Tired of anger or anxiety?

Every emotion has a rhythm to it.

If you interrupt the rhythm, you interrupt the emotion.

The simplest way to interrupt an emotional rhythm is through your breathing.

Recently I have been happy to see people sharing a post on social media that shows you a method to slow your breathing way down.

The key is the slowness and the steadiness of the rhythm.

Pick the slowest song you’ve ever heard. Tap your foot to it. Now pick a rhythm even slower than that. Breathe according to that rhythm. Four counts in, hold, then four counts out.

No emotion has a rhythm that slow. Not even depression. And I am certainly an expert on the experience of depression.

Two emotions in particular, anger and anxiety, will both certainly get interrupted by extremely slow, rhythmic breathing patterns. And sometimes there is nothing more important than to interrupt an emotional environment.

Emotions are more contagious than any virus. I used to suffer so much because I was channeling other people’s anger and anxiety.

Empathy isn’t always good. Sometimes you should not only not participate, you should actively interrupt the general emotional environment.

There is even a way to practice interrupting an anxious and resentful environment.

Anger and anxiety come with a high heart rate, rapid breathing, and often sweat. So stimulate those physical experiences with heavy exercise (like dance.) Then, force yourself to breathe at such a slow rhythm. Don’t try to calm your mind. Calm your body.

If you work on this every day for a month, you will be amazed at how the skill shows up when you most need it.