Hexaflexercise: Hands As Thoughts

This brief exercise, derived from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), is designed to evoke cognitive defusion (i.e. separation between us and our thoughts), which is a key pillar of psychological flexibility. The viewer is guided through an experiential metaphor, involving the use of both hands, to discriminate between cognitive fusion (i.e. no separation), experiential avoidance (i.e. attempting to push away our thoughts), and defusion, which can allow us to be more present and meaningfully engaged in our lives.

Transcript

I invite you to take both of your hands, Palms facing you, Holding them up like this, And imagine that all of your thoughts are in your hands. This includes thoughts about the future, Plans, Worries, Thoughts about the past, Memories, Rumination, Thoughts about yourself, Evaluations, Thoughts about others, More evaluations, Judgments, Thoughts about the world at large, Even more judgments, All in the palms of your hands. And now take your hands and place them over your eyes like this. So now there's no separation between you and your thoughts. In other words, Your thoughts are all you can see right now. And imagine that there's someone you deeply care about standing in front of you, And they invite you to a meaningful dialogue. How well would you be able to do that right now like this? Now I invite you to take your hands, Palms away, Stretching out your arms in front of you as fully as you can, As if you're attempting to push away those thoughts. Fully stretching out your arms, And imagine doing this for like 20 minutes. You may even be starting to notice some strain in your shoulders now. And once again, With your hands in front of you like this, Imagine that that person you care about is inviting you to a meaningful conversation. How well could you do that? Now lastly, I invite you to take your hands, Palms up again, And place them on your lap in front of you. And you can look down and notice your thoughts are still there. They haven't disappeared. But you may also notice the distance between you and your thoughts. There's some space between you and your thoughts. And looking up again, That person who you deeply care about, Standing in front of you, Invites you to a meaningful interaction. How well could you do that now?