Are You Struggling with Anger Issues? Try These 7 Anger Management Exercises to Help You Get Your Anger Under Control Effectively (2020)

Anger is the most powerful, perplexing and common emotion that we all experience in response to unwanted behaviour from others. Anger can motivate an individual to achieve his/her goals or overcome certain obstacles. However, when it turns destructive and out of control, anger can lead to psychological, behavioural and physiological problems.

So, anger management is very important as it helps us to reduce our physiological arousal and emotional feelings caused due to anger. Physical exercise benefits people who have anger issues. Hence, it is a part of both early prevention methods and continuous treatment process.

So, improving physical health will also help manage emotions in a better way, especially when it is combined with other anger management strategies and professional therapy programs.

So, a mild-moderate exercise routine will optimally help in improving mental health and also enhance cognitive function and improves psychological well-being of an individual.

This is an important point to remember as it helps control yourself from sudden outbursts. When a person is angry, he usually doesn’t have control of what he says. They may end up saying something hurtful. So, if you are in a situation that irritates you, hold on and think twice before you say something. This will make it easy to handle the situation. Also, you can walk away temporarily and avoid talking or thinking about it. This way, you will gain some time to assess the situation and understand what went wrong. You can handle your anger in a mature way instead of being aggressive.

If you feel that the situation is such that there is nothing wrong in getting angry and you can do something to make things better, then express your feelings in healthier ways. In fact, anger can become a source of inspiration to bring some change if it is channelled efficiently and communicated deferentially. Always fight fair. This way, you will not only express the need of yours but also respect others needs as well.

Don’t let stressful situations anger you. Understand the events affecting you, so that you are in better control of the environment that leads to unnecessary aggravation. Try identifying people, situations, activities and places that irritate you. Maybe the daily traffic you face while commuting drives you crazy, or you may get into an argument when you go out with certain friends. Try different ways to avoid these triggers or view the situation from a different perspective.

It’s a challenge to control anger. If you are doing things that are hurting people around you, it is making you unhappy or affecting your relationships, and then it’s time to seek professional help. There are several classes, programs and therapists to help those with anger issues. Therapy from professionals will help you learn more about the reasons and triggers for your anger. You will also learn techniques to manage your anger.

Good food will keep you in a good mood. Consuming unhealthy junk and processed food increases irritability and aggression. The Oxford University study shows that if the body does not get the required amount of essential nutrients, then it reduces the production of appropriate hormones and chemicals that affects the healthy mood and thinking of a person. So, to avoid anger issues, one must follow a diet that includes different fruits and veggies and increase the intake of omega-3. Avoid packaged juices and instead, consider drinking cold-pressed juices to get required minerals and vitamins. Yoghurt is also known to reduce stress. It consists of Vitamin D that is essential to reduce depression and anxiety.

You might have noticed that breathing becomes shallow and quick when you are angry. One of the ways, to calm yourself is by breathing slowly and systematically, which helps relax your tensed muscles. Besides relaxing, you will also gain control over yourself. It is important to set aside at least fifteen minutes every day to practice breathing exercise.

The breath you take should first enter your belly and then chest finally reaching your upper chest. You can feel the ribs expand as you breathe in. Continue this for a few minutes. If you feel any discomfort, immediately return to your normal breathing pattern.

All things in our body are interconnected; likewise controlling your breath will slow your heart rate and will relax your muscular tension. Anger usually manifests as muscle tension, which collects in the shoulders and neck. If you notice tension in your neck region, then continue slow breathing exercise while slowly rolling your head to either side of your shoulders.

Slow and deep breathing is a useful trick to ease your mind when your anger is rising.

Anger outbursts are usually caused due to excessive stress, and frequent uncontrolled anger further increases stress in an individual. Few simple yet effective relaxation techniques produce a therapeutic effect and will soothe your anger. The three techniques used are – Meditative Relaxation, Visual Imagery, and Progressive Muscle Relaxation.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation is the most potent relaxation technique of the three that makes the affected individuals get awareness about the changes happening in their body during stress and anger. This will help make the necessary changes to counter these effects.

This technique reverses the effect in a calculated manner. Here, the individual lies down on a mat in a comfortable position feeling those areas of his/her body where the muscles are tense. These areas usually include the neck, arms, shoulders, and back. Relaxing these parts consciously will free the person of anger and stress gradually.

Yoga is an effective and healthy way to deal with anger. Practising regular yoga can help individual manage anger, which otherwise will adversely affect his/her health and mood. The yoga postures will help channel anger towards constructive things. A few poses that you can practice to control anger are –

Ashtanga and Kundalini Yoga are more energizing practices that some people find beneficial. However, calming and slower practices are also helpful in alleviating anger. Over a while, you can combine both these yoga practices to tame your temper.

If you are stressed, and experience frequent angry outbursts practice these yoga asanas at least for 30 minutes every day to release your anger.

Studies have shown that a structured aerobic exercise activity can be an effective strategy to control anger expression. There is a link between fitness, physical exercise and anger. Physical activity has shown to improve symptoms of depression and anxiety in children, adolescents and adults.

Aerobic exercises are one form of physical activity that will burn not only your calories but also a great way to relieve your stress and anger. These exercises will increase your heart rate and pulmonary system. Studies have proved that aerobic exercises improve mood, creating an ‘iceberg profile’ that consists of low scores on emotions like confusion, tension, fatigue and anger.

Some people need a quiet corner to calm down when they are angry while for some, it’s a must to rage-hard. If you belong to the latter category, then HIIT training is a godsend. Channel your temper into those high-intensity movies that will reward you not only physically but also mentally. HIIT training is difficult, but at the same, it is perfect for channelling all your negative energy into it. These workouts will pump in feel-good hormones in your body. So, even if you are working out with anger in you, technically you are releasing endorphins and, in the end, you will feel satisfactory!

Boxing has a range of mental, physical and health benefits. Studies have already established the link between mental health and exercise. Exercise releases endorphins were giving an awesome feeling after the workout. If we talk specifically about boxing, then it is a positive outlet of emotional feelings. The person can put all his aggression on a heavy punch bag that will help deal with the emotions positively and healthily.

Boxing helps deal with anger, stress, anxiety and depression. It is also a great way to draw some confidence as you train along. It is not only a safe and comfortable space to enhance fitness level but also builds self-esteem and self-confidence.

We all have gone through days when you feel that mental tension and negative energy is piling up inside you, and any moment it can explode. In such case, sweating it out and hitting the gym is what is needed to release some steam. Few workouts help in healthily channelling your anger.

Medicine Slam Ball exercise is an extremely explosive workout that is not only good for your core muscles but also an easy way to release your anger and calm yourself.