Leaves on a Stream

A practice card

A way of watching your thoughts pass instead of following them.

When

When your mind won’t stop running, and arguing with it only feeds it.

How

Picture yourself on the bank of a gentle stream, with leaves floating past. Each time a thought comes — a word, a picture, a worry — place it on a leaf and let it float away. Don’t push the leaves faster. Don’t hold them back.

Try it

Put a thought on a leaf

Nothing you type is kept. It floats off the page.

If you get carried off

Sometimes you’ll notice you’ve been swept along by a thought for a while. That isn’t failing the exercise — it is the exercise. Notice it, and put that thought on a leaf too.

You are the one on the bank.

This is a teaching, not treatment. If you’re struggling, a doctor or therapist can help. If you’re in danger right now, call your local emergency number or a crisis line (in the US, call or text 988).

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