Just Let Your Thoughts Be: Give Up Control

“How do I not judge or analyze my thoughts? What do you mean, “Just let your thoughts be instead of trying to forcefully change them?” These are some of the most commonly asked questions regarding mindfulness. 

First off let’s clarify what “let your thoughts be” means during a trees&breathe writing workshop. When you’re noticing a picture, I encourage you to let your thoughts flow without forcefully trying to analyze them.  For example, I may show you a picture of a forest with trees and a trail and ask you just to notice what’s in the picture. Don’t analyze, just notice.

Noticing means looking at that beautiful nature picture and seeing the details in it. Not just the trees, but the branches on the trees. Not just the branches, but the direction they point. Or maybe, we look at the tree bark and notice the knots on the bark and the patterns that these make. Maybe we take time to notice colour, size, or shape of what we’re looking at. 

I’ll provide you with these continual instructions that will keep you focused on what is right in front of you and decrease the chance that your mind will wander off course.

Now, what happens when we add writing to the formula of mindfulness? It is actually the same idea as looking at a nature picture, but with writing. I provide you with initial prompts, give you instructions on how to write, and a specific time to write. Your job is to write anything that comes to mind. Not to question your thoughts, just to write them.

The key to staying mindful while you’re writing is that you don’t stop writing for anything until the time is up.  No reading, no crossing out, no changing words. You don’t worry about spelling, grammar, or sentence structure. You stay out of the way and just write whatever thoughts you have. That means you might end up writing a lot of crazy and you might think that’s the opposite of mindfulness. But it’s not. The idea of mindfulness is to let go of control and just let it happen. 

When we write this way (again, call it crazy), we can dig up the roots of our thoughts. We learn what’s really going on for us. I call them our truths. If you try to control it, it won’t happen.