Hi all!  As you may know already, I am a contributor to the popular Health & Wellness site, www.lifebites.com run by the fabulous Nina Boski.  Last month Lifebites put its attention on the topic of ENERGY, something that I was very excited to write about, especially in how it relates to ANGER.  I thought I would repost it here for you all to take a look at.  Without further adieu, below is my article, The Insightful Energy of Anger:

Think about the last time you got angry. How did your body respond? Were you sluggish and indifferent or were you vigorous and passionate? I’m guessing, whether you expressed it or not, you were experiencing the latter. Anger, like all emotions, is a form of energy, and the proof is in your body’s reaction. As we learned in grade school, energy is neither created nor destroyed; it is only transferred. This realization can be a significant turning point for many of us. We suddenly recognize that our angry energy must and therefore will end up somewhere, whether that somewhere is deep within ourselves buried like toxic treasure in the bottom of our stomach (ever heard the expression “What’s eating you?”) or whether it is transferred unintentionally to our loved ones in a moment of lashing out or a session of complaining. On the flip side, anger has the unique ability of putting us directly in touch with what is important in our lives and gives us the clarity to act on those values. It is in the action we take, or the expression of this energy, that our lives move forward either in a direction we choose or one guided by old, destructive habits.

Knowing that anger, like all energy, is permanent and enduring is half the battle. It is now up to us to direct it in a way that helps us meet our needs and goals. The best way to do that is through the Anger In, Anger Out method. When you start to experience anger forming inside of you, do not push it away or swallow it down, instead sit with it. Try to control the impulse- the involuntary reaction- that precedes the feeling and prevents it from forming. This physical sensation, the body’s fight or flight response, warns of a perceived danger and sets off a habituated reaction, which discharges or buries the anger immediately. Our job is to get curious enough about the origin of our anger to retrain our body’s instinctual reaction. You must be willing to allow the anger to percolate inside of you in order to reap its full benefits. Trust me, the wisdom will follow. A vision may enter your mind revealing who you are truly mad at, or even why, or perhaps the anger is masking another emotion. Tears may come signaling that underneath all of that angry lies sadness. In order to maintain clarity in our lives we must experience our emotions- the bad and the good. We must feel them to release them.

How do we release this energy in a healthy, productive direction? There are a few ways. We can talk about it, but, as mentioned above, not in a way that grows the angry energy, such as telling your story to anyone who will listen. Instead discuss the situation with someone who can help you discover the route of your anger as well as an appropriate solution. You can vent the energy by channeling it into physical activity, like running, doing yoga, or finishing a home improvement project. The true purpose of this energy is to motivate us towards lasting change. Anger has the power to force us to face a situation that is not working in our lives and turn it into one that is. It propels us to alter our external reality, so that we may find internal peace. For example, a man I know was constantly being teased by a group of his closest friends and he found himself becoming increasingly angry with them. He sat with the anger for a long time and discovered that his reckless behavior over the past year had cultivated a persona as an unreliable, directionless party animal who his friends didn’t respect. His actions were causing their assumptions and responses. With this knowledge now in hand, he was motivated to turn his life around and gain the respect he so desired. In doing this, he created a better life for himself, one of his own choosing. This is the best possible use of the energy and insight of anger.

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ANDREA FOR LIFEBITES.COM