Despite our earnest efforts to control our own anger, we all have experienced it. However, anger is a natural emotion and it is acceptable to feel angry in certain situations. Only when your anger becomes uncontrollable, frequent, and unnecessarily excessive, should you be concerned. Frequent, violent, and unnecessary anger negatively impacts our relationships in our family, workplace, and general society. It has an unproductive and unwelcome hold on our overall physical and mental well-being.
This is where properly learning to manage our anger comes into play. This will help us to maintain a normal and safe mental as well as emotional balance. One powerful type of anger management strategy includes relaxation techniques. This blog post will explore the various effective relaxation tactics that will help you tame the flame of anger and cultivate an inner peace. This will improve your life as well as the lives of your loved ones.
Understanding Anger
While we may not prefer talking about anger, it is critically important to first understand it. In most instances, anger arises as your response to anything that you perceive as threats, injustices, or frustrations. Anger manifests as a spectrum of emotions, ranging from mild irritation to intense rage. It is true that feeling angry is a normal emotion for humans, how we choose to express and manage our anger makes all the difference.
The Role of Relaxation
Managing anger is important and relaxation is one of the most effective tools to achieve this. These techniques help calm both your mind and body, thereby reducing the intensity of your emotional responses, including anger. It will be valuable if you periodically allocate a few moments of your time to practice relaxation techniques as this will improve your self-awareness, resilience, and emotional regulation ability.
Some of the effective relaxation techniques that are commonly utilised by both professionals and the general public include the following:
- Deep breathing
- Progressive muscle relaxation
- Mindfulness meditation
- Visualisation
- Engage in physical activity.
Deep breathing:
Although this might appear to be too simple, this is a powerful technique that you could complete in almost every situation of your life. By taking slow and deep breaths, you activate the natural relaxation response mechanism of your body. This paves the way for your nervous system to calm down and gradually diminishes your feelings of anger, stress, and other similar emotions. “Diaphragmatic breathing” is a helpful technique and this requires you to breath by inhaling deeply through your nose, allowing your belly to expand, and then exhaling slowly through your mouth.
Progressive muscle relaxation:
Known as PMR, this technique requires you to tense and relax different parts of your body or different muscle groups in a step-by-step manner. The aim here is to release physical tension and to promote relaxation. Start by tensing specific muscles from your shoulders or arms for about five seconds and then release the muscles. Afterwards, other muscle groups could be targeted from your head to toe.
Mindfulness meditation:
Mindfulness can be described as “being present” or “being in the now” where your focus is not scattered. Mindfulness meditation aims to train your mind to stay present as well as non-reactive. This could be beneficial to manage anger. When you observe your own thoughts and emotions without any judgment, you would be able to develop a greater self-control and emotional intelligence. Mindfulness can be practised by calmly focusing on your breath, bodily sensations, and the present moment while allowing your thoughts to come and go without any attachment.
Visualisation:
The technique of visualisation is to imagine a scene in your mind that is truly peaceful and relaxing. This could be a calm beach or a tranquil countryside. Try to close your eyes and immerse yourself emotionally and mentally in this visualised scene as this can evoke sentiments of relaxation and calmness. This in turn would counteract any anger, stress, and tension you might have. Try to vividly imagine the scene, including the environment and engage all your senses. For example, you can imagine a mild breeze, birds chirping in the distance, and the tasteful fragrance of flowers.
Engage in physical activity:
Even minor exercises or other physical activities will promote feelings of happiness and well-being. This is because physical movement or activities release endorphins in the brain and these chemicals help you alleviate anger and stress. Simple activities, including walking, jogging, or cycling could serve as an outlet for pent-up anger. Moreover, exercises help dissipate adrenaline and cortisol, which are hormones associated with your body’s stress response.
Seeking Professional Help
Chronic, severe, and exhaustive anger calls for professional support. It is true that self-help techniques, including the relaxation tactics discussed above, are beneficial for you to manage your anger, but professional help will be important in some cases. Professionals include suitable counsellors or therapists and their professional services offer a structured and supportive environment to address the underlying causes of your anger. Additionally, you will be able to develop effective coping strategies and foster a positive long-term behavioural change. A qualified and compatible counsellor or therapist will focus on the provision of personalised guidance and support that is tailored to your specific needs and goals.
Key Takeaways
Taming the often-unavoidable flame of anger is achievable by self-help techniques and professional support. Multiple resources are available for you to cope and resolve anger-related issues as well as other associated challenges. However, you have to remind yourself that it is normal to feel angry but it is of vital significance that you select the most optimal response to your anger and cultivate an inner peace.
At Light Mind Counselling & Psychology here at Melbourne, we are here to support you on your journey of effective anger management and a higher emotional well-being. Our specialised counsellor, Harshani Algiriya, offers personalised guidance coupled with evidence-based strategies to help you effectively manage your anger and enjoy a more fulfilling life. Take the first step towards a calmer and happier you by reaching out to Light Mind Counselling today.
Book an appointment