5 Tips to Release Anger
Nobody likes to feel painful emotions. As a society we do everything we can not to feel them: we numb them with substances, food, the media or other addictions, we block them out by over-scheduling, we deflect them, project them, anything to avoid the pain.
But what happens when emotions don’t get processed? They can get trapped in the body and manifest as a physical pain or illness, they can fuel dis-empowering habits such as emotional over-eating or smoking, or they can keep the nervous system stuck in ongoing problems such as insomnia, anxiety, or depression.
I strongly believe that behind any unwanted condition lies unprocessed emotions. Sadly, our efforts to numb or avoid feeling painful emotions also keep us from feeling love, connection, gratitude and joy.
In this article I want to share 5 tips to release one of the biggest emotions that keep people stuck: anger.
Anger is a loud, bold, fiery emotion designed to protect you. It yells, “Fight!” It displays power, sets limits, and holds boundaries. It can be BIG and SCARY, but the flip side is passion, focus, enthusiasm, and joy. If you suppress your anger, you suppress your aliveness along with it.
Most of us are not taught to express anger in a healthy way. I can’t tell you how many clients have reported they were not allowed to be angry as children. Some needed to tiptoe around alcoholic or otherwise volatile parents so as not to set off the dragon, and others were told to go to their room when they were angry until they could behave properly. I know I had a lot of judgement around my anger because it didn’t feel “spiritual.” I did my best to deny it, which only created more problems for me to deal with later.
But let me assure you it’s not only human to feel anger, but healthy to be in touch with it, so you can process it and let it out. All that energy it takes to contain it saps your health, vitality, and enthusiasm for life.
So here are 5 tips to release it:
Tip #1: Acknowledge you are angry and recognize this is a a natural part of being human. Sometimes just giving an emotion permission to be there allows it to start moving out!
Tip #2: Exercise of any kind, especially ones involving vigorous movements that get the heart rate up: running, swimming, kickboxing, aerobics, hiking, etc.
Tip #3: Find a secluded place and beat a pillow with a baseball bat or riding crop, slap a piece of an old garden hose on pavement, or throw rocks at a tree. The thuds or slaps can be very satisfying. Just be sure the area is free of people and animals, so you don’t accidentally hurt anything living!
Tip #4: Go to a secluded place (possibly an empty parking lot in your car) and scream and shout as loud as you can.
Tip #5: EFT/Tapping — a powerful Mind-Body technique that meets your feelings exactly where they are in any given moment and allows you to transform them in a relatively short period of time.
Anger can feel scary and out of control, but the rewards of transforming its power to fuel your purpose and goals is well worth it. As an EFT/Tapping practitioner, I help clients process both current and long-held emotions so they can move out of unwanted conditions and into a life of freedom and joy.
If you are interested in exploring EFT/Tapping, check out my affordable introductory courses at www.themissingpeace.thinkific.com or schedule a free consultation to see if 1:1 transformational coaching might be a good fit for your needs.