We all have those days where everything gets on top of us, and a lot of the more calming exercises that we might try to employ just simply don’t work. So what happens when you have too much emotion bubbling up inside you? Here’s a way that you can unleash it all and still channel it creatively.

The Theory

When a person or circumstance upsets us, we tend to turn to blame. Blame can be a dangerous thing, whether we apportion it on ourselves for some perceived failure, or whether we put that blame on others who may or may not deserve it. This dramatic exercise is focused on those times when our anger and emotion is at such a high level that we have no choice but to let it out, but it encourages us to take a moment and consider how we might channel those feelings creatively, so as not to damage ourselves or other people in the process.

Drama can be constructive in many ways because it allows us to channel our emotions into fictional people as part of a script. We can live their lives and create emotion for them, even when it’s not how we’re feeling in that moment. But having the perfect script to hand that expresses just what you want to unleash isn’t likely, and so there are other techniques that we can borrow from drama education, like speech, rhythm, breathing, and emotion, which can turn even the most mundane of texts into a fierce outlet for our most overwhelming fears and rages. You may not believe it at first, but give it a try next time you feel like pointing the blame finger.

The Activity

All you need to hand for this exercise to work is a really boring collection of words. These can be from a dictionary or an old phone book if you’re at home, or perhaps from a list of data, shopping list, or even a set of numbers if you’re in an office setting. In any case, the words should not mean anything to you, because they are only there to be used to help you unleash negativity. We’re going to do this exercise as a purely emotive act, rather than putting any narrative, blame or reasoning into it. 

Pick up the words, and try not to read them to yourself before you begin. Take the foremost emotion in your mind, whether it’s outrage, embarrassment, or sadness, and read from the boring words whilst channeling your emotion into those words. Even if it’s just a list of phone numbers, make it sound as sad or angry as you can, pushing those emotions out of yourself and into those words. The next time you read them, shift your mood a little along the spectrum that you’re feeling (so perhaps from sad toward happy, or angry toward chilled out). With each reading, control your voice and emotions so that you make a complete shift to the opposite of how you were feeling when you started.

Reflection

Mindfulness and emotion management often go hand in hand, because it’s the sensation of controlling our thoughts and feelings that gives us a truer sense of peace and balance in life in general. By focusing solely on the emotion in this speaking task, the exercise helps you to remove some of the unhelpful energy you’re feeling and rebalance. You are not expected to feel totally opposite in your emotions by the time that you finish the reading exercise, but you should feel that some of the powerful energy from the original emotion has been expelled during the task, allowing you to get back to your productive day.