Overcoming Anger: A Zen Approach

Daily Health Solutions, Featured Article
on June 17, 2010

Leonard Scheff, co-author with Susan Edmiston of The Cow in the Parking Lot: A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger, shares his tips for controlling your temper.

1. Make your own decisions. The idea that our anger is caused by someone else and is beyond our control can cover up a simple truth: We can choose not to be angry.

2. Think differently. Instead of getting angry, try to approach difficult situations with compassion by looking at it from the other person’s point of view.

3. Practice patience. The lifespan of any particular emotion, including anger, is one and a half minutes, says Scheff. So when you get mad, wait it out, then let it go.