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Areas › Anger › Cool the body first
Standing tall with a raised voice tells your own body that a fight is on, and it tells the other person the same thing, so they brace and match you. Sitting takes both of those away at once. If you are already on your feet, lowering yourself into a chair is also a visible sign that you are choosing not to escalate, which can carry more than anything you say next.
Who remember God standing, sitting, and lying down (Quran 3:191). Remembrance is described as fitting whatever position the body is in, so changing your posture is not stepping out of the moment.
آل عمران
ٱلَّذِينَ يَذۡكُرُونَ ٱللَّهَ قِيَٰمࣰ ا وَقُعُودࣰ ا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمۡ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلۡقِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقۡتَ هَٰذَا بَٰطِلࣰ ا سُبۡحَٰنَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ
who remember God standing, sitting, and lying down, who reflect on the creation of the heavens and earth: ‘Our Lord! You have not created all this without purpose- You are far above that!- so protect us from the torment of the Fire
Qur’an 3:191read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
A network meta-analysis of physical relaxation methods in healthcare workers found several body-based approaches reduced occupational stress, with no single method clearly ahead of the others. Posture itself was not what was tested. The honest reading is that working through the body is a reasonable route, and the particular move can be whichever one you will actually remember when it matters.
Zhang M, Murphy B, Cabanilla A, Yidi C. (2021). Physical relaxation for occupational stress in healthcare workers: A systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.. Journal of occupational health doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Your posture is one of the things the body reads when deciding whether it is in danger, and a seated body is harder to keep alarmed.
If someone already has a practice in their life, hang the new skill on that rather than handing them something foreign.
Slowing the breath seems to widen the gap in which you can still see your options. It does not make the anger go away, it gives you a moment inside it.
When your mouth opens to shout, let the air go out slowly through pursed lips instead. Same body part, different job.