Hello,
I'm Kelly Dennis.
In this video,
You'll learn how to decrease fusion to your thoughts and begin to see them as mental events rather than facts.
I'll guide you through a visualization exercise that will help you step back from anxious thoughts.
And by the end of this video,
You'll have a powerful tool that,
With regular practice,
Can help you reduce your anxious thinking patterns.
So today,
We're learning to manage your anxious thoughts.
With mindfulness.
So what are anxious thoughts?
Well,
They are repetitive,
Worry-driven mental patterns that focus on potential threats.
Or negative outcomes.
They show up as worries about the future,
The past,
Or situations that feel out of control.
Unlike productive planning,
They loop without resolution and they create nervous system activation.
They bother you.
They can impact your daily life because they make it hard to concentrate or make decisions.
And they really overall decrease your mental well-being.
So when you can learn to observe these thoughts,
Without becoming entangled in them,
It reduces their emotional impact.
Stepping back and seeing thoughts from a distance lessens their impact.
So this takes some practice,
And there are many tools for doing this.
But one of my favorites is leaves on a stream meditation.
So go ahead and get yourself into a comfortable position.
With your head,
Neck,
And spine straight if you can.
You can close your eyes for this particular meditation,
Or if that doesn't feel comfortable,
You can just soft gaze somewhere down past your nose.
And once you're comfortable.
Go ahead and begin by taking a nice,
Full,
Deep breath in.
And letting it out.
And take another nice,
Full,
Deep breath in.
And as you exhale,
Just let your body release.
And then just breathe in whatever way feels good to you.
You don't have to breathe in any particular way.
Just find the breath in your body.
Whether that's the air entering and exiting your nose.
Or maybe it's the rise and fall of your belly as you breathe.
And if you notice that it's hard to kind of settle your mind,
That's OK.
Minds think.
That's what they do.
Just notice if your mind is thinking or has gotten distracted.
And then just come back to your breath.
And you might have to do this a number of times during this particular meditation.
But every time you do,
Every time you notice where your mind has gone,
And you bring it back to your breath.
You're practicing mindfulness.
So getting into the rhythm of your breathing now.
You might notice that it slows down a little bit.
When your breath slows down,
Your body slows down,
And so does your mind.
And just shift for a moment as you continue to comfortably breathe,
Shift for a moment.
To the soles of your feet.
And just notice.
What's happening?
In the soles of your feet.
And then noticing.
The gentle pressure.
On your bottom from sitting on the floor or your cushion or your chair.
And then notice your hands as they rest in your lap or by your side.
And bring your attention now to your neck and your shoulders.
Giving them a little wiggle if you need to kind of get them relaxed.
And now I'd like you to bring to mind that you're sitting.
By a stream or a river.
And you know how a stream or a river Has the water tumbling?
In its banks.
Overall.
There's some twigs and some leaves.
And just see if you can bring this river to your mind.
Or this stream or babbling brook,
Whatever comes to mind for you.
And now.
.
.
Just pick.
Maybe a thought.
That causes looping or overthinking.
Something that's bugging you.
And then just imagine.
That you can place it on a leaf.
Or a twig or a branch in that river.
And you can just watch it flow down.
The river or the stream.
Around the bend until you just can't see it anymore.
And then take another.
Thought.
Situation.
And imagine placing it on a leaf.
Or branch.
And just watching it gently flow down.
The water.
Around the bend and out of sight.
And sometimes when you do this,
The particular thought or the situation will come back.
That's why this is called a practice.
And so you might have to do that a number of times.
But each time you do.
You put a worrisome thought or an overthinking pattern.
On the leaf or on the branch.
And watch it flow down the river.
Notice what happens in your body.
Perhaps you notice a little bit of lightness.
Or stillness.
And just noticing that and resting in that for a moment.
Until another thought pops in.
And you can put that I love you.
Or branch.
And watch it tumble down the stream.
And the more you do this,
The more you learn to get distance from those thoughts.
In acceptance and commitment therapy,
We call this diffusion.
You'll learn to not be fused with these thoughts.
You're disentangled.
And you can see them as just thoughts.
That's it.
Just the chemical workings of the mind.
You don't even have to believe them if you don't want to.
And each time.
You put a thought on a leaf.
Or a branch and watch it go down the stream.
You're building your ability.
To step back.
And observe.
And then be mindful.
Of how you feel after you do that.
And so now.
Go ahead and just release the visualization if you'd like to.
Take a nice full deep breath in.
And let it out.
And if it feels good,
You can stay here for a couple of moments.
Or if you're ready to open your eyes,
You can do that too.
And just remember that this particular visualization helps us.
To remember that those thoughts and those overthinking patterns are really just mental events of our minds.
Our minds think they're problem solving,
And sometimes they are.
But a lot of times,
It's just ruminative worry.
And so doing this particular mindfulness exercise.
Can help you to release that worry.
And that thinking pattern.
I hope that you'll try it.
Usually we say that if you practice a mindfulness meditation every day for 14 days,
You'll begin to see a very big difference.
So I hope that you will do that.
I'm Kelly Dennis.
And have a wonderful day.
