Imagine your alarm blaring at 6:30 a.m. You hit snooze, sit up, and feel your chest tighten as your mind floods with errands – grocery run, project meeting at 10, soccer pickup at 5.
Maybe you spill coffee on your shirt, making things worse. Thoughts rush like rapids: “Did I send that report? Where are my keys? Ugh, traffic.”
But you don’t have to jump into every rapid. You can sit on the riverbank of your awareness and simply watch each swell of thought roll past like a leaf on water.
Later, you’re stuck in traffic, brake lights glowing ahead, and a car horn blares behind you. Your mind churns: “I’ll be late. My boss will be furious. I’m failing.”
Don’t drown yourself in worry. At that moment, I shifted roles from panicked swimmer to calm spectator. Name the feeling – “That’s anxiety” – then take a slow, deep breath, picturing the worry as a single leaf drifting downstream.
As Eckhart Tolle teaches, “You are the observer of your thoughts, not the thoughts themselves.”
From your spot on the bank, the swirling water can’t reach you.
Back at your desk, you open a harsh email from a coworker – “They must think I’m terrible at my job.” Your gut tightens, and your first urge is to fire off a reply as you press your coffee to your lips.
Take a pause and imagine that sharp feeling as just another small wave on the river. Push your feet onto the floor and let your shoulders relax.
Marcus Aurelius wrote, “You have power over your mind – not outside events.” Allow yourself to stand on solid ground at the river’s edge, not in the rushing current.
At lunch, you scroll through social media and feel that familiar tug of comparison – “Everyone else’s life looks perfect.” Your soup grows cold as images of smiling faces and highlight reels wash over you.
Instead of diving in, stop and ask, “What am I feeling?” Maybe it’s envy, stress or boredom. Then, take a full, slow breath, feeling your shoulders drop. Picture that thought as a stray twig on a river, carried away around a bend until the surface smooths out again.
In the afternoon, a friend or family member offers criticism, and your stomach flips like a turbulent whirlpool. Your eyes may narrow, and your heart might race. You might want to snap back or explain yourself.
Instead, mark the thought – label it “hurt” or “defensiveness” – and step back on the bank. Picture the idea as a swirl in the water. Breathe in, breathe out, and feel the pull of that mental current weaken as it drifts away. Let yourself remain dry and solid at the river’s edge and choose how – or whether – to respond.
That night, lying in bed, your mind replays every awkward comment or mistake on a nonstop loop, turning your thoughts into a rushing river.
Your mind is shining a spotlight on your errors. With practice, you can whisper, “I’m just getting caught up in the stream of worry again,” and step back, then let it float away until it disappears. You stay on the bank, fully awake and free. If new worries arrive – about work, money or relationships – you do the same: name it, breathe and release.
Why does this help? The instant you step off the mental treadmill and onto the riverbank of awareness, you carve out a tiny gap between stimulus and reaction. That gap may feel small – just a breath – but it’s enormous in what it gives you: choice.
In that space, you decide whether to wade into the current or stay dry. Over time, as you observe and label each mental flow, your responses soften. Your brain calms, and you make smarter moves instead of getting swept away.
You can practice this anywhere – walking to class, waiting in line or sitting at home. When a thought pops up – nerves about a test, panic over a project or judgment about a friend – stop, name it, breathe and picture it drifting away.
This habit takes just seconds but changes everything. You are the riverbank, not the torrents. Notice the current, label it, breathe and let it pass. In that simple act of observation lies true freedom – and a calmer, more joyful life.
• Toby Moore is a Shaw Local News Network columnist, star of the Emmy-nominated film “A Separate Peace,” and CEO of CubeStream Inc. He can be reached at feedback@shawmedia.com.