Lecture: Anger as Medicine

Introduction

• Speaker: Irene Lyon
• Topic: Anger as Medicine
• Platform: Facebook Live
• Audience: Students, members of various programs, general viewers

Speaker Background

• Expertise: Nervous system, neuroplasticity, somatic experiencing, somatic practice, Feldenkrais
• Education: Master's in Biomedical Science and Exercise Science
• Experience: 22 years in performance, healing, health, rehabilitation, trauma healing

Key Points and Themes

Anger as an Essential Emotion

• Definition: Anger is an essential human and animal emotion
• Example: Mother bear protecting her cubs
• Function: Part of survival instincts, autonomic nervous system
• Emotion Spectrum: Includes joy, sadness, disgust, surprise, etc.
• Emotions are Neutral: They have energy but are biologically built-in

Cultural Conditioning and Anger Suppression

• Societal Impact: How culture, education, and upbringing suppress anger and other emotions
• Infant Aggression: Example of a baby showing power and how it should be nurtured
• Mismanagement: Often parents suppress this aggression due to their own unresolved traumas
• Long-term Effects: Leads to suppressed anger and other emotions stored in the body
• Procedural Memory: The body's memory of what it wanted to do (e.g., fight back) but couldn’t

Health Implications of Repressed Anger

• Survival Stress: Stored anger can lead to chronic illnesses (cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases)
• Gabor Maté's Work: Repression of anger increases physiological stress and disease risk
• Healing Through Anger: Expressing anger properly can promote healing and prolong survival

Healthy Aggression

• Latin Origin: 'Aggression' from 'agere' meaning to move forward
• Expression: Should be directed properly, not suppressed or violently expressed
• Example: Case study of a mother playing with an infant's aggressive impulses

Connection to Early Life and Development

• Infancy: Early life experiences shape how we handle anger and aggression
• Caretaker Influence: The importance of how caregivers respond to a child's aggression
• Modern Context: Differences in child-rearing practices over generations

Anger and Trauma

• Stored Trauma: Unexpressed fight/flight responses get stored and can lead to functional freeze
• Functional Freeze: A state where one appears calm but is actually in a state of suppressed stress
• Procedural Memory: The body’s autonomic response stored from traumatic events

Practical Steps for Working with Anger

• Building Capacity: Gradually increasing the ability to feel and express anger safely
• Following Impulses: Listening to basic biological impulses like hunger, thirst, and rest
• Orienting: Being aware of the present environment to build a connection with the body
• Gradual Expression: Starting with smaller frustrations and progressively working up

Advanced Concepts

• Annihilation Energy: The intense desire to completely destroy a perpetrator as part of healing
• Controlled Expression: Important to develop capacity before attempting to express deep-seated anger
• Therapeutic Approaches: Following a structured and titrated process for safe expression

Additional Resources

• Books Mentioned: “When the Body Says No” by Gabor Maté, “The Body Keeps the Score” by Bessel van der Kolk
• Programs: 21-day Nervous System Tune-Up, Smart Body Smart Mind
• Articles by Seth Lyon: on frustration and annihilation energy
• Upcoming Events: Drop-in classes, teacher training, virtual movement classes

Conclusion

• Final Thoughts: Anger needs to be understood, nurtured, and expressed in healthy ways to prevent it from becoming toxic.
• Engagement: Encouraged viewers to continue learning and practicing healthy emotional expression.
• Resources: Provided links and information for further exploration.