Stress Relief Tips With Anger

Lately, I have been feeling some anger coming up. Is anyone else feeling it??

I think the idea of letting ourselves feel our anger has been such a taboo subject. The perception of someone getting angry is usually hushed, quieted and viewed as shameful. But why? Just as we talked about in our last Wellness Wednesday email – anger causes stress on the body – and the last email it showed that stress effects our heart/increases our chances of heart attacks, increasing chances of high blood pressure, it impacts digestion since it is causing dysregulation in our nervous system since anger is apart of our Fight/Flight/Freeze response, and can even effect our sleep from how anger can disrupt our hormones that get released with anger as well. 

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, when we don’t allow this emotion or energy to move through us, it can cause congestion in this flow of energy and can cause imbalances/health issues in the body. Today, I wanted to show you some ways that has been helping me move some of this anger/energy through the body and hopefully in turn release some of your stress!

Grab your pillows and go to town, safely. Hitting the bed with pillows or gentle fists, and even screaming into a pillow has been really helpful for me. Be noisey if you need to – it’s ok to not look/be perfect all the time! Don’t forget to breathe and protect that pelvic floor!

Don’t under estimate a good car scream. I also was able to try the scream into the mountains with friends on a recent trip to Tucson, we all have been feeling in a funk and it felt good. Vibration of the vocal chords also stimulates vagus nerve, and also encourages opening of the Throat, which can be connected with anger and not speaking up for what we need.

This can be another great way to stimulate and move/heat up that anger energy out. My son loves the “Push Hands” game we have created to use when he is feeling frustrated, he has some preteen rage-y hormones mixed with grief from losing his Papa last year. It often helps shift the energy and can many times it can turn into tears, but often for my son it dissipates into laughter. 

This is one that has been surprising me. I had no idea how much my hands and feet have been wanting to get out. Shaking my hands, or it feels to me more like flapping/shaking, has been great to help me when I am in overwhelm/frustration. I also find my legs do like to do things pretty similar but they have also been liking stomping as well to get the heavy angry energy out. You may want to make some noise when doing these ones as well!

Don’t be afraid to look ridiculous, you are allowed. You need to show your body it can feel safe no matter what it looks like! It’s ok. Allow all the parts of you to be loved – even the dark and twisty parts. 💗

These videos and any content included are meant to be educational and instructional. They are not able to diagnose or treat a specific issue and are definitely not a substitute for a professional evaluation.