Yvette Bernosky B.Ms, C.P.T
Executive Business Coach - Tony Robbins- Madanes
I recently came across this story, The Snake and The Saw, by Fearless Soul.
“A snake found its way into a home improvement store one night after closing. As the snake slithered around, it clipped itself on a handsaw, lying on the ground. Thinking it was a threat, the snake instantly snapped around and bit the saw. This caused much more damage, cutting inside the snake's mouth. Thinking the saw was an enemy, the snake wrapped its long body around the saw, attempting to suffocate it. The snake did not damage the saw but was killed by the blade, aka its anger.”
Getting upset when caught in a traffic jam or an unexpected mishap is normal, but sustained anger can impact our health in many ways.
Your Heart
In an article in the Wall Street Journal, Anger Does a Lot More Damage to Your Body Than You Realize, the Journal of the American Heart Association found that when we are angry, we are more prone to heart attack because of its effect on our blood vessels.
Additionally, Dr. Dailich Shimbo, a professor of medicine at Colombia University who was a lead author in a study about how anger, anxiety, and sadness affect our hearts, stated, “ We speculate over time if you’re getting the chronic insults to arteries because you get angry a lot that will leave you at risk for having heart disease.”
Your Brain
As we become angry, we may experience abnormal blood flow to certain brain areas, affecting us emotionally and cognitively. In the article from The Society of Psychology, The Angry Brian, by Rachel Zacher, M.S., she states that due to the dysfunction caused to the limbic system with disruption of blood flow, one is more prone to experience negative emotions like fear and anxiety. Lower blood flow levels can affect our ability to move smoothly and even impact simple movements such as writing and walking.
Your Gut
Our gut comprises an intricate network of nerve endings, and feelings of anger can precipitate unsettling symptoms in our stomach.
In the New York Times, How Anger Affects the Body, they discuss the brain-gut connection. Our emotions have a direct impact on our stomach. Anger can cause gastrointestinal discomfort, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and impact food absorption.
As we get angry and hold onto resentments, it’s easy to make a mountain out of a molehill. Here, we take a situation like the snake and exacerbate it with a fitting story. However, pausing and stepping back lets us evaluate the circumstance objectively, as our imaginations can often cloud reality. One of the best tools we can gain is mastering our minds, as our experiences are preceded by the thoughts that occupy them. As we spend time in meditation, we sharpen our ability to notice the onset of disruptive thought patterns that lead to emotions of anger and potential outbursts. Another is that of our physiology. When we become angry, we tense up, and our breath may become short or rapid. As we feel this physical shift, herein lies the opportunity to take a few deep breaths, as scientific research has proven the calming effect deep breathing has on our nervous system, which can also diffuse anger at the onset.
Had the snake paused to see that the saw was just a saw and that there was no real threat, he would have gone on his merry way and let it go -
When anger arises in your life, I encourage you to take a breath, bring awareness to the thoughts running rapidly in your mind, and consciously take control of the moment.
My best to your health and wellness,
Yvette
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