try catharsis in the ocean

We humans tend to get angry from time to time. And it's a rather delicate matter: what to do with that energy of anger when it arises.

It's usually another person that's triggered the anger in us. We've had some hope or expectation, that someone else will behave a certain way, and they haven't. They've done something different to what we would have liked. And we become angry. Now, we might just shout at the person, but that doesn't achieve much. It creates a further separation, and can lead to an escalation of anger.

Another common response is to bottle up the anger, pretend it's not there; perhaps become passive aggressive, or withdrawn. But bottling up the anger is a dangerous thing to do. The energy is still within us. And my own feeling is that it can easily turn into disease in the body if we don't do something else to move that energy.

Another approach is to sit quietly, and look at the anger; acknowledge it to oneself. And use it as the impetus to inquire as to what's really going on inside oneself. But when one is really angry, it's really quite difficult to inquire in that way. We're too perturbed, disturbed by the anger.

So another useful technique is catharsis – that is, throwing out the anger: shouting, screaming, but not at the person who has triggered us.

There are various ways to do this catharsis. We might go into a room alone and hit a pillow. It's great to really involve the body in catharsis. But it's also really good to use the voice without holding back. And that can be rather difficult. In our society, it's not really the done thing to be shouting and screaming.

And that's why I suggest in this thing to try, that when you are next angry, if you are near the ocean, to try catharsis in the ocean. The ocean is a huge reservoir of water, and it can take this anger that we throw into it. It can cleanse us.

And the approach I like is to go into the water – go into the ocean – and float on top of the ocean face down, so one's face is literally in the water. And in this position, one can open one's mouth and scream and shout into the water, without swallowing too much of it. And at the same time, one can use one's arms and legs to kick, hit, just within the water. One can really go mad. And unless someone else is in the water very close to you, no one will hear anything. The water, the ocean will take it all.

You can release the anger this way. And there's no need to hold back. Because for catharsis to be really effective – a really effective release of anger – it needs to be total; it needs to be uninhibited. And that's what this method in the ocean can do for us.

So give it a try next time you're angry. Try catharsis in the ocean.