What to Do When Anger Hijacks Your Brain

Ever done something “in the heat of the moment” you later came to regret? Anger can have that effect.

“When we are angry the primal part of the brain takes over, often referred to as an amygdala hijack,” bypassing the rational, cognitive portion, a Washington Post article explains. Eve Lewis Prieto, a Headspace meditation teacher, offers a simple mindfulness exercise to help you avoid reacting when you’re in the throes of anger.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with being angry. Anger can be a useful emotion – alerting you to harm or giving you energy to confront injustice, for example. It often arises in response to other feelings – when you feel hurt, ashamed, judged, or blamed. However, anger has a physiological component which doesn’t feel good and can lead us to take impulsive, ill-judged action.

This quick meditation can help you release some of the excess energy you feel so you can address the underlying cause of your anger in a more constructive way.

So before you shoot of that furious text, why not give this 3-minute mediation a try? Listen.

Prieto, Eve Lewis. “3-minute meditation: Let go of anger before sending that text.” The Washington Post, 11 May 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/05/11/anger-release-meditation-free-audio/.