The 7 effective strategies to control your anger
Anger is like a slow disease causing hidden harm that affects not just us but everyone around. It is the quick natural response of our body against anything that we dislike or have strong opposing opinions about. Like a burning candle, it melts our essence into ashes, our passion and into outrageous escapades. While many people often associate anger with family pedigree and to keep rationalizing it without taking effective measures to find the root cause and hence fail to reach the solution.
Aristotle said “Anybody can become angry-that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way-that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.”
Anger is an uncontrollable force that leads you to say or do things you never thought you are capable of. Holding on to anger adversely affects your physical, mental wellbeing. Eventually it will cause you to respond to situations in an impulsive and irrational manner, sabotaging your personal and professional relationships.
Fortunately it’s possible to learn how to let go of the anger and resentment. It is done by careful examination and handling of our emotional health leading us to grow as a person and break the shackles of hurt, resentment and rage.
1. Brainstorm the source of anger
Most of the time when we are angry we don’t really know the reason behind it. The best way is to examine the whole situation by asking questions to yourself to reach closer to the source of anger. It will help you address your anger in a very effective way. Whenever you are angry with someone or about something, write it down. It may sound time consuming at first. When you practice doing this, you will soon realize another dimension of your personality unfolding upon you. There are many seated biases and beliefs inside each of us that make us angry which often seems baseless. Addressing your anger on paper will make you more responsible about handling it with utmost care and urgency. Try adding a date and time along. Keep updating whenever you stumble upon similar situations.
2. Practice Relaxation Techniques
A simple way to overcome your anger is applying relaxation techniques like listening to soothing music, massage therapy, aromatherapy or otherwise called essential oil therapy, etc. Choose the technique that works best for you and keep reaching for it whenever you find yourself stuck in the anger loop.
3. Daily Exercise
Doing physical exercise on a daily basis is the most promising way of releasing your anger and stress. It helps to express your emotions which are suppressed and thus help you keep calm and in a good mood for the entire day. Exercise can also help increase the release of endorphins in your body, which will naturally make you feel better and reduce your stress levels.
4. Practice Forgiveness
Forgiveness is the way by which you can let go of resentment and hateful feelings that drains most of your precious energy. Holding grudges does more harm to the person who holds it rather than to the person who is responsible for inducing such negative emotions. While the act of harm may remain with you but forgiveness will set you free from the control of that incident or the person who caused it.
5. Recite Positive Affirmations
Whenever you are angry, replace your anger with positive affirmations. Keep repeating it until it fades away. You can create your own set of positive affirmations which reflects the type of person you want to be identified with. It could be something like this: “ I am a happy, calm, cheerful, polite person. I own my anger and I am in full control of my anger.” Applying this on a regular basis will eventually help you overcome your anger.
6. Laugh
Laughing is one of the best proven ways to quickly dissipate your anger. It’s both healing and empowering. Surround yourself with people who make you laugh more often than stressing you out. When you are happy, everyday and every moment is full of sunshine. Keep a regular routine of watching a funny movie or video, or meet up with a friend who always makes you laugh. This is a good way to change your mindset and get your mind off of whatever is making you angry.
7. Take Deep Breath
Deep breath has a profound positive impact on the quality of your life. Deep breathing practice reduces the stress level and relaxes our body and mind. It’s quick, meaningful and very effective to curb your anger. You can do this by closing your eyes and taking deep breaths on a countdown of 4, holding on to your breath for the same time and then completely releasing your breath for a countdown of 4 or more. You can do this simple technique anywhere from your car stuck in traffic to a meeting room to simply anyplace anytime. It is that simple and quick to do.
Final Thoughts
Letting go of anger is very crucial as it’s directly related to one’s mental, physical, emotional and social well being. More than anyone, anger causes harm to the person who holds it. Taking a small step each day towards revising your anger pattern and taking firm measures will certainly make a big difference in your life.
