Here is an exercise to help children cope with anger

Close your eyes and stay as still as possible. . How do you feel? Displeased? Agitated? Irritated? frustrated? Annoyed? cross? angry? enraged? On a scale of one to 10 - with 1 being mildly irritated and 10 extreme anger, how angry are you now? If you don't feel angry at the moment, just imagine a time where you were angry. Stay still and quiet as you can and ask... why am I angry? what makes me angry? what are my anger buttons? what words or situations set off my anger buttons? what are my triggers? what is it that sets me off? what makes me hot headed? Spend sometime asking yourself questions and try to find some solutions and ways to stop you reacting so quickly.

Imagine now, that one of your anger buttons has been set off. See yourself in your imagination feeling angry and annoyed. Feel your heart racing and your blood pounding and you stomach churning. Watch as all your logic and reasoning is draining away and you only feel the emotion of anger. Feel your fists and jaws tightening. Stay for a few moments, being aware of the sensations in your body. is this a good feeling? do you enjoy feeling angry? now, Put all the anger into your fists and squeeze them as tight as you can - tighter tighter tighter and now release and let the anger go. Put all the anger into your mouth and squeeze it tight. Imagine all the angry words you would like to say. Sqqueeze tighter and tighter and gently let go and feel all the anger melting away from your mouth. Squeeze your eyes as tight as you can. Put all the angry thoughts into your eyes - tighter tighter tighter and gently let them go and let your eyes become soft Finally squeeze your whole body, feel all the anger in your whole body squeeze - and squeeze and then let go and relax. now, Imagine that you have a piece of paper and a pen and write down all the things that make you tense and angry. Pour all your anger on to the paper. Feel your arm tightening as you write. When you have done that take the paper and tear it up into tiny pieces and throw them away. Watch as the pieces of paper float into the air. spend some time allowing the tiny pieces of white paper to scatter into the air. now, Ask yourself, on a scale of 1-10 with one being slightly angry and 10 being extremely angry, how do I feel ?Spend some time just remaining still and listening to the music as you start to feel more calm. The next time that your anger buttons are triggers, try to remember to just stop. Stop and count from 10. As you count from 10, feel your whole body and mind relaxing. Feel as if the anger is draining away. With each count, feel as if your anger and irritation is very slowly melting and disappearing. Feel the tension sliding away from you ...down your arms and legs count slowly from 10 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Now, make a mental assessment. How do I feel now?

Extract from 'How Do you feel Today?' CD - part of the Chill Skills range