We’re all human beings. No matter how easy going we may be, things are bound to happen and cause us to become frustrated and irritated. It could be a flat tire in the middle of rush hour traffic or the constant nuisances experienced from a co-worker at your job. The key to making it through these times is learning how to release your anger in a healthy and appropriate manner. When we don’t deal with our day-to-day issues as they occur, our emotions can get the best of us – causing an individual to boil over and take out their frustrations out on others that didn’t create the initial issues.

Before attempting to release anger an individual must address a situation with a few key elements and perspectives. First, it’s very important that an individual understand that things happen. Just because you got the short end of the stick today, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to get the short end of the stick tomorrow or the day after that. Stop comparing your life to the lives of others and come to terms with the unpredictability that will happen. Second, have an open mind and stay positive. With the good and bad circumstances, look for lessons that you can apply to your life to improve the overall outcome and path you’re traveling down. Instead of viewing your situation with a lens that’s half empty, do you best to maintain a positive outlook and view things with a half full perspective.

Now having made those two side points and taking those into fruition, it’s time to learn how to release anger without anger management.

1. Get Your Anger Moving

Get to the root of the issue at hand. Ask yourself, “Why am I truly angry?” Determine if you even have a valid point and rationale for being angry. Focus on the situation and how it’s effecting you as an individual. Now learn to breath and manage yourself with the frustration as your main focus. Allow yourself to feel the emotions. Cry if you need to. Scream, into a pillow, if you need to. Go out and run if you need to burn off energy. Allow your emotions to surface and be expressed. You’ll find that bottling up your emotions will only cause you more frustration and anger.

2. Put It On Paper

Your hands, feet and voice are the key channel you have to release emotional energy from your body. Writing is powerful because it connects your mind and hands. Put your anger on paper as a resourceful method of how to release anger effectively and maturely. Get a journal and jot down your feelings – you’ll find that this is an excellent way to help you move on from emotions that oftentimes you can get stuck on. Writing will help the body reduce and prevent toxic emotional build up that can overflow into other aspects within life.

3. Communication

Communicate, communicate, and communicate! Did I mention how important it is to communicate? Talking about your emotions, good or bad, is a great way to maintain a positive outlook on life and release anger in an effective manner. Let your friends and family know how you feel. If you have a friend and/or family member that’s experienced a similar situation, it’s a good idea to discuss with them your own situation. Not only will that individual be able to tap into their own experience with the issue at hand, but the discussion could open up other doors to help you learn how to release anger. Communication is an effective method of healing that oftentimes is overlooked because people are embarrassed and feel as if they’ll be ostracized. Yet, sharing experiences has the potential of bringing people together and allows perspectives about self-judgement and self-acceptance.

4. Find a New Truth

We all have our own story and it’s important to constantly develop it. Some people believe that developing your new truth can be a hindrance because the story can be limiting based on fear. However, it’s important to keep your vision in hindsight – and knowing the truth at hand will keep those goals within reach. Overall, believing in yourself will allow you to lift yourself up when you become frustrated or anxious with life’s happenings.

5. Physically Release the Anger

No, physically releasing the anger does not mean screaming or proclaiming verbally your frustration. Instead this tip on how to release anger is focusing on the energy that may be pent up within your body. Get physical by exercising – go for a run, ride your bicycle, take a hike, enroll in a martial arts class, perform yoga stances, or anything else that you physically enjoy that will help you burn off your frustrations. The negative energy will remain dormant unless you expel it.

Another important way to get rid of your anger is by physically removing items that cause you frustrations. If there is an individual that is constantly causing you pain or heartbreak then stop associating yourself with this person. Or maybe you’re going through a break-up, throw away that picture that you pass and look at every day of you and your ex, or get rid of the sweatshirt your ex left behind that you secretly wear to bed each night. You’ll discover a newfound viewpoint if the physical remnants of your anger are not around to constantly and consistently cause you pain and frustration.

As you learn how to release your anger, it’s important to keep an open mind. Know that one of these tips are not going to work individually - instead a combination of the tips will be effective. Don’t get discouraged if one tip works better at times than others. Learning how to release anger can be somewhat of a trial and error process. Stay positive and be willing to forgive those that cause you pain. You’ll find that holding onto mistakes and negativity will only hurt you in the long run and take over the life that you’re working so hard at every day.