How to Release Your Anger in Tangible Ways

Think of your emotions as a pressure cooker. What happens? Simply, everything in the pot bursts and overflows until you have one big mess.

This illustration pretty much sums up anger. But how can you control it? Don't stuff your anger, that's for sure. Stuffing your anger only leads to more hostility. Researchers have found that not venting can damage your health and create other problems for relationships and it can lead to destructive behaviour's. When you come to the point where you need a release, you want to do it in a healthy manner that is productive. Here is how to release your anger in tangible ways.

Look for the positive.

Even if you have to really dig and search for it, look for ways to apply the positive to your life. This will help you switch gears and employ a better perspective. You don't have to bury your head in the sand. Allow yourself to feel the emotions that may surface, but pull one thing from the situation that you can take as a lesson. Just because today really stunk, doesn’t necessarily mean that your life is a disaster.

Get going.

Scream, go running, go jogging, go walking or go swimming. All of these will channel negative feelings that are fueling your anger. Do something that you love to get your mind off wanting to flip someone off or get into a nasty argument. Bottling up your emotions will only cause you more frustration and more anger.

You will get stepped on.

There it was said. You will be the small guy in someone's world no matter what your lot is in life. Psychology Today shared that “Anger is the result of beliefs that lead you to place unreasonable demands on circumstances, such as, life must be fair. Unfairness exists in all our lives. The belief that you are entitled to fairness results from the mistaken idea that you are special." Life is tough, but the repercussions of being in denial that it is going be grand is false. Sorry, we know that stings!

Start ranting.

"People who are constantly putting others down, criticizing everything, and making cynical comments haven't learned how to constructively express their anger,” the American Psychological Association explained. One way to deal with anger in a more tangible way is to rant about it on paper. Go with it and free write about how your spouse is making you mad or that your friend's comments were beyond bewildering. Writing is powerful as it releases anger in a healthy way without you hurting relationships or your reputation. 

Get chatty.

There are times you need to talk about your feelings. Find someone who will be objectionable, but compassionate. Being alone in a situation will only make you feel worse. "Self-expression feels good. But what can help you feel even better is being listened to by someone who genuinely seems to care about you," Psychology Today reported. Talking it out with someone can help you feel legitimate. 

Ask yourself important questions.

Psych Central recommended that you answer a few questions before you storm into your supervisor's office or take on anyone using anger. “Is it true that whenever you express your feelings that this leads to a fight? How do you know with certainty that it will lead to a fight? Has there ever been an instance where you did express your feelings and nothing bad happened?” Next, go take a walk to slow down the adrenaline. The combination of these will slow down your mind and quiet some of your emotions before actions become regrettable.

Remove people that stir up trouble.

We all have experienced people who just set us off. Or maybe they have been a friend for years and their criticizing of you and others puts you on edge. There is enough drama in life and people who are prone to make you angry are the ones that you need to stay away from as they only feed into your negatives emotions. Since this will put you in a sour mood—why keep them around and allow them to feed the monster?

Let it go.

Letting things go will help you from playing the same scenario over in your head! Holding onto anger will compromise the digestive system and the cardiovascular system. It may also trigger hives, migraines and cause you to not sleep as well. “Repressed anger — where you express it indirectly or go to great lengths to control it, is associated with heart disease,” Everyday Health reported. Change your unhealthy response by visualizing yourself letting the anger leave your body and out of your life.

Change our perspective.

Stop looking at everything with all-or-nothing thinking or looking at things as black-and-white. Life is not that way and you need to change course if this is part of your thinking. All-or-nothing, thinking is a typical thought pattern found in people with depression. However, many subscribe to this way of life and think in extremes. For example, you are a success or a failure--there's no middle ground. Life is more complex than that, so give yourself a break.

Learning to control your anger is a beast for most people. If anger is taking over your life and you can't seem to get it tamed, seek professional help. Not only will this help you sort things out, but they will be able to give you ideas on how to nip anger in the bud and move on with your life. Don't worry if you can't seem to overcome the emotion of anger entirely because we are all human. But dealing with anger in tangible ways can be a beginning.

Beliefnet.com