If I say to you, DON’T think about a pink elephant flying through the clouds with a rainbow umbrella, what are you thinking right now?
I’m thinking about an aeroplane taking a leak on a helicopter. (How does that even work and why did your mind go there??)
It’s impossible not to think thoughts. That’s just how our brains work.
The problem is when those thoughts start to invade and take over and we start ruminating. That’s destructive.
In this article, you’ll learn about a DBT skill called mindfulness of current thoughts. It’s part of distress tolerance skills and is super valuable for helping you stay on top of that rumination that we all love to return to.
By the end of the post, you’ll understand how this skill works, how you can use it, and how to practice it so you’re always in control.
Ready? Let’s get to it!
Table of Contents
What is mindfulness of current thoughts?
Mindfulness of current thoughts is labelling your thoughts so that those thoughts can be rationalised.
Another way to think of labelling is ‘observing and describing‘.
When you observe and describe the fact that you’ve had the thought, rather than getting caught up in describing its content, you let that thought come and go.
When you label your thoughts, you create space from them.
It’s like you view them as guests in your mind. You welcome them in, and you see them back out again. (Unlike that neighbour from over the road who shows up when you’re just out of the shower.)
They don’t take over. They don’t dominate.
So when you’re mindful of your current thoughts, you let those thoughts come and go.
Why is it a valuable DBT skill?
Mindfulness of current thoughts is taught as part of the distress tolerance skills in dialectical behavioral therapy [1]. It forms part of your emotional regulation skills and teaches you to notice thoughts.
It’s helpful because you can identify when you might get caught in a rumination cycle with your own thoughts.
A rumination cycle is when you have a thought that is followed by other feelings and thoughts. You then start ruminating on those feelings and thoughts. The cycle continues until you’re a quivering mess in the corner!
This ends up being a vicious cycle that usually ends up with you not feeling great about yourself.
Ever heard of the snowball effect? Yeah, it’s exactly like that.
So practicing labelling your thoughts is valuable. Because when thoughts are labelled, they’re rationalised. It helps you avoid reacting blindly to those thoughts. You can identify what emotions the thought has brought on and why they’re occurring.
This all means that YOU are in control, not your thoughts or feelings.
When you use this skill, you’re waving goodbye to thoughts—’ OK, yeah, smell ya later’ is what you’re saying.
It lets you step back from your thoughts and feelings and look at them like an outside observer.
How It Works
It’s really easy to get sucked into your thoughts and feelings. You can’t stop thinking (how about that urinating aeroplane!?).
So, instead of becoming a victim of your thoughts, you can label them with short sentences or words.
Think of them like passing clouds. Imagine lying on your back, looking up at the sky, and observing the clouds passing over you.
That’s exactly the same as your thoughts. You just notice what you’re thinking, worrying or upset about. Then you let those thoughts go, just like the clouds.
You don’t judge yourself for having those thoughts.
After all, you’re always thinking—YOU CAN’T STOP THINKING—so don’t get caught up in the fact that you’re thinking these things [3].
You just let them come and go because, naturally, thoughts will always come and go.
So when you observe that you’re engaged in the act of thinking, worrying, obsessing, or dwelling, the content of the thought loses its power. It’s like because you’ve recognised that you’re doing it, it instantly melts away.
It is as if your thoughts are an iceberg, and by noticing them, you have a MASSIVE laser beam that melts them away!
When you think, “Why haven’t they called me back yet? I hate my life! It shouldn’t be this way!” What follows is an emotional reaction, which makes those thoughts a lot harder to let go of.
Instead, if you describe those thoughts with a simple label, the pull of those thoughts diminishes.
The simple label can be ‘anxiety thoughts’, ‘sad thoughts’, or ‘worry thoughts’. It doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it’s not meant to be.
It’s just a way for you to label it quickly and easily so that you can get on with whatever it is you’re trying to do. It’s a helpful way of not getting caught up in your emotions and feelings and not letting them call the shots.
This is the power of this skill, it’s literally a GAME CHANGER in emotion regulation.
How to practice mindfulness of current thoughts
All you have to do is start noticing your thoughts. This sounds really obvious but it can be quite difficult to do because we’re wrapped up in lots of different activities and jobs in our day-to-day lives.
So I recommend you take 30 seconds of your day and ask yourself: “What am I thinking about right now? Where do those thoughts come from? How are they making me feel?” This practice is best when you’re just doing regular stuff.
If you do this on a regular basis, you’ll find that when a difficult situation comes up, your instant reaction will start to become, “I’m having an anxious thought, I’m having a worry thought” and it will stop being “I remember all the other times I’ve been anxious before. I hate anxiety. Anxiety sucks. I wish my life were over”.
Now, maybe you will need to react to those thoughts (because someone is stealing your lunch from the office fridge again), but probably you won’t have to.
Instead, what you’ll find yourself doing is noticing the fact that you’ve had that thought and that it’s okay to have that thought. You don’t need to start the rumination cycle.
Practice makes permanent. You’ll only be able to use this DBT skill effectively if you consciously remember to do it.
So set yourself a reminder on your phone. Put a five-minute reminder on your calendar.
Just get in the habit of actually doing this and you’ll find that it helps you massively.
Practice exercises
Here are a few other practice exercises for you to try. These are from the DBT Skills book by Marsha Linehan:
As you notice thoughts in your mind, ask, “Where did the thought come from?” Then watch your mind to see if you can see where it came from.
Step back from your mind, as if you are on top of a mountain and your mind is just a boulder down below. Gaze at your mind, watching what thoughts come up when you are watching it. Come back into your mind before you stop.
Relax your face and body while imagining accepting your thoughts as only thoughts— sensations of the brain.
Rehearse in your mind what you would do if you did not view your thoughts as facts.
Practice loving your thoughts as they go through your mind.
Here’s a mindful meditation to follow along with, too, if that’s your thing [2].
If you notice that you’re struggling to get the hang of this, then practising half-smiling could help.
The sister exercise to this one is mindfulness of current emotions.
References:
- [1] – https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/talking-therapy-and-counselling/dialectical-behaviour-therapy-dbt/
- [2] – https://www.mindful.org/a-basic-mindfulness-meditation-for-labeling-thoughts-and-emotions/
- [3] – https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/what-causes-overthinking-and-6-ways-to-stop/
