Did you know more than 550 people were shot in road rage incidents in the U.S. in 2022. That’s 550 people who were so angry that the only way they could deal with a situation was to shoot the person who triggered their rage. How much rage were they already holding to trigger that kind of response?
Anger is associated with the liver. When we are angry or resentful it actually stops our energy or Qi from flowing. Energy builds. It accumulates physically just below our diaphragm and directly underneath the breast. If you palpate your 6th and 7th ribs right under your nipple and it feels tender to the touch, then you have liver qi stagnation. But if I asked you if you were angry or upset you would likely say, “No.”
A second indicator of anger is clenching and grinding our teeth. Hands up those of you who wear mouthguards. A lot of people clench down during their sleep – another sign of anger and unexpressed emotions.
Anger is a quiet killer – both for the victims of road rage but also for the person who is angry. Anger takes energy – a lot of it. It keeps us stuck in a place of non-acceptance. Wanting things to be different than what there were or are. It holds our emotions down like a head underwater. You can’t create, love and know peace when you are holding grudges and resentment.
Energy that stagnates over time forms masses – physical lumps. We call it Qi and blood stasis in Chinese medicine. It causes strokes, cancers and fibroids. But the worse thing about anger is it changes who were really are as a person. We don’t see things clearly, rationally or objectively.
If the liver is associated with anger imagine what happens when we drink? The liver converts the sugar from alcohol into more energy than the body can use. Now you have an angry person with a lot of energy – not a good combination. It also causes inflammation or heat in the stomach which can cause gastritis.
Its’ OK to feel angry. It’s important to run your emotions but you don’t want to hang onto them or allow it to build in your body. It’s also super important to tune in to how you’re feeling. Check in – this is best done through meditation. Often, we are moving so quickly we really don’t know who we feel until we stop and get present.
Newton’s first law of motion teaches us that “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.”
If you are angry, you will stay angry until you make a conscious decision to change, forgive, or see the situation from a different perspective. I once heard that a miracle is a change in perceptions. Changing our perception heals us. Sometimes we need help – a good counsellor or a close friend to help us see situation or relationships differently.
Acupuncture and healing touch help ground people. It brings them into the present moment. It moves stuck energy and releases it from the organs and areas of the body where’s its stagnating causing disease. It also brings us to peace. When we are at peace, we respond to situations in a way that doesn’t hurt anybody.
