Anger is a normal human behavior. We can all identify with situations where things have not been going well, situations when we feel ignored, or situations where life has thrown us a curveball. However, anger may damage relationships, decision-making, and even physical health when it becomes common or even severe.
Long-term anger is associated with blood pressure, hormonal imbalance, anxiety, and cardiac issues. It is not important to fight anger but to handle it in its entirety. Learning to relax triggers of an emotional state, rewrite your responses, and create inner balance can be achieved by means of combining NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and breath work.
The faultiness of traditional anger control
The majority of individuals attempt to manage anger through suppressing and avoiding it, or evading it. However, it can only drive emotions to a deeper level in the subconscious, which then re-emerges even more intensely in later life.
Real anger management comes about through:
- Learning to deal with triggers rather than prevent them.
- Altering thinking patterns that promote anger.
- Governing the stress reaction of the body through the breathwork.
In this case, NLP and breathing exercises are a very potent and holistic solution.
Perceiving the Signs of Emotional Triggers
An emotional trigger is an occurrence, phrase, or memory that causes an intense emotional response. The triggers associated with anger are:
- Being mistreated or insulted.
- Being ignored or not valued.
- Disillusionment with the inability to act.
- Stressful environments.
Triggers cause the brain to enter the fight-or-flight mode, thus releasing stressors such as cortisol and adrenaline. You can also train your brain to react rather than to react with impulsive reactions.
The NLP use in anger management
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) concerns the transformation of the language of your mind. It is a lesson on how to use thoughts, words, and body language to build feelings.
The following is how NLP techniques can be used to deal with anger:
1. Reframing the Trigger
Rather than taking criticism as an assault, NLP will make you take it as feedback. This change of mind eliminates the intensity of emotion.
2. Anchoring Calm States
NLP operates upon physical gestures or words, which are anchors that put you in an immediate relaxed state. To illustrate this, when you are recalling any calm memory and squeeze your thumb and finger, your brain is being trained to find relaxation when you feel angry.
3. Interrupting Patterns
Anger is generally a predictable process: trigger-reaction-regret. NLP will make you go through this circle by introducing a break and a new response.
4. Language Reprogramming
Anger is being nurtured by words such as “I can’t stand this.” NLP substitutes them with empowering messages such as "I can also cope with this calmly." This, in the long run, retrains the subconscious.
Breathwork in the Relaxation of Anger
NLP operates on the brain, whereas the body is composed with breathwork. Shallow and quick breathing frequently accompanies anger, which raises the levels of stress hormones. The conscious breathing restores the balance of the nervous system.
Powerful Breathing Exercises to Calm Your Anger
1. Triangle breathing
- Inhale for 4 counts.
- Hold for 4 counts.
- Exhale for 4 counts.
- Hold again for 4 counts.
This is such a basic trick that slows the heart and normalizes the state within seconds.
2. Inhalation (Cooling Breath) (Sheetali Pranayama)
- Roll tongue in a tube (or purse lips in the case of difficulty).
- Breathe in heavily with the rolled tongue.
- Breathe out at a slow pace through the nose.
Produces a decongestive influence on both the body and heart, cooling and de-emphasizing heat and anger.
3. Alternate nostril breathing (Nadi Shodhana)
- Close that right nostril, and get in with the left.
- Turn and breathe out on the right.
- Repeat, alternating sides.
Calms down, lowers cortisol, and makes the mind clear.
4. Bee Breathing (Bhramari)
- Inhale deeply.
- Exhale with a humming 'mmm' sound.
- Repeat 5-7 times.
Relieves stress, decreases frustration, and brings about relaxation.
The Strength of NLP Combination with Breathwork.
NLP and breathwork are not effective when used alone because they do not only regulate anger in the short run but also change your emotional response system.
- NLP reconstructs the patterns of thoughts and the triggers of the subconscious mind.
- Breathwork relaxes the nervous system and reduces the level of stress hormones.
- The combination of them produces prolonged emotional strength.
You start to react with sanity, patience, and balance rather than feeling threatened by the anger.
A few tips to start whole-person anger management
- Writing down your experiences after unleashing your tears and fury can also enable you to know the circumstances that most probably can irritate you.
- Pair NLP anchoring and calm anchoring of deep breathing.
- Form a schedule (5 minutes each day): 2 minutes of breathing in and out and 3 minutes of reinterpretation of thoughts.
- Ask the coaching help in case of overwhelming triggers.
- Reward small accomplishments—every time you take a moment to make a pause and reflect, you are rewiring your brain.
Long-Term Benefits
By practicing, you will feel:
- Be patient in more relationships.
- Improved unrefined stressful decision-making.
- Reduced proneness to stress illness.
- Better self-knowledge and emotional intelligence.
- The sense of strength of your inner world.
Final Thoughts
Anger need not be destructive always. It is possible to approach anger in a healthy and holistic way with the right attitude and by applying such techniques as NLP or calming exercises, such as breathwork. You are no longer guided by your emotional urges, but you are trained to be more intelligent, patient, and calm-hearted.
Remember: the enemy is not the indicator of anger it is the bearer of. Your answer will either lead to a conflict or development. Wake up every day with a good breathing-in, a new mind, and determination to bring peace to the soul.