For When You Want To Kick The Sh*t Out Of Them

MendMaker Exercise: Session written and explained by your coach Claire Anstey

Release The Rage

I discovered this exercise from a Louise Hay video. After two days in bed crying, I decided enough was enough, and I watched this video to help me get out of my "I want to die" depression. Louise spoke about an exercise where you punched all your anger and energy into a pillow. It was a release exercise to eliminate negative emotions that can cause us to hold onto the past and create disease within our bodies. It took me over two weeks to take action and punch some pillows, and this was only after I had hit a wall and kicked in the front of my favourite stilettos. - I do not even know why I was wearing such shoes as I hadn't left the house, but I have no answers for many strange things that happened in this dark period.

I only mention this because I do not want you to wait that long. The quicker you start this anger release exercise, the quicker you will feel better - whatever the current result or state of your life.

This may feel like one of those wacko hippy exercises at first, especially if you haven't ever read any personal growth stuff before, but it is more effective than hitting walls and keeping your hands and shoes safe.

Find yourself some cushions; I find that the best place for this exercise is your bedroom, as you can be alone and shut the rest of the world out. The bedroom also holds the memories of passion with your partner, and this can cause even more emotion to erupt. This is good as we want to reveal it and get it out as anger and distress do all kinds of crazy stuff to our body and make our mind feel mad as our heart feels broken. Kneel on your bed, grab your cushions and start to punch them. Keep hitting them until you are exhausted. Thoughts and memories may enter your head when you are punching, just let them flow from you and leave you're being; you can imagine these cushions to be anyone or anything you need them to be. Talk to these cushions, shout at them, ask them why; in fact, ask them all the questions you need to. You don't even need to make sense. Allow your anger to flow out of you and whack the crap out of these cushions until you can't whack anymore.

Your body will feel tingly. You will feel alive, stress-free, and connected to yourself in a way that's hard to explain without sounding random, but once you try this, you will know what I mean.

Anger can lie dormant deep inside us; it sits in our tummies, waiting for an inappropriate moment to ignite into an outburst that gets us into all kinds of trouble and causes us to behave in ways that can hurt us even more. Do this exercise as often as you need to. I would do it at least once a day for a couple of weeks and then whenever you feel sad, angry or slightly mad.

You may find that memories of your childhood or experiences unrelated to this break-up come into your mind during this exercise. This is good so just let it happen. All our experiences make us who we are today – if something needs to be released, let it; it can only benefit you.

Our emotions are essential. Notice them, accept them and move through them. You will feel angry inside until you express it outwardly from your body; just because you have pushed it to one side or tried to forget about it doesn't mean it is gone. Anyone who tells you to deny your emotions is a fool. If you study yourself for years and work on a deep spiritual level, you may be able to avoid experiencing anger, but it cannot be denied if you feel it in any shape or form.

Love your anger. Know why you are angry.

You can only lose something once you own it. So own it, experience it in your controlled environment where it can hurt no one and then let it go.

Note: If you have enjoyed this session, try our "Fight Club" sessions similar to this. In each session, your instructor guides you through punching, jumping, kicking and exercises whilst motivating you to release your stuck emotional energy through the power of their intentional words.