Cultivate Healthy Emotions
Emotions are neither good nor bad, but we can feed negative emotions or feed positive emotions. If we practice gratitude regularly, our emotional temperature will be more positive. If we feed resentment, we will build anger into our souls.
Name our Feelings
When we are angry, we need to recognize the feeling, name it to ourselves, and then ask ‘why we are angry?’ Is our anger an appropriate response to the situation? Often, our anger is out of proportion. This likely means we are bringing anger from an old situation and unloading it on the wrong person for the wrong action.
Anger Stops the Flow
We need to learn to process our anger and clear it from our souls. Anger is not only bad for our souls but also bad for our bodies. Anger affects the heart, the brain and the digestive system. Anger raises the risk of heart attacks. In a recent study, angry people had the worst blood flow, even compared to sad and worried people.
Anger Stops Digestion
Anger also affects our digestive process. When we are angry, the movement of food slows down. This is because our bodies are triggering fight-or-flight reactions. Anger also causes the lining of the digestive tract to leak. This leaking triggers inflammation. Anger raises the risk of inflammation. Micro-inflammation is linked to many diseases.
Anger Harms Control
Anger releases stress hormones into the bloodstream. Stress hormones damage the parts of the brain involved in focus and control. We’ve seen adults who are always angry. They seem to have lost the ability to control their anger. That’s what happens. Long-term anger makes it more difficult for us to control our emotions.
Count to Ten
Short-term feelings of anger are expected, especially when we’ve been wronged. But we shouldn’t live in anger. We shouldn’t be getting angry every day or even every week. Learn techniques to manage anger. Don’t ignore it; when you feel it, apply the brakes, not the gas. Count to ten. Get some perspective. Anger only leads to more anger, which leads to poor mental, emotional and physical health.
