Anger and Rage

What we will be doing today: Observing our behaviour when we feel gloomy, angry or furious; we are going to practise some techniques to manage our rage and to get rid of our feeling of anxiety and aggression.

	We experience anger or rage due to different causes: misinterpretation by others, unfulfillment of our wishes and needs, conflicts with others, loss or separation, fear. We can express anger in a thousand different ways: shouting, screaming, fighting, breaking things, re-treat-ing, and even by using calm words. If we do not admit it and repress it we accumulate anxiety which can come out in the form of terrific destruction or in the form of symptoms/illness. The anger can be worked out through physical activity or some symbolic activity - drawing the person we are angry with etc. in this workshop we are trying to deal with anger as a part of us, recognizing the power of this emotion. We will learn some ways of physically and symbolically reacting to anger.
	Angry names. Each child in the circle says his/her name in the angriest way possible, for example, the way their mother or father says it when they are angry with them. Feedback conversation: How do you feel when someone calls you names, teases or mocks you, shouts or reproaches you for some-thing? (The teacher should write all the feelings on the blackboard.) What do you most often do in a situation like this? (Put all the answers on the blackboard. There are two most frequent reactions: We repress our rage and do not react or we fight back with dirty words or gestures to offend the person.) Is there someone in your family who is allowed to express their anger and rage? Is there someone who is not? When can we control ourselves and when not? Teacher's note: If we manage to keep our rage and anger under control due to someone important to us, maybe we can do that also with those closest to us, our family members.
	Raggy doll. Let us make a doll (paper doll) that will be passed around. Everyone should use its mouth to say words he/she always says when angry or furious. For example, Raggy doll can say: "I hate you. What a fool you are." Or something like that. If words you use are extremely dirty or your thoughts are very burdening, write them down. Think of that list of dirty words and aggressive thoughts as symbols of your rage. You can squeeze it, you can step on it, make a ball out of it, you can even tear it to pieces - as if you were mad with the list itself. Let's form three groups: each one will try one way of relasing emotional tensions (of course, symbolically or through physical activity). Group A tears tears paper to pieces Group B: furiously steps on a paper ball Group C: thinks of a gesture that will be a reminder to the group members that they are always able to stay calm and dignified, clear of the negative emotions that rage brings us. Feedback discussion: After a short time we join the big circle and ask Group C to show us their gesture. Than we share everybody else's experience of stepping on a paper ball or tearing it up.
	Here runs the runner. Students form a circle. First volunteer shows us the way he/she used to run at the age of 3. He/she picks another runner; he/she shows us his/her way of running when 18 months old; next one shows us the way he/she imagines they will run at the age of 30, then as if he/she were the minister of foreign affairs, a famous actress, the world's most famous footballer, ballerina, etc. Runners should demonstrate their run across the breadth of the circle.
	The shape and colour of my rage. Everyone gets the worksheet with a picture of two human figures (boy and girl) and has to find out where the rage is coming from, in which parts of the body do we have usually it. Students can choose the colour with which the rage will be represented. If they are boys they will colour the boy-figure, if girls - they will paint into the girl-figure the colours of their rage. Students exchange drawings among themselves, so that everyone can see each others drawings. They split into pairs and talk about what they do when they are mad at someone. (Bang the door, curse, throw stones or ...) Each pair gives a title to their drawings. Feedback discussion: What do you think of yourself when the moment of rage is gone? What do you think of others at the moment of rage? What would you like others to do when you get angry? What could they do to help you calm down? (In the middle of the circle is an imaginary microphone. So, please, use it.)
	Why do birds fly? Students should make pairs: one student will pose questions, the other will answer them. Students who are go-ing to put questions are given a special assignment (that the others don't hear) - to start talking to their partners with the question "Why do birds fly" and to keep repeating it regardless of the part-ner's answers. The other group, those who answer questions, are given the instructions to keep answering in the best way they can. Feedback discussion: How did "question posers feel"? And "answerers"? When did you start feeling impatient? When did you start feeling angry? What did you want to do then? Concluding remark: This exercise shows us how gradually anger and rage grow in us and how these feelings manifest.
	Wedding dress. All students stand in a circle. "Imagine you have a wedding dress or wedding suit on. You are walking toward the place of your wedding and suddenly some dust and plaster, due to negligence of a bricklayer, falls on you. Close your eyes and try to imagine this situation. What would you do first? Open your eyes and act your reaction out, using gestures, the whole group at the same time. Feedback discussion: Why didn't you start yelling and fighting? Why did the majority of you start to clean his/her dress first? (Because we wanted to be at our wedding on time: we focused on our need and on solving the problem - those were the answers at the pilot programme session). Conclusion: Every time you get angry remember that cleaning your dress instantly reduced your rage. Otherwise, it would have grown bigger minute by minute. Maybe that gesture of cleaning could stop your rage. Or you could try to face the wall and count to 10 before you do anything if angry. Try to do the same if you feel someone is wreaking his/her rage upon you - do not get provoked, it has nothing to do with you. Clean the dust from your sleeve - give negative energy back to its owner. Let him/her deal with it.
	Caterpillar. All students stand in a row very close to one another. They spread their feet a little and put their hands on the waist of the student in front of them. They all start walking at the signal from the first person in the row. Our caterpillar moves across the room and after some time it will march harmoniously.