ACT Bites - Defusion Part Two

Greetings and welcome back to Act Bytes.

This is part two of part two,

If that makes any sense.

And in this segment on Cognitive Diffusion,

I would like to pay homage to Stephen Hayes,

The initial impetus behind ACT.

And use a couple of his authored metaphors to illustrate how actively we can diffuse from troubling thoughts and emotions.

Before we get into these metaphors,

It's important to note that the only time this really can happen is when we have realized that there is an issue and we begin to look for a solution.

Oftentimes people go through life without being aware that there is an issue that they can first of all face and then dealing with.

So there has to be.

And awareness.

Personal awareness before any of this can happen.

Think of the road that has brought you to this point.

This is not just idle scrolling that has brought you here.

It's purposeful in that you really want to know how ACT can help you.

You have realized for yourself that what you think habitually and experience habitually is in need of change and overhaul.

That's where ACT can help.

The first metaphor is a classic Stephen Hayes offering called Floating Leaves on the Moving Stream.

You may have heard of it already.

Here we go.

Close your eyes and imagine a beautiful slow-moving stream.

The water flows over rocks and around trees,

Descends downhill and travels through a valley.

All rather peaceful.

Once in a while,

A big leaf.

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.

Drops down into the water and floats down strong.

Never to be seen again.

Imagine that you are sitting beside that idyllic stream.

On a warm sunny day watching the leaves floating by.

Now become conscious of your thoughts.

Each time a thought occurs.

Oops,

Empty your head.

Imagine that it's written on one of those leaves that's falling into the stream.

If you think in words,

Put them on a leaf as words.

If you think in images,

Put them on a leaf as an image.

The goal is to stay beside the stream.

And allow the leaves to keep floating by.

Don't try to make the stream go faster or slower.

Don't try to change anything that shows up.

If the leaves disappear,

If you mentally go off somewhere else,

Or if you find that you are in the stream or on a leaf,

Just stop and notice that this has happened.

File that knowledge away and then again return to the stream.

Watch a thought come into your mind.

Place it on the leaf and let the leaf float down the stream.

Continue this for the next few moments.

Just watching your thoughts floating by.

Observing,

Observing,

Observing.

The second Stephen Hayes metaphor is called Watching the Mind Train.

It's similar to the first one,

But has some added complexities to it,

Which makes it a bit more challenging,

As you will see.

Here we go.

Imagine that you are standing on a bridge overlooking a railway track.

Gazing down at three three sets of train tracks.

On each set of tracks,

The mining trailers slowly moving away from each other.

Perhaps in this case,

We are all.

Australian Outback.

In the blinding time.

To see what you have there.

Each train is composed of a string of little cars carrying iron ore,

Or some kind of ore.

These trains are incredibly long and seemingly endless.

All three trains chunk slowly on underneath the bridge.

As you look down.

Imagine that the train on the left carries only the awe of things you notice in the present moment.

That awe is composed of sensations,

Perceptions,

And emotions.

It carries things like the sounds that you hear.

The sweaty palms you feel.

The skipped heartbeats that you sense.

The sadness that you notice.

And so forth.

Turning your attention to the middle train.

This one carries your evaluations.

Your predictions,

Your self conceptualizations.

And so on.

The train on the right hand side.

Carries your urges to act.

The pole to avoid.

To look away.

Efforts to change the subject,

And so on.

Looking down on these tracks is a metaphor for looking at your mind.

Now think of something you've been struggling with lately.

Then close your eyes and.

.

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Picturing three tracks.

Your job is to stay on the bridge looking at the trains.

If you find your mind has gone somewhere else,

Or if you discover that you're in one of the cars chugging along down the railway track and struggling with its contents,

Such as judgement that you'll never amount to anything,

Or a belief that nothing good can ever happen to you in the future,

This can be a very important moment.

In fact,

It's a major purpose of the exercise.

When this happens as it will.

Notice what just hooked you.

File that away and then mentally return to the bridge over the tracks and look down once again.

When you're able to stay on the bridge,

Your experience will look like a variety of thoughts,

Feelings and urges to act,

Moving along underneath you,

Separate from the rest.

If you disappear into the content,

Getting fused with the thoughts,

Feelings and urges.

Your experience will look like a hopeless mess.

See if you can stay on the bridge.

Watching your thoughts.

Feelings and urges chug by in the cars below.

If you leave the bridge,

Just notice what happens.

And then return to your spot on the tracks.

Spend the next few moments noticing what comes up for you.

Of course,

The thing to do once you've heard these metaphors is to take them away and try them for yourselves,

Spending however long is comfortable on the mind.

And as you wish,

Whenever you would.

We can also see from the start that ACT practice is very meditative and reflective.

And easily translate it into content that can be brought into your meditation practice.

For example,

You could be sitting down to meditate and be troubled by a rather mischievous monkey mind,

As happens all too often.

What better way than to picture yourself at the edge of the stream,

Watching the leaves floating by,

And noticing the space between the leaves becoming gradually longer and longer.

What a great way to settle the monkey mind again.

If you want to continue learning about Act and watch more Act Byte videos,

Then make your way over to the premium section of InsideTimer content.

There you'll find the continuation of these series of videos.

Thank you for watching and.

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See you on the other side.