Gratitude and the 90 second rule

According to Harvard brain scientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, ninety seconds is all it takes to identify an emotion and allow it to dissipate while you simply notice it.

The research showed that the chemical process resulting from the situation expires after 90 seconds, claiming that any remaining emotional response was the person choosing to stay in the emotional loop.

In her words:

“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 reaction, over and over again.”

She also advocates for the tool of mindfulness to bring attention to the present moment without judgment.

It is interesting that a chemical reaction in the brain can be given a time block, with the potential to apply awareness of it as a preventative habit.

Being aware of the mind body connection and the difference is also helpful when thinking about the 90 seconds. Often it is the body that will first perceive the initial impression.

Marcus Aurelius wrote a meditation which also points to a similar principle:

“Do not elaborate to yourself beyond what your initial impressions report. You have been told that so-and-so is maligning you. That is the report: you have not been told that you are harmed. I see that my little boy is ill. That is what I see: I do not see that he is in danger. So always stay like this within your first impression and do not add conclusions from within your own thoughts — and then that is all.” Meditations, Marcus Aurelius — Book 8, 49.

Replacing negative thoughts with gratitude could help use the 90 second rule.

Even if primal responses overtake the 90 seconds, being grateful is a positive step forward in making this rule a habit.

When having thoughts of gratitude, the cortisol is lowered, making calm have a stronger presence in the body.

When I notice the miracles around me, I am more likely to have faith than fear.