As a massage therapist and as a medical herbalist my job is usually to restore balance. Massage works with your body’s muscular and circulatory systems to alleviate tension and anxiety (amongst many other things). Herbal treatments work with your body to help address the cause of an illness rather than just the presenting symptoms. By bringing balance to bodily responses that are in overdrive or subdued.

So it might seem strange to embrace the idea of being furious. Fury is not usually a balanced emotion! But both massage and herbal medicine work because they help you pay attention and respond to messages from your body. 

Sometimes we all feel furious. And we need to listen.

A justified anger

In Greek mythology The Furies were three formidable goddesses who exacted terrible vengeance upon wrong-doers. They were usually portrayed as ugly, winged crones – because all too often powerful women are portrayed as ugly crones (the wings were a bonus).

The Furies weren’t random in their retribution. They didn’t exist to wreak havoc. They existed as a form of justice for those who had committed wicked crimes. Inciting madness or performing acts of torture aren’t acts of vengeance I would condone, of course. But the point is that these goddesses pointed their rage at people and places who had done things wrong. And their job was to set things in order. 

There is something to learn from tales of The Furies. That sometimes we need to turn our attention to our anger. And act to set it right.

I wouldn’t be able to vote if it weren’t for the sustained campaigning of rageful women at the start of the twentieth century. If we didn’t get angry about situations that are unjust, we wouldn’t act to change them.

Working with rage or fury

For menstruators, our cycle can be a powerful way to open up to rage. Many find that the autumn season of their cycle, the time leading up to the bleed, is a time of low tolerance. Actions that you put up with for the rest of the time are now too much. In the past this has been characterised (by men) as a sort of farcical feminine hysteria. Along the lines of “Better watch out for her today, she’s on the warpath. Probably PMT”. 

But, increasingly, menstruators are flipping this story. They  recognise their rage as a sign that what they’ve been tolerating needs to change. 

And so our rage can become a sign post to a better way forward. 

More than that, rage can be a catalyst to action. If we feel comfortable and contented, there’s not much impetus to change. Rage is the mosquito by our ears saying “This isn’t right! We need to do something!” Just as it did with the suffragists and suffragettes over a century ago. A call to action that you can’t ignore. 

Visit your fury, don’t stay there

So fury can be a friend. It can show us the way to new possibilities – ones that serve us and our communities better. It can spur us to be bolder, braver and more fired up than we thought was possible. 

But it’s not a state to live in permanently. Anger releases adrenaline (characterised as the ‘fight or flight’ hormone), which has an impact on your body. Adrenaline raises your heart rate, causes your muscles to tense and speeds up your breathing. All of which is useful if you’re about to enter into battle or run away from a predator.

But if you’re like that for too much of the time it creates stress. As well as being an unpleasant way to experience life, living like that is damaging. Your body and mind are in a state of hyper-vigilance. 

So I invite you to develop a practice of noticing your rage. Make a note (actually write it down so you can refer back) about:

• When you experience rage – is it caused by particular events? Does it show up at particular times in your cycle?
• What does your rage want you to do? What change would it like to see?
• How does it feel in your body? Where do you hold it? 

And once you have witnessed your rage properly, and given it the attention it deserves, it’s done its job. You can let it go. And you can take the action you need to, from a less-stressed physiological state. 

You don’t have to do it on your own

If you regularly experience rage, it can be hard to manage. It can leave you wound-up, overwhelmed and exhausted.

I can help.

​Whether you come to me for a massage or a herbal prescription, the process starts with a full consultation. That consultation in itself is a powerful act of listening. Of giving your rage space to share. 

And from then we can work in a way that suits you. Whether it’s releasing unwanted, stored rage through massage, or prescribing herbs to get your hormones rebalanced, I can help you experience all the benefits from your rage without having to exhaust yourself by feeling the frazzle 24/7.

To book in a chat and find out what’s right for you, simply email or call me here.