ACT: stepping back and making room · worksheet 31
Your thoughts and emotions change like the weather: storms, clouds, sunny spells. But a part of you is like the sky: it holds every kind of weather, and no storm can harm it.
Before you start
- What it is for: To remind you that you are bigger than your thoughts and emotions of the moment, just as the sky is bigger than the weather.
- About 5 minutes a day for a week.
- Your thoughts and emotions are like the weather: storms, clouds, sun. You are like the sky: it holds everything and doesn’t break.
- The weather doesn’t need to improve: the exercise is looking at it from the sky.
Prefer paper? Download the PDF to print (with a page for psychologists).
What to do with your results
Look at the last column: what changes when you observe your weather instead of merging with it? Often, a little more room to choose what to do.
If you find it hard
If the exercise seems abstract, just keep the sentence “I am the sky, this is the weather right now”. If you feel disconnected from yourself, worksheet 04 is a better choice.
For psychologists
The PDF also includes a page for the psychologist: how to run the exercise in session, points to watch and scientific references. You are free to use it with your clients.
For psychologists: aim, audience and duration
Help the person get in touch with the part of themselves that observes their experiences without being reduced to them: just as the sky holds every kind of weather without being harmed by it.
People who identify strongly with their emotions (“I’m an anxious person”, “I’m hopeless”), rumination, shame. Duration: 10 min in session; a few minutes a day.
References
Harris, R. (2019). ACT Made Simple: An Easy-to-Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (2nd ed.). New Harbinger.
Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D. & Wilson, K. G. (2012). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: The Process and Practice of Mindful Change (2nd ed.). Guilford.
These worksheets do not replace therapy. If you are in distress or having suicidal thoughts, call your local emergency number (112 in Europe; 3114 in France, free, 24/7).
Free worksheet for non-commercial use: you may share it with credit to the author, without modifying it (Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence).
