Description
The 6 second rule for managing your emotions is a simple way to take a moment before reacting. When you’re feeling upset or angry, you take 6 seconds to breathe and think before you say or do anything. It helps you calm down and make better choices about how to handle your feelings.
It works because the chemicals of emotion inside our brains and bodies only last about six seconds. Normally when we have strong feelings, we keep producing more and more of the feeling molecules.
But if we can stop for a short moment, the flood of chemicals slows down. The trick with a Six Second Pause is to refocus your brain by shifting attention from the emotional brain (amygdala) to the thinking brain (the cortex).
You can do this by breathing and counting in your head. One elephant, two elephant and up to six elephants.
This resource pack includes activities, including blanks for personalisation as well as visual prompts and a deep breathing explainer.
