Control your angry feelings and angry body
Relax
It's not possible for you to be angry and relaxed at the same time. As we have seen, anger is linked with being tense. When you get angry, your body gets tense and wound up. That makes your heart beat faster. You breathe quicker, your blood pressure goes up and your muscles get tight. When you are uptight, it is easy for you to get angry. Little things seem like big things.
Try to relax, stay chilled and in control of the tension that goes hand in hand with anger. See the 'how to relax' leaflet or CD that goes with this series, for ideas on how to relax better.
Here are two reasons for learning to relax :
- You reduce how tense you are. When you have had a rough day, relaxing can help settle your nerves.
- You know you can control your feelings when you want to. Knowing how to take a deep breath and calm down can buy you a bit of extra time. You can think about what you are doing. This can change things a lot.
Use humour
Using humour can help with anger. Humour and anger do not fit. Laughter can be a great release. Anger can come from taking things too serious.
Using humour does not mean that life is a joke. But sometimes we all take things too serious. Humour is about standing back from life's more serious side, to look at the funny things. Think about the last time you had a good laugh. You may have felt good - really alive and at ease - and not angry at all.
Billy Connolly is one example of someone who has been able to use humour. Billy was an angry man, who had a lot of bad things happen to him in his life. Yet he can make fun out of himself, and see the lighter side. This has helped him to move on and to feel happy. Could you learn from this?
How could you go about using your sense of humour? What things have made you laugh in the past? Go back over these things and think about them. Are there fun things you don't do any more that you could start again? Are there old friends who you used to have a laugh with who you could look up again now?
Stepping back and having a laugh at things that really don't matter can be a big help.
Other things
Are there other things that you could try to help control angry feelings? Here are some ideas. Add in ideas of your own below.
- Some people find things like yoga helpful. There are lots of places in Glasgow that run groups. Maybe you could try some of these out.
- Use art, or channel your anger to create something. You could try painting or sculpting, or use music or writing to express anger.
- You could take up a sport. Try football, rugby, running, cycling, swimming, or a martial art. These things can help you channel anger.
