From running and cycling to punching a boxing bag, everyone has their own way of letting off steam when they’re stressed or annoyed. But there are those who prefer to take the opposite approach – by taking a deep breath and focusing on breathing or meditation to ease the pressure.

For a long time, these contradictory approaches were both recommended for calming anger – but now scientists have found that one method seems to be more effective than the other.

In a study published in the journal Clinical Psychology Review, US researchers have discovered that it’s better to use a gentle activity to relieve tension than to vent anger through a more stimulating activity like a vigorous workout.

The results are based on the analysis of no fewer than 154 studies involving a total of over 10,000 participants. The scientists realised that venting anger or stress by riding a bike or punching a boxing bag had no real effect.

“Going for a run might be good for your heart, but it is not good for managing anger,” the researchers pointed out. Conversely, “turning down the heat” by practising yoga, meditation or breathing exercises can help decrease feelings of anger.

“The results underscore the value of incorporating physiological arousal reduction techniques” – that is, those that calm you down – “such as breathing, relaxation, meditation, yoga and mindfulness, into anger-management programmes,” the study said.

And the good news is that this technique is likely to work for everyone: “Effects were found for both group and individual treatments, in both field and laboratory settings, in students and non-students, in criminal offenders and non-offenders, in participants with and without intellectual disabilities, and in all genders, races and ages, across the years examined,” the report concluded.