Have you heard about the analogy of the blue sky and the weather? It is a metaphor that I find helpful in regaining perspective and a sense of calm when emotions are high.
Imagine your observing self as the sky – calm, blue, unchanging. Your thoughts and feelings are the weather – changing continually, from the mightiest thunderstorm to warm sunlight to a severe winter blizzard.
No matter what the weather is, it does not change the sky. The sky always has room for the weather, just as our mind always has room for our thoughts and feelings.
Sometimes we forget that the sky is there and get caught up in the weather, swept away in a storm, unable to remember that if we rise above the clouds the calm, blue sky is still there waiting for us. But, sooner or later the weather always changes.
Through practising diffusion techniques such as this, we can learn to access this more present part of ourselves and become better at being a calm observer of difficult thoughts and feelings, rather than getting caught up in the storm.
So, remember the blue sky!
If you’d like to explore other helpful mindfulness techniques with one of our psychologists, book an appointment online or phone us on (07) 3162 8448.