Watching Thoughts Float By
Practice observing your thoughts from a distance — so when difficult thoughts show up, you can watch them pass instead of getting swept away.
Quick Practice
Picture yourself sitting beside a gently flowing stream
When a thought appears, place it on a leaf floating on the water
Watch the leaf drift downstream — don't push, just observe
Repeat with each thought. When distracted, return to the stream
What Is This Exercise?
Learning "cognitive defusion" — a core ACT skill
In this exercise, you'll imagine yourself sitting beside a gentle stream. Whenever a thought enters your mind, you'll picture placing it on a leaf and watching it float away downstream.
Most of us experience thoughts as commands — when we think "I'm going to fail," we feel it as truth. But thoughts are just mental events. They're not always true, and they're not commands you have to obey.
This exercise teaches you to observe thoughts from a distance rather than getting swept up in them. The thought is still there, but you're not caught up in it.
Imagine you're sitting by a stream on a warm day. Leaves are gently falling from the trees and floating past you on the water. You don't need to grab them, push them, or follow them. You simply watch as they drift by.
After practicing this, you'll have:
- A skill for daily life — When difficult thoughts show up, you can notice them and let them pass without reacting
- A way to break rumination — When you catch yourself going in circles, you'll have a tool to step back
- More choice in how you respond — With space between you and your thoughts, you can choose rather than react
Why Does This Help?
The science behind stepping back
Most of us live inside our thoughts. When a thought appears — "I'm not good enough" or "What if something goes wrong?" — we don't experience it as a thought. We experience it as reality.
This is called cognitive fusion: we're so fused with our thoughts that we can't tell the difference between "having a thought" and "the thing being true."
The Leaves on a Stream exercise teaches cognitive defusion — the ability to step back and observe thoughts as mental events rather than facts. When you're defused from a thought, you can still have it, but it doesn't push you around.
The shift: From "I'm a failure" → to "I notice I'm having the thought that I'm a failure."
This small shift makes a big difference:
- You gain perspective — You're the observer, not the thought itself
- Thoughts lose their grip — They're still there, but they don't control you
- You can choose your response — With space, you decide what to do next
- Rumination breaks — Hard to spiral when you're watching thoughts float away
Getting Started
Setting up for practice
Find a quiet place, free of distractions
Sit or lie down in a comfortable position
Close your eyes or let your gaze soften
Begin taking slow, deep breaths
Tip: There's no "perfect" way to do this. If you only have 3 minutes, that's enough. If your mind wanders constantly, that's normal. The practice is in noticing — not in being perfect.
The Exercise
Follow these steps at your own pace
1 Visualize the Stream
Imagine you're sitting beside a gently flowing stream. Picture the scene however feels right to you — maybe it's in a forest, a meadow, or a peaceful park.
Notice the details: the sound of the water, leaves floating on the surface, drifting gently downstream.
2 Notice Your Thoughts
As you sit by the stream, thoughts will naturally appear. They always do — that's what minds do.
These might be thoughts about this exercise, your day, worries, plans, or random images. All thoughts are welcome.
3 Place Each Thought on a Leaf
Whenever you notice a thought, imagine placing it on a leaf. Then watch as the leaf — with your thought on it — floats away downstream.
Don't push or rush it. Just let it float at its own pace.
4 Repeat with Each New Thought
When the next thought comes — and it will — place it on another leaf. Keep going.
It doesn't matter if the thoughts are positive, negative, silly, or important. Treat them all the same: notice, place on a leaf, let it float away.
5 When You Get Distracted
At some point, you'll realize you've gotten lost in a thought. Maybe you've been following a worry downstream, or you've forgotten about the visualization entirely. This is completely normal.
When this happens, gently notice it — "Oh, I drifted away" — and return to the stream. No judgment. That moment of noticing IS the practice.
🍃 Guided Script
Read this slowly to yourself, or have someone read it to you...
"Picture yourself sitting beside a beautiful, gently flowing stream. The water is clear and moves slowly past you. Trees line the banks, and their leaves occasionally fall and land on the water's surface.
As you sit here, notice what thoughts come into your mind. Whenever you notice a thought, imagine placing it on a leaf. Then set that leaf on the water and watch it slowly float away downstream. There's no hurry. Just place it gently and let it go.
When another thought comes, put it on a leaf too. And the next one.
If you find yourself jumping on a leaf and floating away with it, that's okay — just notice that you did, climb back onto the bank, and start again.
Continue for as long as you'd like, gently returning to the stream whenever your mind wanders."
Common Challenges
You're not doing it wrong — this is part of the process
That's the point. You're not trying to stop thoughts — you're practicing noticing them and letting them pass. The more thoughts you have, the more practice you get.
This happens to everyone. The magic is in noticing you got swept away and returning to the stream. That moment of noticing IS the practice.
Try putting even big thoughts on leaves. What matters is observing the thought, not shrinking it.
A vague sense of "stream" is enough. Some people prefer imagining clouds in the sky or cars passing — use what works for you.
Using This in Daily Life
The real goal
The purpose of practicing this exercise isn't just to feel calm for 5 minutes. You're building a skill you can use anytime — when difficult thoughts show up at work, in a conversation, or at 2am.
When to use this:
- When anxious thoughts are racing — notice each worry and let it float by
- When you're stuck in rumination — break the cycle by stepping back
- When you're being hard on yourself — "There's that critical thought again. Hello, thought."
- Before bed — let the day's thoughts float away
- During stressful moments — create space between you and overwhelming thoughts
Quick version: Once you've practiced, you don't need the full visualization. Just notice the thought and say "There's a thought" or "Leaf" — and let it pass.
Remember: The more you practice when calm, the easier it becomes to use when you need it. Even 3-5 minutes a day builds the skill.
Summary
The essentials to remember
- Thoughts are mental events, not facts — You can observe them without obeying them
- The stream is always there — Picture it, place thoughts on leaves, watch them float
- Getting distracted is part of it — Noticing you drifted IS the practice
- Use it daily — Even 3-5 minutes builds the skill for when you need it most
💜 Bring this back to therapy
Notice which thoughts keep showing up, which ones feel "sticky," and what it's like to practice this. These observations are valuable — they often reveal what your mind is trying to process. If certain thoughts keep floating back no matter what you do, or if this exercise brings up strong emotions, bring that to your next session.
Want to practice offline? Print this guide to follow along without a screen.
This resource is intended to support—not replace—your work with a licensed therapist. It provides information and exercises based on evidence-informed approaches, but is not a substitute for professional mental health treatment. If you're in crisis or need immediate support, please contact your therapist or a crisis helpline.