How To Release Anger and Frustration

Visualization

Mindfully move your body

Check your perspective

Express your frustration

Defuse anger with humor

Change your surroundings

Ways to Release Anger

Breathe

Visualize

Move mindfully

Check yourself

Look for humor

Change your surrorundings

Identify triggers

Be grateful

Take deep breaths

In the heat of the moment, it’s easy to overlook your breathing. But that kind of shallow breathing you do when you’re angry keeps you in fight-or-flight mode.

To combat this, try taking slow, controlled breaths you inhale from your belly rather than your chest. This allows your body to instantly calm itself.

You can also keep this breathing exercise in your back pocket:

Find a chair or place where you can comfortably sit, allowing your neck and shoulders to fully relax.

Breathe deeply through your nose, and pay attention to your tummy rising.

Exhale through your mouth.

Visualization

Finding your happy place in the midst of a flight delay or work setback can help you feel more relaxed in the moment.

When wrestling with boiling tension, try painting a mental picture to calm your body and brain:

Think of a real or imaginary place that makes you feel happy, peaceful, and safe. This can be that camping trip to the mountains you took last year or an exotic beach you’d like to visit someday.

Focus on the sensory details by envisioning yourself there. What are the smells, sights, and sounds?

Be aware of your breathing and keep this image in your mind until you feel your anxiety start to lift.

Mindfully move your body

Sometimes, sitting still can make you feel even more anxious or on edge. Mindfully moving your body with yoga and other calming exercises can release tension in your muscles.

Check your perspective

Moments of high stress can warp your perception of reality, making you feel like the world is out to get you. The next time you feel anger bubbling up, try to check your perspective.

Everyone has bad days from time to time, and tomorrow will be a fresh start.

Defuse anger with humor

Finding the humor in a heated moment can help you keep a balanced perspective. This doesn’t mean you should simply laugh off your problems, but looking at them in a more lighthearted way.

Change your surroundings

Give yourself a break by taking some personal time from your immediate surroundings.

If your home is cluttered and stressing you out, for example, take a drive or a long walk. You’ll likely find that you’re better equipped to sort through the mess when you return.

Focus on what you appreciate

While dwelling on your day’s misfortunes can seem like the natural thing to do, it won’t help you in the short or long term.

It’s no secret that letting anger simmer or having rage outbursts hurts your personal and professional relationships. But it also impacts your well-being. Constantly bottling up our frustration can lead to physical and emotional reactions, including like high blood pressure and anxiety.