Visualization exercises for defusion

The protocol of the leaves in the stream

Within the formal meditation practices applied to defusion, the "Leaves in the Stream" exercise is perhaps the most emblematic.

Its purpose is to train the ability to observe the continuous flow of consciousness without attempting to stop or alter it.

The person is asked to visualize him or herself sitting on the bank of a gently flowing river, or on a bridge watching the water go by. Autumn leaves are floating on the surface of the water, slowly being carried away by the current.

The instruction is as follows: "Whenever a thought appears in your mind, whether positive, negative or neutral, mentally place it on one of these leaves and watch the current carry it downstream.

If the thought is "this is silly," put that phrase on a leaf. If it is a painful image, put it on a leaf. If the thought comes up again, it is put back on another sheet.

The goal is not to make the river empty (the mind never stops), but to learn to stay on the shore.

It is common for the person to "fall into the river" (merge with a thought and begin to ruminate); in that case, the exercise is simply to notice that he or she has gotten wet and gently return to the shore. The ability to let go rather than hold back is trained.

Metaphorical variations: clouds, trains and technology

Since not all people connect with images of nature, it is useful to have a repertoire of alternative visualizations that serve the same function: to observe the transit of private events.

A common variant is to imagine the mind as a blue sky and thoughts as clouds crossing that sky.

Some clouds are black and stormy (fearful thoughts), others are white and light, but the sky (the observing consciousness) has room for all and is undamaged by the storm.

Clouds are always in motion; the mistake is to try to catch a cloud or push it away faster.

For more urban or modern contexts, you can use the metaphor of standing on a platform watching train cars go by, with each car carrying a load of thoughts.

Or imagine a sushi conveyor belt in a Japanese restaurant, where plates (thoughts) pass in front of us; we may see that a plate looks disgusting ("I am stupid"), but we are under no obligation to pick it up and eat it. We simply let it pass and wait for the next one.

Another technological version is to visualize thoughts as pop-up ads on a web page or spam messages in the mailbox; we see them, recognize that they are annoying, but do not click on them or argue with the sender.

Summary

The "Leaves in the Stream" exercise trains the ability to observe the flow of consciousness. The person visualizes placing each thought, whatever it is, on a leaf and observes how the river carries it away.

The goal is not to empty the river, but to learn to stay on the shore. If the person merges and falls into the water, the practice is simply to notice it and gently return to the shore.

There are metaphorical variants such as watching clouds in the sky, trains passing by or sushi plates on a conveyor belt. They all serve the same function: to watch private events pass by without trying to catch them or fight them.