When Anger Takes Its Toll

Are you feeling angry about what’s going on in the world right now? Are you addicted to watching or reading the news because you’re so angry?

Anger keeps us stuck in many ways. If it is not addressed quickly, and if it is not expressed in a healthy way, then your body can be harmed by holding in anger.

Let’s go over the negative effects of holding anger in. When you hold anger for long periods, turn it inward or explode in rage, then you may cause your body to be inflamed.

Doctors say that in a two-hour outburst, the chance of having a heart attack doubles. If you’re prone to lashing out at someone for a long duration of time, then you are at a higher risk of having a stroke from a blood clot to the brain. Repressed anger is also associated with heart disease. If you’re mad inside all the time, then you weaken your immune system.

Anger goes hand-in-hand with anxiety, anger problems can make your anxiety worse, leading to excessive and uncontrollable worry that interferes with your daily life.

Do you get so angry that you lose two hours in your day or your entire day is thrown off course?

Studies have shown that depression is linked to passive anger. Passive anger is when you’re holding onto anger and ruminating about how angry you are, but you don’t take any action. Feelings of anger may increase your stress. Hormones create inflammation in your airways and your lungs.

Another study has shown that if you are stressed and angry at the same time, then you shorten your lifespan. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, anger is the emotion of the liver.

When you feel enraged or aggravated consistently, then your liver can get damaged from too much negative energy. This can lead to a vicious circle of feeling repressed anger, resentment, irritability, and frustration.

When you do nothing about it, then stagnation of energy from your liver can manifest. That’s why it’s so important to move your energy, especially around the liver. There are many ways to counter anger. You can learn to express your anger appropriately. You can directly tell people what you’re mad about, or you can do an activity, get busy and stop thinking too much. 

Control Your Anger Before It Controls You

When I get angry, I do Tai Chi so that I can be fully absorbed in the movements of Tai Chi. I fill my mind completely with its movements.

Tai Chi pulls me to focus on the present moment where there is no room to stir my anger.

Do you have difficulty managing your anger?

Start by calming yourself down. There are many activities you can do to bring conscious and calm moments into your life. I recommend Tai Chi as it is my activity to calm down and be in the moment. When I get upset, I do Tai Chi and imagine moving my liver energy and I release the stagnant energy built up in the liver.

I find that a regular movement practice like Tai Chi can make you feel nourished. It can help you stimulate circulation and Tai Chi can help you breathe inspiration into your mind and body. It brings greater peace and presence into my life.

According to Western medicine, anger inflames your organs. When you hold on to anger and not let it pass through your body, then you can get stuck and your energy gets stuck.

Liver Fire – What Is It?

Severe cases of liver chi stagnation can lead to liver fire in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

When you are so angry, the anger makes you turn red in the face.  This is a sign that your liver is working hard to process energy and it gets to be on fire. When your body temperature increases and you get hot and sweaty, that is liver fire. When you get swollen or have allergic reactions, your liver is on fire. 

Any inflammation in your body triggers your immune system to fight a foreign substance.  When your body works hard to fight off infection, injury or toxins, your liver can get on fire. 

Liver fire also happens when you are holding on to too much anger and the toxins just stay in your body.

Toxins overload the liver.  Sustained and increased anger can cause issues in your body. According to Eastern medicine, your liver is responsible for the flow of energy in your body. It’s important to do Tai Chi to get the energy flowing again.

Let Your Anger Flow Through You

Let’s do a quick flow here – a simple sequence that is the beginning sequence of Tai Chi.

1. Energize up, exhale back down. 

2. Energize the fingers by putting them out in front of you. Then relax back down, and exhale all the way.

3. Energize, ward off left and exhale.

4. Energize, ward off right and exhale.

5. Energize and chop left and exhale.

6. Energize and chop right and exhale.

7. Repeat steps 1-6.

Watch the video and follow along:

While doing these motions, imagine you’re drawing the energy of anger out of your liver and exhale. 

Energize the fingers, exhale and ward off left. Imagine drawing the energy from your body, releasing it, and then allowing it to move through you. Exhale and release the energy from your liver, let it pass through, and let the energy flow inside your body.

If you don’t know the Tai Chi movements just yet, here’s a simple liver exercise that you can do to keep your liver functioning properly so it can continue to filter toxins out of your body. 

With any internal exercise, always keep your mind on what you are doing.  This is very important. Feel the flow of energy across your chest. Keeping your mind on this exercise serves to unify the mind and body.

1. Sit or lie down in a comfortable position.

2. Place the palm of your right hand on the right lateral side of your body so that it lies at the base of your rib cage.

3. Push your hand across the front of your chest, following the line of the lower rib bones of your chest, and rub up toward your sternum. Then down toward the left lateral side of your body. 

4. Return to where you started.

5. Repeat steps 1-4.

That is it. Avoid chronic anger and prevent external troubles as well as internal injuries by doing a form of Tai Chi or do some form of simple Chinese traditional internal exercise. 

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