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Whether it's road rage, husband rage, or you're furious with your boss, here are 20 ways to blast bad moods and quell anxiety. By Jane Worthington.
Focus on the positives
Struggling to be cheery with your partner? Take 60 seconds to write down all the things you loved about them when you met them, and focus on those.
Sing opera on the way to work
If road rage gets the better of you, instead of bashing the steering wheel or abusing the guy in the next lane, sing loudly in an operatic voice: 'La la la la, why are you doing that, you silly person'. "Using humour can have a huge impact on whether something small snowballs into a true, volcanic anger that can last for hours," says Melbourne counsellor and psychotherapist Meredith Fuller. "It's also good to get up 15 minutes earlier. Assume that there will always be hiccups."
Surf anxiety waves
"Frequent, persistent anger and irritability often go hand in hand with anxiety and moodiness," says Fuller. "That's why 'surfing' your emotions can help. Ask yourself the following questions:
Will this really matter in five years or five weeks?
What's truly the worst that can happen here?
Is it worth yelling to the point where I may destroy the relationship?
Am I taking an extreme position? What is the middle ground?
What advice would I give a friend in this situation?
"Quite often, asking yourself how you feel and waiting until you're feeling calmer will stop a niggling issue snowballing into a major bad mood," says Fuller.
Make me appy!
Download an app to crack yourself up. We love the Laughing Buddha — rub his belly to make him laugh and bring yourself wealth, luck and prosperity. Play Words With Friends if you want to laugh over your friends' competitive Scrabble techniques, or download iCounselor: Depression to your iPhone, for instant tools to challenge negative thinking.
Knit one, purl one…
Not only do knitters show reduced memory loss but one Harvard University study shows that knitting brings the mind and body to the ‘relaxation response' and can lower blood pressure, reduce stress and help the heart rate to drop by up to 11 beats per minute.
Volunteer
Sign up today for something such as a relay race for cancer research, or volunteer for tuckshop duty at your child's school. Studies show that volunteers have higher levels of happiness.
For the full story, see the June issue of Good Health. Subscribe to Good Health and receive 12 issues of Good Health & 6 FREE issues of The Australian Women's Weekly — that's 18 issues for just $69.95!
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