Emotional Wellbeing in School

Controlling Emotion and 'The 90 Second Rule'

When a person has a reaction to something in their environment, there’s a 90 second chemical process that happens in the body; after that, any remaining emotional response is just the person choosing to stay in that emotional loop. Something happens in the external world and chemicals are flushed through your body which puts it on full alert. For those chemicals to totally flush out of the body it takes less than 90 seconds.

This means that for 90 seconds you can watch the process happening, you can feel it happening, and then you can watch it go away. After that, if you continue to feel fear, anger, and so on, you need to look at the thoughts that you’re thinking – that are re-stimulating the circuitry – that is resulting in you having this physiological response over and over again.

Using the '90 Second Rule' 

• Start by tuning into yourself and experiencing the feeling. Don’t deny it, acknowledge it instead but don’t give into it. You know that your immediate decision is needed to shift your thinking and bring your attention elsewhere. You have a power to select. Your conscious awareness will enable that. Find your own individual, best solutions that work: count to 90, clench your fists, breathe or do whatever else you can to get through the emotion.

• So what can you do to manage what happens next? What works for you? The next step is to give your brain something else to do. You can replace your thoughts and redirect your attention towards topics that are more positive and relaxing. This means that you will continue to rely on your left hemisphere. Or you can choose to focus on your senses and e.g. notice the environment (what you smell, taste, see, hear and physically feel) which will mean that your right hemisphere is stimulated. Move your thoughts away from the stressful matter, before you even begin to believe that what you are thinking is true.

• If you can master your own emotions, you can truly trust yourself. Using the 90 second rule can enable that in a very real way. It takes practise, but it can be done. This method is entirely based on neuroscience and the mechanisms that occur in the brain. It is aligned to how we as humans function. It answers questions about the way to use the natural processes that happen inside us to make our existence more effective. Practice this and become the master of your emotions