This is part of a body of work called Never Mind Your Mind.
Today we'll use the Hands as Thoughts metaphor to uncover how creating distance from our thoughts can liberate us to live more fully and flexibly.
The Hands as Thoughts Metaphor by Dr Russ Harris The Hands as Thoughts metaphor is a combination of both metaphor and an exercise.
It's an active depiction of being caught up by our thoughts and then seeing them for what they are,
Just thoughts.
Imagine for a moment that your fingers are thoughts.
Hold your hands together,
Palms open,
As if they're pages of an open book.
Then,
Slowly and steadily,
Raise your hands up towards your face.
Keep going until they're covering your eyes.
Now take a few seconds to look at the world around you through the gaps between your fingers and notice how this affects your view of the world.
What would it be like going around all day with your hands covering your eyes in this manner?
How much would it limit you?
How much would you miss out on?
How would it reduce your ability to respond to the world around you?
This is when we're caught up,
Hooked by our thoughts.
And we become so caught up in our thoughts that we lose contact with many aspects of our here and now experience.
And our thoughts have such a huge influence over what we do and our ability to connect in a meaningful way is significantly reduced.
Now,
Once again,
Cover your eyes with your hands,
Just like before.
Look at the world again through the gaps in your fingers,
But this time lower them from your face very,
Very slowly.
As your hands slowly descend beneath your eyes,
Notice how much easier it is to connect with the world around you.
Allow your fingers to wiggle.
There are your thoughts.
There's some distance between you and your thoughts.
Your thoughts don't disappear,
But getting some separation allows you to engage more fully and flexibly.
Freeing you up to choose to do things and fully appreciate these things that are important to you.
Dear Mind,
As I sit in this cafe,
I am writing this letter to you and for me.
Sometimes you tell me that it's just me.
These thoughts.
You whisper that they're not normal.
That everyone else has it all together.
But I'm beginning to see the truth.
You are wrong.
I'm realizing more and more that when I get caught up in my thoughts,
It's like walking around with my hands covering my eyes.
I can barely see what's in front of me.
The world becomes small,
Blurry and disconnected.
I know how much this limits me.
I miss out on meaningful connections.
With others.
With myself.
With the moments that truly matter.
It reduces my ability to respond to the world around me.
Leaving me stuck in the stories that you weave.
Just like hands covering my eyes,
These thoughts don't just block my connection to the world.
They hook me into looking from them.
When this happens,
I lose twice.
My ability to experience meaningful connection is blocked.
I look from my thoughts instead of at my thoughts.
Letting them shape my reality.
But here's the thing.
I am here in this life to connect.
I am here in this life to experience the beauty of being alive.
Whether it's with other beings.
With myself in nurturing environments.
Or in the flow of something that brings me joy.
I choose to be present for it all.
I now know that trying to get rid of you.
Trying to eliminate these thoughts doesn't work in the long term.
So I choose to stop playing that unwinnable game.
Instead,
I'll practice creating some space.
Enough to lower my hands and see the world more clearly.
With even a little separation,
I can engage more fully and flexibly.
And I can choose what's meaningful to me.
These thoughts don't disappear.
And I've come to accept that they don't have to.
I'm coming to know more and more how this distance between me and you can free me up.
How it helps me reconnect.
How it helps me to notice what's important.
How it opens me to respond to life,
Not just react to it.
So,
My dear mind,
I choose to go easy on you and go easy on myself.
Together with you,
I can navigate life with more awareness and more freedom.
Yours sincerely,
With compassion and gratitude from me.
My consciousness is evolving every single time I notice an unhelpful thought and hold it lightly.
May my consciousness continue to evolve.
This appreciation helps me and heals me.
My thoughts often block what I'd like to see,
But when I observe them,
I set myself free.
My thoughts often block what I'd like to see,
But when I observe them,
I set myself free.
My thoughts often block what I'd like to see,
But when I observe them,
I set myself free.
My thoughts often block what I'd like to see,
But when I observe them,
I set myself free.
