Red is for Anger or so it is said.

I am attempting to go into the body and find some of the driving forces involved with anger and to bring awareness to how our thinking influences anger. Hormones are involved, as are memories from the past. Stopping the thoughts, moving into the present moment, breathing, relaxing will all help with this complex issue. Therapy will help when anger gets in the way. Meditation will allow the old memories to surface in the safety of silence. You will see yourself go by and in this way come out from under that defensive shells formed when you had reason to be angry for real.

This tomato may be under threat. The one beside it of equal size no longer exists, eaten gradually by some visitor. 

The Pituitary Gland is the Master Gland of the body, situated in the brain behind the eyes. The Pituitary sends out hormones to affect all the other glands in the body. It is faithful to the thoughts generated by us. Your intention to not be angry will be irrelevant if you are indulging in angry thoughts all the time. The angry thoughts build up convincing the Pituitary gland that there is a war on, in effect. Otherwise you would not be angry. So the Pituitary secretes hormones, which activate the sympathetic side, the fight, and flight or freeze side of our body systems and alerting our defenses.

Artwork by Rose completed under the tutelage of Margot Bergman in Timberville

The Blood Stream inside the body carries hormones as rivers outside the body carry fish in the water.

The hormones from the Pituitary Gland travel in the blood stream. These hormones trigger adrenaline to flow out of the adrenal glands. The adrenaline, in turn tells the heart that the body is under attack and the heart beats faster and there is a need for action, to run, to fight, to engage in war in some little or big way. The messages in the hormones say I am under threat.

The ducks at the park. They are all panicky about the white bread being thrown to them.

If the person is engaging in anger or fear filled thoughts, then panic attacks will happen in the absence of somewhere to put all that war like hormones and their subsequent actions. Lying on the ground and waiting for the panic attack to recede was an option for one woman who routinely got panic attacks. Many others walk away very successfully from the place of anger and violent action. Listening to music, walking it out is also a good idea. This is the band-aid solution on the light side. It works just fine many times.

The volcano near Antigua was erupting a little when we were there recently. The left volcano in the above picture is the one that was active. Anger can be like a volcano and erupt unexpectedly when triggered.

A deeper solution is needed when the current anger episode triggers the complex of anger that is holding old anger memories, from the past. These are stored in our body. Making contact with our inner child instead of a fight with others is the way. It is a good thing to work with in counseling, one on one, as the inner child needs to be drawn out,  calmed down and acknowledged by the client and therapist, bringing in awareness. The details of abuse in childhood, allowing abuse to come up, weeping for the losses and the hurts is essential. Often the abuse is buried and comes up as nightmares only. Finding language for the emotions, the defenses formed, and the places of pain in the body, is part of the work. Forgiveness for letting it happen is also necessary. So many people feel they are responsible for the hurts and abuse they endure as children, including sexual, physical and emotional abuse.

Representation of left and right side of the brain.

When you were a child you acted as a child and did things you should not have, precisely because you are a child. You needed supervision and calm parents, lots of loving attention and reasonable consequences. When the parents go off into abuse, the child is harmed and shamed. When the parent uses the child as part of scapegoating and blaming, it takes years to unearth and more years to resolve. In my case it took thirty years plus, from when I first grieved the wooden box created for me, to see the defensive shell formed as a result of loss of grandmother at age one(see previous blog.)

My parent’s marriage photograph.

My father’s mother who died around the time I was born. My father loved her dearly and I think he transferred this love to me in my childhood.

I am always delighted to work with anger issues. It puts me in touch with people who have survived the worst of abuse and still find it in themselves to share their lives and discuss their anger, pulling it down in front of themselves and controlling that aspect of their lives. The details of abuse are many and varied and having a shell of anger to hide under is the only defense until it became unmanageable and needs attention.

Buried under shells, shells and more shells. 

If you would like to discuss former abuse or current anger, or dreams about pulling along old baggage, be sure to contact me. Or if you find that you are in the dream, so mad at a teen that you are going down the street pulling him by the ankle, then come and we will discuss this most unusual dream event and get under the image. And if you have a dream about a rabbit that makes a funny sound, that makes you smile, you can come with that too.

You always bring laughter to me and I will bring it to you also. I look forward to hearing from you. Love from Rose.