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Areas › Anger › Cool the body first
Two things happen in the same breath. The exhale stretches out, which settles the body, and the buzzing gives your attention somewhere plain to sit, which starves the replay that keeps anger burning. If the vibration is faint, drop the pitch a little until you can feel it. That is the whole instruction.
Among His signs are your sleep, by night and by day, and your seeking His bounty. There truly are signs in this for those who can hear (Quran 30:23). Ordinary happenings in the body are put forward as worth attending to, which is the whole move here.
الروم
وَمِنۡ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ مَنَامُكُم بِٱلَّيۡلِ وَٱلنَّهَارِ وَٱبۡتِغَآؤُكُم مِّن فَضۡلِهِۦٓۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَأٓيَٰتࣲ لِّقَوۡمࣲ يَسۡمَعُونَ
Among His signs are your sleep, by night and by day, and your seeking His bounty. There truly are signs in this for those who can hear
Qur’an 30:23read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
In a randomised comparison, a brief mindful breathing exercise increased people's sense of standing back from their own thoughts more than muscle relaxation or loving-kindness practice did, and it reduced negative reactions to repetitive thinking. That is direct support for using the breath as an attention anchor against rumination. It was a brief laboratory exercise, so it speaks to what happens in the next few minutes rather than to lasting change.
Feldman G, Greeson J, Senville J. (2010). Differential effects of mindful breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, and loving-kindness meditation on decentering and negative reactions to repetitive thoughts.. Behaviour research and therapy doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Attention cannot easily hold a physical sensation and a grievance at the same time, and the sensation is the easier one to stay with.
Your body will mobilise whether you like it or not. What happens next is trainable, and that part is genuinely yours.
If techniques and explanations are not for you, carry a bottle of water and drink it down whenever you feel yourself going up. That is the whole method.
Anger arrives with a rush of energy that feels strong and clear, and that is a large part of why it keeps coming back. The bill turns up hours later, long after the payment.