Friday, September 21, 2012

Anger Management Tools that Fit in Your Pocket

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Here at Iglehart Wellness, we’ve been talking about anger management tools. We’ve discussed foods to help improve your mood and tips to help keep toddler tantrums under control. And to wrap up our in-depth discussion, I’d like to leave you with a few helpful mantras.

I use these mantras in my practice, right along with my psychiatrist’s couch and my prescription pad. My patients who struggle with anger management find it helpful to keep these anger management tools in their pocket or purse when they’re away from my office. If you could use a take-home tool, bookmark this page or print it out and find a quiet place to read when you feel the need!


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Let Go

This Acceptance Mantra is designed for those times when people or situations push you to the tipping point. It’s a simple but effective reminder that we can’t always control our environment. This anger management tool reminds us to stop wasting our emotional fuel on what you can’t control and to save your energy to focus on what you can control.

I will practice acceptance. Today I will accept people, situations, circumstances, and events as they occur. I know that this moment is as it should be, because the whole universe is as it should be. I will not struggle against the whole universe by struggling against this moment. My acceptance is total and complete. I accept things as they are this moment, not as I wish they were.

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Own What’s Yours

Learning to take responsibility for our mistakes is perhaps our greatest anger management tool. And this Responsibility Mantra is designed to make that pill a little easier to swallow. Before you react from a place of anger, repeat this mantra. It may help shed a little light on a little responsibility that you’ve overlooked.  

Having accepted things as they are, I will take responsibility for my situation and for all those events I see as problems. I know that taking responsibility means not blaming anyone or anything for my situation (and this includes myself.) I also know that every problem is an opportunity in disguise, and this alertness to opportunities allows me to take this moment and transform it into a greater benefit.

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Before an Argument

You know when it’s coming. The voices in the room are getting louder and that familiar warm feeling flushes under your collar. Before you say something that you might regret, pull out this Anger Management Mantra. Repeat it until that feeling of anger passes over you. Then return to the conversation more grounded than when you left it.

Today I begin to live in the here and the now. I will be aware of all that I am today. I will experience all that life offers today. I am aware. My awareness will focus on Anger Management.
I will relinquish the need to defend my point of view and express my outrage with result in anger. I will feel no need to defend my point and will allow all others the right to their point even when their points and opinions seem to be contrary to mine.
 I will feel no need to argue or vent my emotions or persuade others to accept my point of view. I will remain open to all points of view and not be rigidly attached to any one of them. I will not low anger to limit my immune system and affect my lifespan.

Dr. Sharon Iglehart


I hope these take-home mantras help you on your journey to wellness. Print them out and repeat them until your anger settles down and you can think clearly. If these anger management tools help you in any way, I’d love to hear about your experience. Feel free to comment and share the moment in your life where a mantra helped to calm and center you!

2 comments:

  1. THANKS DOC,
    YOU ARE A TRUE FRIEND, THESE WILL BE VERY HELPFUL IN GETTING ME THROUGH THE DAYS THAT SEEM A BIT LONG.
    KEEP ME IN MIND I HAVE A LOT OF LIVING TO DO AND I'LL NEED FRIENDS LIKE YOU ALONG THE WAY.
    CHARLES

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  2. Hi Charles!

    I'm so glad that you found this useful. I like to think of Iglehart Wellness as an online support system where we can come and connect. Keep tuning in for more helpful hints and let us know how you're doing!

    Dr. Sharon

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