from what you are
angry about, and onto the task at hand.
If you can exercise
outdoors, the combination of the physical activity, the fresh air and the
vitamin D from the sun can be especially effective.
Talking
to someone you trust
-The Alternative Daily
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