Anger
Anger is a scary and overwhelming energy that many of us unconsciously resist as a protective mechanism. It is a very low vibration emotion stored within our energy fields, and within the tissues and organs of our body. It feels terrible when our anger is activated and hence, we often resist feeling it to the fullest. When anger starts rising in our mind, instead of overreacting and unleashing it on another person, we can release it by giving a few minutes to fully feel the emotion.
However, the feeling of anger may differ from person to person. For example, women are more likely to describe anger as a sensation building up slowly through the body, while men may describe it as a fiery flood raging within them. Of course, the display of anger varies depending on what is considered acceptable in difference cultures. For instance, some Asian cultures may experience anger in a milder way and for a shorter time as compared to Caucasian Americans.
Although anger is considered a psychological problem, it is mainly related to a poorly functioning liver. Most organs are connected to specific emotions and liver is connected to anger. It not only stores our own anger, but also anger from people around us.
The liver produces bile, which is then stored in the gall bladder, making both these organs vulnerable to negative choleric emotions, such as anger, irritability, frustration, resentment, jealousy and envy. Anger and rage can explode upwards from the liver into the head causing havoc in the body - headaches, migraines and muscular tension in the neck and shoulders.
If your liver is unable to render a toxin harmless for you, it'll store it to keep it away from your blood. This stored toxic energy will eventually affect the organ's functioning and lead to anger problems. (See Liver Cleanse for total health and Anger Cleanse for anger management)
Functions
Anger triggers the body's ‘fight or flight' response. Other emotions that also trigger this response include fear, excitement and anxiety. The adrenal glands flood the body with stress hormones - adrenaline and cortisol. The brain shunts blood away from the gut and up toward the muscles, in preparation for physical exertion. As a result, our heart rate, blood pressure and respiration increase, our skin perspires due to raised body temperature, and the mind becomes sharp and focused.
However, the part of the brain that deals with emotion, called amygdale, goes crazy. It wants to respond to the emotion fast, and the time between a trigger event and a response from the amygdale can be a quarter of a second. At the same time, blood flow increases to the frontal lobe of the brain located over the left eye. This area controls reasoning and is most likely to keep you from hurling a vase across the room. Generally, these areas balance each other out quickly. According to a research, the neurological response to anger lasts less than two seconds. This is why it is recommended to count till 10 when angry.
Problems
The constant flood of stress chemicals and associated metabolic changes that accompany recurrent unmanaged anger can eventually cause harm to many different systems of the body. Some of the short and long-term health problems that have been linked to unmanaged anger include:
- Headache
- Digestion problems, such as abdominal pain
- Insomnia
- Increased anxiety
- Depression
- High blood pressure
- Skin problems, such as eczema and psoriasis
- Heart attack
- Stroke
Symptoms
The response varies from person to person, but some common symptoms include:
- Teeth grinding
- Fists clenching
- Flushing
- Paling
- Prickly sensations
- Numbness
- Sweating
- Red, sore and bloodshot eyes
- Muscle tension and change in body temperature
Causes
The leading cause of anger is a person's environment. Stress, financial issues, abuse, poor social or familial situations and overwhelming requirements of time and energy can all contribute to anger. Just like alcoholism, anger issues may be more prevalent in individuals who were raised by parents with the same issues. Genetics and your body's ability to deal with certain chemicals and hormones also play a role in how you deal with anger. If your brain doesn't react normally to serotonin, you may find it more difficult to manage your emotions.
Anger Cleanse
Some people consider anger to be a bad emotion and choose to suppress it. However, bottled anger often turns into depression and anxiety. On the other hand, some people have very little control over their anger and tend to explode in a rage. Raging anger may lead to physical abuse or violence. Those unable to control their temper may even isolate themselves from family and friends.
However, both explosion of anger and its suppression have minimal benefits and maximum harm. People who display rage often have low self-esteem and use their anger to manipulate others to feel powerful. On the other side, people with bottled anger are often abusive to kids, pets and other innocents. Anger Cleanse not only helps you to get rid of these negative emotions, but also enables you to live a healthy life. Following are some basic techniques that will help you overcome the triggers to your anger -
Smiling Energy and Healing Sound Technique
- Healing Sound: find a comfortable and quiet place to sit with your hands in your lap (right over left). Mentally connect to the location of your liver to employ healing sound and light. The better the connection, the quicker the results.
- Inhale deeply through your nose, draw the air to bottom your lungs and mentally link to your liver. As you start to exhale, tilt your head back with clinched teeth and stick your tongue to the roof of your mouth.
- Exhale and sub-vocally (heard only internally) say SHHHHH. You may want to orally practice this sound for a while. The sound is like HUSH.
- Repeat this technique at least four times. You may do it as many times as you wish, but in multiples of three. This exercise will help you vent out the toxicity of your liver, so the more you practice the greater the results. You may also practice it while experiencing anger and stress.
- Smiling energy: each organ has an associated colour. The colour for the liver is bright dark green, akin to emerald green. Two techniques to positively impact the liver are smiling down and using the healing light.
- Think of an event in your past that was the funniest thing you've ever experienced. Just thinking about this event will make you laugh. This is the smiling energy you'll use to help your liver.
- After doing the above, stand and walk around for a while. As you walk, use your hands and your thoughts to move the energy from your liver to your naval area.
Deep Breathing
- Relaxation is an important step toward healing, and the simplicity of deep breathing makes this process easier.
- Inhale through the nose and draw as much air as possible. Once the lungs are completely full, hold the air and count till five. Then, exhale from the very bottom of your lungs through your mouth. Do this three times. Start by doing the breathing exercise three times daily and gradually increase the count.
Massage
- Massage therapy, especially Rolfing (a deep muscular massage) is a terrific method to cleanse muscles and connective tissues, where our toxins are stored. Additionally, start a regimen of walking and increase the distance covered as you regain strength.
Anger Management Tips
By regular practice of the following techniques, one can easily control his / her anger.
Control Your Temper
- Out-of-control yelling and bad behaviour are childish temper tantrums that should not be put up with. Leave on the spot. If you're at home, go to another room or take a walk. If you're dining out, take a taxi, leave money for the bill if there is one, but get out of there. It doesn't matter how important the occasion is; it's ruined anyway. Once the person realizes you're not going to put up with bad behaviour, he or she will hopefully understand that it is unacceptable and change. Besides, the person who loses his or her temper looks like the bad guy to everyone else, no matter who started the problem or who is really at fault.
Rewinding the Tape
- To get better at controlling anger, visualise an imaginary situation which makes you very angry. Replay it several times in your head and try to imagine yourself giving different responses. When you do this, you are actually rehearsing different reactions and giving yourself new options. You may also imagine a situation which had made you angry in the past, replay it in your head and get as clear a picture of the scene as possible — visualise what people are wearing, what the room looks like, etc.
- Because this scene didn't go well originally, consider how you would like to change your response. Remember, you can't control anyone else in the scene, but you can get them to respond differently by altering your own reactions. Rewind and replay this scene mentally and think of new ways to manage the situation until you are successful in handling it without losing your temper.
- Exercise this mental technique a few more times until you feel confident that you can gain control over your anger in difficult situations.
Learn to Trust Yourself
- Trust yourself by following your intuition and do your best to move forward one step at a time with faith in the future. Life will not forsake you. Love, persistence and hard work combined rarely lead a person astray in the long run.
- If you have faith in your abilities, if you stay true to the path that feels right, if you channel your passion into action, you will ultimately achieve a breakthrough. In other words, as soon as you trust yourself you will know how to heal and grow.
Focus on What You're Learning
- Mistakes and setbacks are a part and parcel of life. If the road is easy and free of bumps, you're likely going the wrong way. The bumps in the road teach you what you need to know to follow a path of your progress. Sometimes, things have to go wrong to go right.
Ease Your Expectations
- Life is under no obligation to give you exactly what you expect. Whatever you seek will rarely ever come in the form you expect. You must see and accept things as they are instead of as you had hoped, wished or expected them to be. Just because something didn't turn out like you had envisioned doesn't mean it isn't what you need to get to where you ultimately want to go.
Open Up to Someone You Trust
- No matter how bizarre, embarrassed or pathetic you feel about your own situation, there is someone in your life who has dealt with similar emotions and may help you. Don't expect them to solve your problems, simply allow them to help you face your problems. Give them the permission to stand beside you. They may not necessarily be able to pull you out of the dark, but the light they spill in as they enter will at least show you which way the door is.
Use Hope to Drive Positive Action
- Hope empowers you to strive and grow even when your circumstances are in shambles. The road built with hope is more pleasant than the road built in despair, even though they both may lead you to the same place.
- The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you want. And the most you can do is live with hope as you work for what you want. Get deeply involved with the thoughts and activities that keep your hope and intentions alive.
Move Toward Something Instead of Away
- When you concentrate on not thinking about something, you end up thinking about it. Similarly, by persistently trying to move away from what you don't want, you are forced to think about it. Instead, if you choose to focus your energy on moving toward something you do want, you naturally leave the negative weight behind as you progress forward.
Take a Few Steps Back
- Everything seems simpler from a distance. Sometimes, you just need to distance yourself to see things more clearly. Take a few steps back from the situation to be able to give yourself good advice. Think of the most difficult challenge you are currently facing. Now, imagine that it's not you, but a close friend who is facing this challenge. What advice would you give to him/her? Think of the advice you would give your friend, as if your friend were in your shoes.
Tip
A Liver Cleanse helps in controlling anger too.