The Weekly Minute - Check Mate

Instructions for "Check Mate":

1. Stop what you're doing, close your eyes, and take a couple of belly breaths to get into the present.
2. Bring your attention to any thoughts or feelings as they come and go.
3. Imagine these thoughts and feelings as chess pieces moving across a board.
4. It can be tempting to begin to place your thoughts and feelings on opposing sides, with 'good' thoughts and feelings versus the 'bad' ones.
5. Instead of this, become the chess board, and simply observe the thoughts and feelings move around, come and go.
6. After a minute (or longer if you like), come back to the room, and resume your day.

What you just did was gain distance from, and control over, your thoughts and feelings, and reduce their ability to influence your mood. You are the chess board on which your thoughts and feelings move, and when you take this position of observer, you become less entangled in the drama and tumult in your head.
​If you notice yourself feeling stressed or sad, ask yourself if you are busy chasing chess pieces, or are you observing from the viewpoint of the board.

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"As the board, you can see all the pieces, you can hold them, you are in intimate contact with them, and you can watch the war being played out in your consciousness, but it doesn't matter. It takes no effort." - Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson

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