Anger is a natural emotion that happens to the best of us and sometimes we can get so upset that we are physically shaken. Like any other negative emotion, anger is destructive and won’t get us what we want but more often than not it results in even more unnecessary pain.
An emotion is a physiological response that can be triggered by an external stimulus and when this happens, we become sweaty, we tremble, our stomach tightens up and we react instead of acting with purpose. Usually it clouds our judgment and we respond wildly and once we cool down we wonder how we were able to allow ourselves to get in such a messed up state of mind.
Letting go of anger is detrimental to our mental as well as physical well-being. The physiological changes that happen in our body due to negative emotions like anger disrupt the natural flow of energy within our bodies and can affect our hormone production, heart, digestion and immune system. It’s like a toxin that interferes with the balance of our bodily functions.
While it is easy to become angry, we need to learn how to overcome anger in order to make sure that the heat of anger doesn’t burn us forever. Here are our TOP 10 tips on how to let go of anger.
#1 Look Up
One of the quickest ways to change an emotion or feeling is to change our physical position because motion creates emotion. One of the easiest ways to create physical change is to move your eyes. When we are in a negative state of mind, we tend to look down, so if we are suddenly looking up, we interrupt the negative downward spiral of bad feelings. Other sudden changes that can switch our emotions and feelings are to stand up and stretch, change and exaggerate our facial expression, dance, massage the back of your neck or letting out an audible sigh.
#2 Exercise
When we look at the emotion of anger, what it really is is an energy that is expressed through the body. Usually the physiological response to anger is that our muscles tense up and we get ready for a ‘fight-or-flight’ response. Besides a singular, physical change, exercising is a great way to release the tension in our body, so hit the gym, take a yoga class, take out your boxing gloves or go for a run. Anything that gets you moving will do and besides releasing the tension in our body, working out releases happy hormones in our brain that will help us to let go of anger even faster.
#3 Laugh
Laughter is one of the easiest ways to relax our body, trigger the release of feel-good neurochemicals like endorphins and boost our immune system. So next time you get angry, watch a funny video on YouTube or listen to a podcast that makes you laugh out loud and with that distract your brain from the negative emotions of anger to feel better immediately.
#4 Shift Your Attention
Whenever you feel angry, don’t overthink the situation that is bothering you, but shift your focus onto something completely different. A great privilege of us human beings is that we have the power to choose what we focus on and instead of mulling negativity over and over in our head, focus on something positive instead. Take a walk around the block and think about an upcoming vacation, talk to your friend or focus on the task right in front of you and slowly but surely your anger will start to dissipate.
#5 Practice Gratitude
A great way to let go of anger is to focus on what you are grateful for in your life right now because the positive emotions that come with an attitude of gratitude will drown out the negative emotion of anger. Find a quiet spot and write down all the things that you are grateful for whether thats in the past or present, whether that’s experiences, friendships, relationships, opportunities, material possessions or character traits you posses. Write down everything you are thankful for. This will remind ourselves that we have a lot to be thankful for and shifts our state of mind into a higher frequency that helps us to gain clarity.
#6 Breathe
We’ve talked about physical changes earlier and another physical change that is extremely powerful in helping us to push through anger is to stop for a moment and take a few slow, deep, rhythmic, purposeful breaths that calm and soothe our nervous system and help us to melt away anger. Make sure to make those breaths deep belly breaths and count the length of your inhales and exhales to get into a steady, calming rhythm.
#7 Forgive
While it may be challenging to even think about forgiveness in the heat of anger, it is important to remember that the longer we hold on to a grudge, the longer we will experience painful emotions and the more damage we are inflicting on our health and well-being. Keep in mind, holding on to anger and not forgiving someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. In order to be able to truly let go of anger, there is no way around forgiveness.
#8 Do Something Productive
Similar to channeling our anger into exercise and working out, we can also convert our anger into productivity. Whether you organize your office, do some gardening, go grocery shopping or clean the house, anything that gets you physically moving is a great option. Remember, anger is an energy, so find something useful to do to use that energy. Besides releasing some of your anger, you will also feel incredibly accomplished in the end because you did something productive, which gives an additional boost to your mood.
#9 Meditate
Meditation is a great way to train the mind, calm the noise in our mind, draw out our inner wisdom and reconnect with the present moment. When we meditate, it’s like we are hitting the ‘reset’ button in our brain and with that calm the raging storm of negative emotions, feelings and thoughts that are the unwanted side effects of anger. Meditation also helps us to be more rational and find clarity so that we can handle any situation with grace and relieve ourselves from anger.
#10 Write About it
Our last tip of letting go of anger is to release your angry emotions, feelings and thoughts onto a piece of paper and write about them. Don’t hold back and get it all out, this way you get the possibility to vent about your anger without having to dump the negativity on someone else and at the same time clear your head. Once you’ve written everything down, take the piece of paper and burn it. Of course you want to be safe and have water nearby, but burning the paper full of anger, is extremely powerful as you watch the negativity literally evaporate as smoke into the air.
Prolonged anger and holding on to grudges creates unnecessary stress in our body and in order to maintain our physical as well as mental health, we need to learn how to overcome it. Wouldn’t you rather be happy and healthy and make rational, reasonable and sound decisions for your life than letting anger take over and inflict pain?
STOP FEELING ANGRY RIGHT NOW!
Joschi & Monika
#BoldNaked