‘Instant satisfaction’: Regina Rage Room helps customers blow off steam

It started as a way to help a friend get through a hard time. One year ago, Morgan Turner set up a bunch of junk in her backyard and let her friend break it all.

“She really felt a weight lifted off of her after she was done,” Turner said.

Fast forward to the present, and Turner is opening the province’s first-ever rage room.

Rage rooms are a growing trend across the country. Customers can break objects in a room by throwing them at the wall or ground, or smashing them with a baseball bat or golf club.

Regina Rage Room officially opened Wednesday. Customers must be 18 or older to give it a try, and they have to wear close-toed shoes, a protective suit, mask and gloves before entering one of the rooms.

“If you had a bad day at work and you obviously cannot take it out on anyone at work, come in here and let it out,” Turner said. “You can break anything from a tea set to a big screen TV. We have everything in between from mirrors, clocks and creepy clown music boxes.”

Customers can choose between a small, medium or large package, which determines the type and amount of items they get to smash. The amount of time in the room depends on how long it takes to break everything. Eventually, Turner says people will be able to bring their own box filled with personal objects to break.

“You can bring all your ex’s old stuff that’s stuck at your house or stuff leftover from your garage sale that you don’t want to throw out. Whatever you want to bring,” Turner said.

Tuner says many customers feel “instant satisfaction” after leaving the room.

“Everyone comes out with a huge smile on their face. No one’s coming out like extra angry after they’re done,” Turner said.

While breaking things can provide short-term relief, Kirk Englot with Family Service Regina says it’s important to use long-term strategies like exercise, yoga or counting down from 10 to deal with stress and frustration.

“The evidence suggests that the more we focus on calmness or finding relaxation the more likely we are to be able to regulate our emotions in the future,” Englot said. “Strategies that get us expressing anger or finding ways to release stress or anger through breaking things or smashing things might not be the best way to really change anger or stress.”

Turner says her business is meant to be fun and stress relief seems to be something that follows naturally.

“You don’t actually have to be angry to come here,” Turner said. “Just come and have fun.”