Get Pissed

Image c/o Bloomberg “Good and Mad”

Lately, I’ve been feeling all riled up, with every little thing annoying me. I rely on tools like meditation, breathwork, and checking in on how I’m feeling, which are helpful sometimes.. but other times you just need to get pissed! “Swamping” is a practice coined by Regena Thomashauer, or “Mama Gena”, where instead of pushing your (rightful) anger down, you feel into it and express yourself physically. So often, especially as women, we are taught that our feelings don’t matter, or are “bad”, however, anger is a natural human emotion that is just as beautiful to express as happiness, or sadness.

If we weren’t shown how to express our emotions safely, it can feel overwhelming or scary to bring through a big one, like anger. Mama Gena in her book “Pussy”, explains how she and her friends dress in literal garbage bags, add soot to their face (to look as shitty as they feel), and stomp around. In another swamping practice, she puts on biker boots and a “Psycho Bitch from Hell” t-shirt (please find me this shirt!), blares music, and punches a pillow.

Usually, I am able to act responsively, and not reactively, but I could feel the anger building up in me for a few days, and a final stubbed toe set me into action. I knew that my neighbours weren’t home, so I threw a (soft) paper pad across. the room. It felt amazing. Then, I threw a slipper, banged my fists on a pillow, and stomped my feet as hard as I could. So. Good.

My first practice of “swamping” happened in undergrad. I was heartbroken over a bro, so my friend took me to his frat’s “smash room” - a massive space where I could freely throw as many fluorescent lighting tubes against a cement wall until I was cured. This physical expression of anger and frustration has stuck with me, and I remembered it once more when I was on my morning walk after stomping around my apartment.

I saw a beautiful brick wall with no bystanders, and felt a sudden impulse towards the half-empty lemon water in my hand. I wanted to keep walking, but something deep inside drove me to hurl the cup against the wall, and OMG it felt incredible. I was able to physically release some of those hard feelings stuck within, and by the time I sat down to my desk later that morning, I felt anew. Expressing this anger saved me days of frustration and irritation. I highly suggest trying this practice the next time you’re feeling reactive to the world, but do it intentionally. 90% of the time, slowing down and soothing ourselves is the answer for connecting with our emotions, but for that sticky 10%, get pissed and enjoy!