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← Distress Tolerance

Mindfulness of current thoughts

Thoughts are events in the brain, not facts. Watch them come and go.

Why

Reacting to a thought as if it were a fact hides what’s really happening. Watching thoughts gives you distance, shows they’re less catastrophic than they feel, and makes you less controlled by them.

How

  • Step back and observe — like looking down on your thoughts from a mountaintop.
  • Be curious: where did this come from? Where does it go?
  • Remember you are not your thoughts. You’ve had thousands; they’re gone, you’re not.
  • Don’t block or push them away — suppressing a thought keeps it around.

The goal

Not an empty mind. Just noticing thoughts without grabbing on or shoving them away.