When angry, don’t try to vent by punching a bag or going for a run — first calm your body down
Original: eternity4719 · source details
Original author: eternity4719 · Chinese source: · English adaptation: parveen0029. Translation and grade notes ↗
Bibliographic titles are retained in their original language.
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Cost and benefit at a glance
- Check the cost Cost ↓
- No cost at all. When you’re angry, try a few minutes of activities that slow your heart rate: breathe slowly, sit down, and quiet your mind. It’s hard to resist…
- Then the source benefit Benefit ↓
- A meta-analysis of 154 studies involving 184 sample groups and 10,189 participants shows that calming techniques like deep breathing, mindfulness, and meditation lower both anger a…
In plain terms
Activities that rev up the body — like punching a bag, throwing things, or going for a run — generally don’t help you cool off. On the other hand, techniques that calm the body, such as slow breathing, mindfulness, and meditation, noticeably reduce anger and the urge to lash out.
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Enlarge illustrationOriginal illustration with Chinese lettering; the English dialogue is below. Humour is a reading aid, not evidence.
English dialogue
- Just five minutes of rest.
- One more notification!
Cost: what it takes
No cost at all. When you’re angry, try a few minutes of activities that slow your heart rate: breathe slowly, sit down, and quiet your mind. It’s hard to resist the urge to vent right then and there.
Benefit: what the source reports
A meta-analysis of 154 studies involving 184 sample groups and 10,189 participants shows that calming techniques like deep breathing, mindfulness, and meditation lower both anger and aggression. The effect size was g = -0.63, with a 95% CI ranging from -0.82 to -0.43. This result held true across genders, races, ages, and cultures. In contrast, activities that increase physical arousal — such as punching a bag, jogging, or cycling — showed virtually no effect; their effect size was g = -0.02, with a 95% CI from -0.13 to 0.09. The authors conclude that neither venting anger nor going for a run is an effective way to defuse it.
Conditions, limits and disagreements
These findings measure anger and aggression, not overall energy levels. The authors categorize the time spent on calming activities as “minutes saved from dealing with fallout after an argument.” Immediate techniques you can use right now include the “circular sighing” method described in Section 22, Item 9, and “stepping away when angry” in Rule 17 of this section. Running isn’t useless in the long run — it helps ease low mood, as noted in Section 22, Item 7 (“When feeling down, go for a walk or run”). It simply isn't a good short-term fix for anger. While angry, avoid driving, sending messages, or making important decisions. If someone is physically attacking you, leave the scene and call the police; your priority then is safety, not emotional regulation — see Section 8, Item 43 (“If you’re being abused”).
Original references
Original bibliographic titles and links are preserved; some titles are in Chinese.
Kjærvik SL, Bushman BJ (2024). A meta-analytic review of anger management activities that increase or decrease arousal: What fuels or douses rage? Clinical Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2024.102414
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