How to Tame your triple AAA (Anger, annoyance, anxiety)

My worst foible is my over analytical mind that almost comes up while I’m randomly doing something. “Ugh I can’t believe I said that” or replaying that moment in my mind or when someone says something and you’re wondering what it truly means. When you get a gift but it seems almost passive aggressive, or someone says a remark at a party about you, and you laugh it off.

Then, like blood rushing to the head, flashes of anger ignite in me. I think about what I could do to be mean back or want to lash out. It takes a moment while I sip on some tea to calm my random nerves. For most people it’s easy, they get over it, move on, and for the anxious ones, we stagger, and hope the next comes.

I’m still working on it, and will be a goal for the new year. Here are some tips to push past the overanalyzing, anger, and annoyance.

1) Hold your breath as long as you can. I found out if I immediately jumped to some sort of unreasonable anger, if I held my breath, I focused more on holding my breath then random thoughts. It also decreased my heart rate, and letting out my breathe, helped calm me. In one study, intermittent hypoxia (the idea of holding you breath daily during different times of days), created numerous benefits of circulation in blood, memory and cognitive function, and creates anti aging stem cells!

2) Take note you may be cranky! If you’re finding yourself getting mad, annoyed, you possibly may be under the duress of HALT (symptoms when you feel hungry, angry, lonely, and tired). I often find when I notice how I’m feeling, I realize I may be tired and usually hungry. This is the time to head to the shower, and head to bed. As we know, getting rest is also the number one way to rejuvenate and reduce the triple A. Being in tune with how you feel does involve some present meditation. You may likely want to take it out on your loved one but you’ll only regret it and feel bad later. Your best bet is to immediately take some solitude in self care so that you won’t harm your relationships with others.

3) Procrastibake. This is the hot new term that I thought I was the only one doing but it turns out a lot of people are doing this. When you should be actually doing errands or work, but you turned towards that cook book and bake dessert. You know those moments you head to the kitchen, feel inspired by those cooking shows, and you bake something magical. It turns out that procastibaking helps alleviate symptoms of depression, anxiety, and you get to see all your hard work in the kitchen. When you’re following a recipe, you gain a sense of mindfulness as you follow steps, almost clearing your mind of other nonsense.

Let us know if any of these worked for you but commenting below!

References:

https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-calm-down#9