Yelling won't help: Yoga is the real anger cure, finds study
ETimes | November 14, 2025 1:39 AM CST
Yelling at someone or crying it out, if both ways are not helping reduce your anger, then yoga might be just what you've been missing out on.
Gone are those days when venting it out or just ranting to someone made you feel better about your feelings. Now it just adds a layer of fresh perspective and overthinking to it. Speaking up might just make you feel like speaking to a wall, but stretching out? That could actually calm you down.
Venting for anger?
A 2024 meta-analytic review by the Ohio State University analysed 154 studies on anger. Rather than reducing it, the evidence proposed that venting could actually increase anger, according to the study published in .
"I think it's really important to bust the myth that if you're angry you should blow off steam – get it off your chest," said Brad Bushman, senior author and communication scientist when the results were published.
According to him, there's not "a shred of scientific evidence to support the catharsis theory."
Calm down with yoga
Does it mean ignore your anger? Absolutely not! Reflecting on the root cause of your frustration and addressing the underlying problems can also aid in emotional validation, thus helping you sort your emotions properly.
The studies reviewed 10,189 participants from different ages, genders, cultures and ethnicities. They found that the key to curbing anger is to reduce physiological arousal. As per Bushman, even going for a run is not an effective strategy as it increases arousal levels and ends up being counterproductive.
The study examined the effects of both arousal-increasing and arousal-reducing activities, such as boxing, cycling and jogging to deep breathing, meditating and yoga.
Calming activities reduced anger in the lab and the field. These included slow yoga, mindfulness, progressive muscle relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing and taking a timeout.
The team's review is based on the Schachter-Singer two-factor theory which describes anger and all other emotions as a two-part phenomenon, each consisting of a physiological and a cognitive component.
"It was really interesting to see that progressive muscle relaxation and just relaxation in general might be as effective as approaches such as mindfulness and meditation ," said Sophie Kjaervik, a communication scientist at Virginia Commonwealth University.
A 2024 study published in the analysed the effect of 12 days of yoga training on students to find that they observed a reduction in anger.
Interestingly, fun exertion activities such as ball sports and others also had similar effects, meaning physical exertion can be effective in reducing anger if it is fun.
Thus, rather than trying to vent in anger, it might just be better to take some deep breaths and cool down.
Gone are those days when venting it out or just ranting to someone made you feel better about your feelings. Now it just adds a layer of fresh perspective and overthinking to it. Speaking up might just make you feel like speaking to a wall, but stretching out? That could actually calm you down.
Venting for anger?
A 2024 meta-analytic review by the Ohio State University analysed 154 studies on anger. Rather than reducing it, the evidence proposed that venting could actually increase anger, according to the study published in .
"I think it's really important to bust the myth that if you're angry you should blow off steam – get it off your chest," said Brad Bushman, senior author and communication scientist when the results were published.
According to him, there's not "a shred of scientific evidence to support the catharsis theory."
Calm down with yoga
Does it mean ignore your anger? Absolutely not! Reflecting on the root cause of your frustration and addressing the underlying problems can also aid in emotional validation, thus helping you sort your emotions properly.
The studies reviewed 10,189 participants from different ages, genders, cultures and ethnicities. They found that the key to curbing anger is to reduce physiological arousal. As per Bushman, even going for a run is not an effective strategy as it increases arousal levels and ends up being counterproductive.
The study examined the effects of both arousal-increasing and arousal-reducing activities, such as boxing, cycling and jogging to deep breathing, meditating and yoga.
Calming activities reduced anger in the lab and the field. These included slow yoga, mindfulness, progressive muscle relaxation, diaphragmatic breathing and taking a timeout.
The team's review is based on the Schachter-Singer two-factor theory which describes anger and all other emotions as a two-part phenomenon, each consisting of a physiological and a cognitive component.
"It was really interesting to see that progressive muscle relaxation and just relaxation in general might be as effective as approaches such as mindfulness and meditation ," said Sophie Kjaervik, a communication scientist at Virginia Commonwealth University.
A 2024 study published in the analysed the effect of 12 days of yoga training on students to find that they observed a reduction in anger.
Interestingly, fun exertion activities such as ball sports and others also had similar effects, meaning physical exertion can be effective in reducing anger if it is fun.
Thus, rather than trying to vent in anger, it might just be better to take some deep breaths and cool down.
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