Feel the Anger
Bottling up the anger is never appropriate. Follow these tips to effectively express anger and feel better. Here’s how:
- Accept and acknowledge. Admitting to yourself that you have the right to be angry is the first step. Getting angry is a natural as breathing or walking. Think about people or situations from your past that triggered an anger response or ones that should have.
- Know your anger pattern. People handle anger in very different ways. Knowing your tendencies makes you better able to express your feelings in more deliberate ways. Some people collect angry feelings slowly, over time. When they reach their breaking point, the anger is slow to come out. Others can be set off by relatively small events and stay angry for days or weeks. Knowing your anger history will help you in the present and future.
- Track your anger. At various times of the day, check in with yourself. Ask yourself how you are feeling and what thoughts are going through your mind. Think of anger being on a dimmer rather than a switch. It can operate at various levels Begin to expand your emotional vocabulary to include feelings of anger, rage, fury, annoyance and frustration. After you identify the feeling, list what specifics triggered that feeling.
- Engage supports. Some people have lived many years with suppressed or repressed feelings of anger. The notion of “uncorking the bottle” can be confusing and challenging. Do not regard this as something you must do alone. Supports may be better at identifying your anger than you are. Ask for signs that you are unaware of.
Let it Out
Often, the act of acknowledging your level of anger helps to decrease it. Other times, people find good benefit from writing about their anger in a journal or speaking with a therapist about it and the possible depression that underlines it. You may want to try another set of options, though. Want to get out anger and frustration before it sparks problems with your heart? Here’s how:
- Yell – Yelling at people is usually not productive. People’s feelings get hurt and you say things that you do not mean. So, yell at the wall or into a pillow. Say everything and anything you need or want to say. Hearing the words come out of your mouth provides a sense of relief. After you complete the yelling, think about what it is you really want to say to someone in your life and more appropriate ways to communicate it.
- Break – Waiting until you are fuming to find something to break is not a great idea. Instead, pay a visit to the local thrift shop or yard sale to find unwanted dishes, records, vases or anything else that looks like fun to break. Store them, and when you feel anger building, seek them out. Of course, safety is important. Think about wearing safety glasses and gloves. Break the items in a spot where there is no risk of injury to others. The sensation of breaking something can be quite rewarding.
- Hit – Designate what is “hittable” in your home. Maybe an investment in a punching bag or taking boxing classes is beneficial for you. Balloons are great options as they are readily available and clean up easily. Many times, anger comes from feeling powerless or helpless. Hitting something can inspire a feeling of empowerment that you can use to achieve your goals.
- Throw – This is another fantastic way to divert anger desirably. Throwing a ball against a wall or a chunk of clay against the floor provides relief by releasing energy and stimulating your senses of touch, sight and sound. Pick up that clay and throw it down harder.
Conclusion
When it comes to AFib prevention, your options are limited. You know that changing your habits can make an improvement so check in with your anger habits. Accept the pros and cons of anger, feel the anger to stop the pattern of suppression and avoidance and let it out. You get to yell, break and throw things. Who knew preventing AFib could be this fun?
