This is a brief sitting quietly exercise[1] to learn about, and learn how to engage, the Observing Self.  This is a term – as you’ll encounter in the exercise – used to describe the conscious mind’s ability (i.e., the Rider) to 1) disengage from it’s more familiar Being Self mode, and 2) look at – without being triggered by or reacting to – what’s going on in the internal world of one’s being (which is, mostly, about what’s going in the external world of one’s being).

Developing this Rider capacity to engage an Observing Self perspective facilitates using other psychological skills – like defusion, acceptance, and problem-solving (e.g., CBT) – and enables a higher-level functioning mindfulness …which means being able to pay attention in the moment with a greater sense of openness, curiosity, and flexibility…

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*Elephant/Rider Model: The Happiness Hypothesis, Jonathan Haidt, 2006.