Like all emotions, each person has a relationship with anger. This relationship is determined by our experiences, awareness and knowledge of how anger operates. Learning about anger, what it is, and how it operates in pursuit of survival is important to begin shifting the relationship you have with it. Developing awareness to understand your own patterns and reactions offers you information to begin making changes. Over time, you begin to create new experiences with anger.

Anger is a normal and basic human emotion. Learning how to self-regulate emotions like anger is possible and within your control. It is how we process and express our anger that determines our relationship with it.

Here are some things that impact your relationship with anger:
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❏ Being mindful of the state of your nervous system. A regulated nervous system allows space for tolerance.
❏ Sleep: lack of sleep makes it harder to control impulses and shift the relationship with anger. Sleep is essential to have tolerance for uncomfortable experiences, like anger.
❏ Eating regularly: when we don’t eat regularly our nervous system becomes dysregulated increases chances of acting on an anger impulse.
❏ Challenge your interpretation: question your interpretation, look for an alternative perspective, ask yourself how your interpretation is related to a survival instinct (what am I protecting myself from?)