Van Dijk - Dont Let Your Emotions Run Your Life for Teens: Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills for Helping You Manage Mood Swings, Control Angry Outbursts, and

Until you are familiar with this exercise, you might find it helpful to have someone read the instructions to you.

Observing your thoughts and emotions in a river

Sitting or lying down in a relaxed position, close your eyes. In your mind, picture yourself standing in a shallow river. The water comes to just above your knees, and a gentle current pushes against your legs. As you stand in the river, notice your thoughts and emotions slowly start to float down the river, gliding past you on the current. Dont try to hold on to them as they float by, and dont get caught up in them; simply watch them as they float past you down the river. If you notice yourself getting caught up thinking about a thought or an emotion so that youre going down the river with it instead of just watching it float past, come back to just standing in the river. Bring your attention back to the exercise and focus on just observing. As best you can, dont judge the thoughts or feelings that go by; just become aware of their presence.

Observing your thoughts and emotions in clouds

Heres a second way you can practice this exercise: Imagine yourself lying in a field of grass, looking up at the fluffy white clouds. In each cloud, you can see a thought or a feeling you are experiencing; observe each thought or feeling as it slowly floats by. Dont judge them, and dont label them; just observe them as they float through your mind. Dont grab the thoughts or emotions, and dont get caught up thinking about themjust notice them. If you notice that youve gotten carried away with a particular cloud, bring yourself back to lying in the field of grass. If you notice your attention straying from the exercise, bring your attention back to observing and labeling the thoughts and emotions, without judging yourself.

In this chapter, youve practiced naming your emotions and learned that they serve a purpose. Youve also learned that thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are interconnected and that it can be hard to separate them but that doing so is very important in learning to manage your emotions more effectively. Finally, you learned to start thinking of your thoughts and emotions as just thatthoughts and emotions, rather than facts. As you go through this workbook, continue to practice the mindfulness exercises and other skills provided. It may take a lot of time and energy at the beginning, but the more you practice, the more effective you will become at not letting your emotions control you.