Managing Anger, Mind/Body Techniques
Poor anger management can have serious consequences. What are some of the things that people do when they become angry? People say things that they later regret. Once something is said, you can’t really take it back. You can apologize but that doesn’t erase it from the record. Some of the effects of what has been said still exist. Saying something in anger can lead to a big argument, the break up of an important relationship, termination from a job, a physical altercation, and even the loss of life. Many people have been shot and killed as a result of something they said during a road-rage incident for example.
This leads to another thing that people do when they become angry. People physically do things as a result of the anger they feel. They throw things, punch holes in walls, hit people, and break things.
Are these reactions to anger automatic? They may appear to be but they are not. From the time the anger is initiated to the time of the reaction, there is a period of time, even though it may be relatively short. During this time a decision is made to react. Words don’t come out of your mouth without thinking of what to say. You cannot punch a hole in a wall without thinking of doing it, forming a fist, and aiming it at the wall. The period of time may only be seconds or even fractions of a second. Within that time options of what to do and possible consequences can be weighed before a decision is made.
How can you use that time and maybe even increase the amount of time taken in making a decision on reacting? Using the power of the mind/body connection can help greatly. Biofeedback is a perfect tool to use for training your mind/body system to react more appropriately. Sometimes we refer to this type of training as self-regulation training. When we become angry our nervous system becomes more activated. It triggers changes in our brain, cardiovascular system, and our muscular system. We can use biofeedback devices or instruments to measure these changes. We can practice increasing our level of control over these changes. We use EMG (Electromyograph) biofeedback to measure how tense our muscles are. A good level for relaxation might be about 3 microvolts. When a person becomes angry, their muscle tension can exceed 80 microvolts. They might not even notice that they are that tense in a moment of anger. If they have practiced using EMG biofeedback regularly, they become much more aware and mindful of their level of tension. They notice when their muscles go from being relaxed to becoming even slightly more tense. This gives them time to release the tension quickly rather than allowing it to continue. It is much more difficult to react without thinking when you release the excess muscle tension before you react.
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) biofeedback is a measure of how our cardiovascular system is reacting. When a person becomes angry there are noticeable changes in their HRV measures. Simply pausing to slow and deepen your breathing for even a few seconds can cause significant changes in your HRV which help to calm your nervous system and thus allow for healthier reactions.
It is much easier to learn mind/body self-regulation with biofeedback tools because you can see the changes as they are happening, whether they are negative or positive. With practice, eventually, you won’t need to rely on the instruments. You will have developed an internal sensitivity that will allow you to notice the subtle changes in the moment and make the proper adjustments before reacting in a way that you would regret.
Harry L. Campbell
www.mindbodydevices.com
914-762-4646