Leaves on the river

Introduction

Some thoughts keep coming back. These can be very painful and negative thoughts, such as it is my fault, I am worthless, or I cannot do this. They feel as if they are true and draw all your attention. Instead of fighting these thoughts or pushing them away, it helps to see them for what they are: thoughts in your head that come and go.

The exercise Leaves on the river helps you let go of your thoughts more easily, so you are no longer completely carried away by them and you learn that they are simply thoughts that come and go.

This is how you do the exercise

1. Close your eyes or focus your attention on a point in front of you. Imagine a calm river in which the water flows slowly by. Place yourself somewhere next to this river, for example sitting at the water's edge, or standing. 
   
   
2. Imagine leaves floating on the water, slowly drifting past you.
   
   
3. Every time an annoying thought pops up, you place that thought on a leaf in the river. If you think in words, lay them down as words. If you think in images, set them down as an image. 
   
   
4. Watch how the leaf with the thought slowly drifts away. You do not need to do anything to speed up or hold back the current. Just let the leaf slowly drift away.
   
   
5. If you can, take a few minutes to observe your thoughts and let them drift away on the leaves. Does the same thought keep coming back? Put it on a leaf again and again and let it pass by.

Background

This exercise comes from Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) and is meant to learn to see thoughts as separate events in your brain, not as absolute truths.