The Leaves in the River is an ACT exercise that combines the concept of mindful observation with imagery work. The main idea is to learn to let go e.g of your thoughts.
[ACT could be a valuable addition to your trauma therapy, especially if you struggle with chronic conditions as well. It’s probably not a good replacement for proper trauma therapy though]
If you are ready to practice letting go, you can find a comfortable position where you feel stable and supported but also alert and focussed. You could close your eyes or soften your gaze, as you take your time for a few deep breaths.
You can then let a scenery rise before your inner eyes and find that there is a river close by. Maybe it is broad and slow, masses of water moving before you. Or maybe it is lively or narrow or greenish or has rocks in it. Whatever comes to your mind is totally ok.
You can take a walk along the riverside to find the spot where you want to settle down and stay for a while. Maybe there is something special there, like a bench or a stone you can sit on, maybe there are stairs leading down to the water or something completely different that tells you that this is the right place for you.
Take your time to watch the river flow by and listen to the sound of the steadily moving water. Then you might notice that there are leaves that fall from a tree and float on the river. They get carried past the spot where you sit, further away, until you lose sight of them, the river carries them on. And there is the next leaf that floats past. You can follow it with your gaze until you can’t see it anymore. Take your time to watch the leaves as they float past you and out of sight.
And if you want to you can find a thought that is going through your mind right at this moment and tie it to the next leaf that is passing by. Maybe it is a word or sentence that you can imagine written on the leaf, or you pin it there or put it on a sticky-note and stick it to the leaf or maybe something completely different, whatever comes to your mind and seems fitting. When your thought is connected to the leaf you can watch it as it keeps floating down the river, further and further away, until you can’t see it anymore.
Notice the next thought that is coming to your mind, stick it on a leaf, let it float away. Take a deep breath as you watch it go. And maybe there is more than one thought on your mind or they come very quickly. Then the river will bring you 2 or 3 or more leaves to tag your thoughts to, so you can watch them all float by. Just watch them as they are carried away and pin every new thought to a new leaf.
And maybe your head feels empty and there are no thoughts coming at all, and that is ok too. You don’t have to do anything, just watch the river flowing before you and breathe. If a thought shows up so you can pin it to a leaf that is fine, if not, that is ok too.
Just patiently take your thoughts, tie them to leaves, let them go. If the same thought comes up repeatedly that is no problem at all, just take it and tie it to another leaf and watch it pass by like all the other leaves.
And when you’ve had enough of practicing for today you can thank your river for being there to carry all the leaves and say goodbye to the scenery. You can come here anytime you want to practice letting go of something.
Take a moment to sense the room around you, feel your body in that room, open your eyes if you haven’t already and change your posture a little, maybe after a small stretch. And maybe you can thank yourself for taking the time to practice letting go today.
I put an emphasis on this being something that needs to be practiced because it is not an easy exercise. It needs a lot of mental focus and is not relaxing or refreshing like other guided imagery like the Inner Garden or a cleansing bath. This is actual work.
So why should you learn this? Because it helps to let go. It can help you to step out of ruminations and your mind running in circles. It can help you to stop worrying about a specific topic. It can support you when it gets really rough and you think very dark thoughts for a while. They can float down the river without you having to act on them.
But for this to become a tool that can help you even in the darkest of times, you need to practice it, so your mind is used to doing this inner movement of letting go of those thoughts. This is a highly valuable exercise if things cannot be contained, but you need to work on it before you need it.
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