Do you feel like screaming?: Musings on the seasonality of women’s anger

Summer 2025 in San Francisco was cold and foggy—one of the chilliest summers on record—and I found myself fed up with waking up to drizzly grey! Our bodies are wired to flow with the seasons, so when they don't match our expectations, it can feel unsettling and confusing. Summer typically invites sweat, movement, and social energy—but can also bring overheating, inflammation, and burnout. Fall brings change and reflection but can stir anxiety; winter offers rest but risks stagnation; spring inspires growth yet can be restless. 

My frustration about the weather and other factors turned me into an angry woman

We carry these seasonal rhythms inside us. I felt it vividly when a wave of anger hit me late July—unusual for my normally steady mood. My frustration stemmed from grief, unending grey skies, medical system struggles, being in the luteal phase of my cycle, and broader societal injustices. Rather than push it away, I honored it through self inquiry. Anger, I believe, is divine energy—it is protective, clarifying, and capable of transformation and growth when met with curiosity. Through therapy, journaling, movement, breathwork, and dance, I gave it space to move through me to be released and turned into insight. 

Women’s anger is often silenced

We’re dismissed as “too much.” Many of us suppress it to avoid conflict, maintain relationships, or keep up the “good girl” role. I definitely have smiled and said it's fine when inside I felt anything but. Yet when we hide our frustration, we lose vital information about what we value and need. Anger tells us what's not working, directs us to what we value, and helps us protect our wellbeing. It's activating and motivating, fueling needed change. When we suppress or ignore it, it tends to erupt and hijack us. It's only when when we consciously create space for our anger to move more freely, that it's charge dilutes and we can distill it's teachings. Underneath my rage was grief. Underneath yours might be hopelessness. We won't know how to tend to ourselves if we don't gently sense below the surface.

What does women’s anger feel like?

To do this, I invite you to start noticing how anger feels in your body. Name and acknowledge it (a simple but powerful first step!). Only when we can identify it can we change and transform it. Studies show simply naming a feeling reduces cortisol in our bodies; When we dis-identify with our anger, we can see the situation from a wider perspective. Then take some deep breaths. Let any tension you notice soften and relax on purpose. When we get angry, our muscles armor defensively. We get rigid and hard, and then our mind and heart hardens, preventing us from thinking clearly and feeling empathically. This physical tension makes it difficult for emotions to move; Instead they stay stuck.

How to release women’s anger

Choose a healthy outlet for your anger—shake, dance, rip paper, throw ice, hit a pile of coats, journal, make art, or scream into a pillow. My movement teacher, Kara Duval at The Range, encourages primal expression: shaking, pushing, slapping the earth, and letting out guttural roars. Her classes often arrive like medicine—my rage contemplation was mirrored by her recent “Get Your Freak On” class, an antidote to anger and hopelessness. Shaking helps expel excess adrenaline, reconnects you with your body, and releases emotions. Releasing deep sighs or humming can also help soothe; When massaged by sound, the Polyvagal nerve (the largest nerve in the body) that begins at the brainstem sends a calming signal downstream to your major organs. 

Try it: Inhale and exhale out a sigh of frustration. Repeat two more times. Now, inhale and exhale, letting out a roar or scream. Shake one arm, then the other; one leg, then the other; let your whole body shake, bounce and vibrate for a minute. Stop with one hand on your heart and one on your belly, feeling your energy begin to settle with some some deep breaths. Now bring to mind a mildly frustrating moment. Notice the sensations it stirs—where do they live in your body? Is there a color, shape, memory, or sound connected to it? Our bodies speak in sensory language, and these currents can guide us to insight. In Ayurveda, summer's heat, sharpness, and dryness can spill into the next season if unexpressed. Moving anger now will clear the way for fall, while soft pleasurable practices and gentle self-talk can smooth its edges.

Along with inner-heat, I'm also noticing a rapid and frankly jarring pivot from summer's spacious rhythms to preparing and mobilizing for fall. Over-preparing (one of my common unhelpful strategies) for what's ahead can pull us out of the present and into unnecessary stress—often for scenarios that never happen. Life will always throw curveballs; the best we can do is meet each day as it comes and resist our efforts to control outcomes. Try asking, “What's needed today or in this moment?” or making your to-do list gentler with “What's one thing I can do right now?”  Try to trust that you'll be “ready enough” when the time comes. The Fall future will inevitably arrive so instead of chasing it down how can you enjoy this summer more?

What women’s anger means for me moving forward

For me, Leo season—the bold, loving energy of my birthday month—is a reminder to savor joy, fun, and connection. I celebrated with a small gathering where guests expressed their inner lion through clothes, and it sparked the question: How would you express your inner lioness? This spirit of emotional liberation and primal expression is beautifully explored in Kimberly Johnson's Call of the Wild, which guides women in reclaiming pleasure and power through healing trauma. She invites us to notice our “blue moments”—small or large pleasures—and savor them fully, engaging all the senses. Doing so expands our capacity to meet difficult emotions like anger and stress, and rewires our system to receive and internalize pleasure more than pain. Kimberly says “when you ask yourself 'how can this be more blue?' you give yourself the opportunity to let go of habitual muscle tension, emotional holding, or mental grinding."

Releasing women’s anger

Let's try it now: Think of a nourishing or pleasurable moment from today. It can be big or small. What sensations arise in your body? Warmth, tingling, softness? What images, colors, smells, or tastes accompany it? Golden, orange, green? Is there a movement or sound the body wants to make to express this feeling tone? To dance, to sing, to sway?  Luxuriate there. Let the moment bubble up and fill you. Breathe it in completely. 

Feeling anger and pleasure at the same time may seem contradictory, but defending against anger blocks our capacity for joy. Suppressing anger takes effort and limits our emotional range. By allowing space for anger, we soften and open to more moments of joy, and savoring these moments strengthens our steadiness amid life's challenges. 

One of my recent blue moments was leading a meditation and art-making session in a women's healer group I co-facilitate. I was reminded of the blue, nourishing medicine in women gathering, sharing, witnessing, and supporting one another. I shared the meditation that I now offer you below, to connect to your inner flame and boldness. Try sharing and shaking out your frustrations with trusted friends, roar and laugh together, and celebrate the pleasures that help you stand fully in your lion power.

If you’re ready to explore your own “lion power” and want support learning how to move through anger instead of holding it in, I’d love to connect in person in San Francisco or online. Reach out and let’s talk about how I can walk with you as you practice releasing anger, making space for joy, and finding steadiness in your daily life.