Hey friends, it's Rosie here.
Welcome to Radio Headspace and to Wednesday.
I was at the grocery store a few days ago,
just trying to get in and out quickly when someone out of nowhere just cut right in front of me.
I was perusing the magazines and this person, no eye contact, no excuse me,
just straight up cut in front while I was standing there, clearly in line.
I stood there in shock as the grocery clerk and I exchanged an equally surprised look.
I could feel the rage bubbling up as I gripped my non-ripe avocados and thought,
oh, we're really doing this today.
But instead of reacting, I paused.
I took a breath, and you won't believe what happened next.
So far this week, we've been talking about how anger is energy,
and how holding onto resentment only burns us in the end.
But as we will see this week, even that isn't enough to stop us from reacting.
Today, I want to talk about something just as important.
That little moment, that suspended brief blip, the power of pausing.
In psychology, this is called cognitive reappraisal,
a key tool in cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT.
Research shows that when we pause and reframe a situation before reacting,
it actually changes how our brain processes the experience.