Smash Therapy-Release Your Inner Beast
My toddler is going through this "terrible two" phase recently, and his tantrum will just suddenly lease out over something very small. When he feels mad, he throws away food, knocks over toys and smashes with those little fists. My pediatrician explains to me that this is just how he expresses his anger. As a parent, I try to be as patient as I can to understand why he's mad and why he behaves like a "savage" from time to time.
Toddlers are still learning skills by pushing buttons and navigating toddler life without knowing how to control their emotions. As adults, we are so used to controlling negative behaviors and feelings so that we won't throw a tantrum like little children. But what should we do about those "bad" emotions? Hide them in a secret box and lock it up? Wouldn't it be nice to release some of those anger, stress or frustration out of our body once in a while?
I had a very interesting audition the other day: I was instructed to hold this baseball bat, and when the casting director yelled "Action", I should start smashing hard at bean bags right in front of the camera. As odd as it sounds, the idea behind this commercial is actually based on real psychological experiment called "Smash Therapy"--to release stress and anger by smashing or breaking things.
During the audition, the casting director encouraged every actor to bring out full force swinging and really use it to relieve any negative emotions that we want to get rid of. Till the end of 2 minute of smashing, I was screaming and roaring, and my body sweat as crazy. I was totally surprised by how wild the whole swinging went. Gosh, my body felt so relieved and exhausted at the same time, like an intensive cardio workout that pumped up every inches of my blood vessel.
If you do a good search, there are legit places that provide a safe "smash room/anger room" for people to smash without worrying about the damage and mess. I actually found a couple of them in Houston area, like this one Smash Therapy LLC. I'm saving the link for now. I know I will need it for over-stressed days in the future. Maybe it only helps release emotions temporarily, but it's great to get those negativity out and keep it in the "anger room", so I can go back to our life with all positive moods.
What are your thoughts on the smash therapy?
