Anger can sometimes make us react before we have time to think. 

You may notice a racing heart, tight jaw, rising heat, or an immediate urge to speak or respond.

Try a simple technique called The Pause.

When you notice these signs, pause for 2–5 seconds before speaking, texting, or acting. 

Take one slow, comfortable breath and ask yourself: “How do I want to respond to this?”

This small gap can help reduce automatic reactions and give you more space to respond consciously. 

Slow breathing can also support autonomic regulation and reduce physiological arousal.

The goal isn't to suppress anger. It is to create enough space to choose what you do with it.

Start small: practise The Pause in just one situation today.

Notice → Pause → Breathe → Choose.

With regular practice, this can become a useful part of your anger management and emotional regulation toolkit.

Another helpful way to practise:

 The Pause is to use it during everyday frustrations — a difficult conversation, a delayed response, traffic, work stress, or a disagreement with someone you care about. 

You may not always be able to control what happens around you, but you can practise creating a little space before deciding how to respond. 

Over time, this simple practice can support greater awareness of your emotional triggers and more intentional communication.

Research Behind The Pause:

The Pause draws on established research in emotion regulation and slow breathing:

Gross, J. J. (2002). Emotion regulation: Affective, cognitive, and social consequences. Psychophysiology, 39(3), 281–291. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0048577201393198 

This work provides the process model of emotion regulation and highlights the importance of when and how we intervene in an emotional response.

Zaccaro, A., Piarulli, A., Laurino, M., et al. (2018). How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 353. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353 

This systematic review found that slow-breathing practices are associated with changes in autonomic and central nervous system activity, including increased heart-rate variability and reduced physiological arousal.

Lieberman, M. D., Eisenberger, N. I., Crockett, M. J., et al. (2007). Putting feelings into words: Affect labeling disrupts amygdala activity in response to affective stimuli. Psychological Science, 18(5), 421–428. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01916.x

This study provides relevant evidence for noticing and putting emotional experiences into words as part of emotional regulation.

Note: The Pause is a practical synthesis of these principles rather than a single standardized intervention tested under this exact name.