The 90-second rule for when worry takes over

A wave of worry, in the body, lasts about ninety seconds — if you let it move through. The trick is not arguing with it.

When anxiety arrives, the impulse is to think your way out. But the body needs the body. Try this: name what you’re feeling, where you feel it, and stay with it for ninety seconds without doing anything about it.

How to try it

Set a timer. Place a hand where the feeling is loudest — chest, stomach, throat. Breathe normally. Don’t fix, don’t suppress, don’t analyse. Watch the wave rise and fall.

You don’t have to think your way out of a body sensation. You just have to let it finish its sentence.

You may need to repeat it. That’s fine. The nervous system is learning a new rule: that feelings are weather, not warnings.