Part of the recovery process is learning more about the emotions that can contribute to our unhappiness and stress, to our depression and anxiety, and to our addictive patterns. Anger is one of these challenging emotions, and learning how to deal with it is an important part of emotional recovery. What are some healthy, constructive and productive ways of processing our anger?
Writing is a helpful tool in processing any emotion, and when we write about our anger, we free up our minds and hearts and allow ourselves to release it. Writing won’t solve all our problems, and it might not take away your anger, but it can help you calm down, soothe yourself, and slow your racing thoughts. Writing helps us to organize and process our thoughts so that we can think more clearly. This allows us to get to the root of the problem and focus on solutions. Many of us have an easier time processing things once we’ve seen them in writing. The writing process can allow us to visually work through the things that have been circling around in our minds. The act of writing can help us connect to ourselves, to the peaceful, quiet place within us that we want to access to heal from our anger.
Meditation is a powerful way of working through our anger. Writing can be a meditative practice, as can breathing exercises, walking meditation, repeating affirmations, listening to guided meditations and practicing visualizations. You can try meditating on the words “I forgive” and on the feeling of forgiveness. If you don’t feel ready to forgive the person you’re angry with, try visualizing yourself surrounding the situation with forgiveness. Picture yourself sending a light of forgiveness out to envelop the other person and the whole situation.
Try to imagine how you would think and feel if the situation were involving other people rather than you. Try to look at it objectively, as if you’re not at all involved or impacted. Might you be able to understand why things happened the way they did? Could you understand what pain the person might have been acting from? Could you try to treat the situation with empathy, understanding and compassion?
When we don’t feel like we can forgive, it can be helpful to call on our higher power and ask that it have forgiveness on our behalf. This helps us relinquish control over how we’re feeling about it. It can help us to stop obsessing about our anger, to detach from it, and to surrender to our higher power’s plan for resolving it.
Our treatment programs include therapy, mindfulness education and holistic practices to help you work through your anger and other challenging emotions. Call (575) 613-4810 for more information.
