A detached mindfulness technique for stepping back from thoughts without fighting them.
Unhook is not about clearing your mind. It is about changing your relationship with thoughts. Noticing them without following them. When you are hooked, a thought pulls you in and you find yourself caught in a spiral of analysis about your own thinking. Unhook helps you let that thought pass.
How to use it
1
Notice you are hooked
Catch the moment you realise you are caught in a thought or worry spiral. This awareness is the first step. You cannot unhook until you know that you are hooked.
2
Do not engage
Resist the urge to analyse, question, or problem-solve the thought. You do not need to push it away either. Simply choose not to engage with it.
3
Observe from a distance
Imagine the thought is sitting on a cloud passing through the sky, or resting on a leaf floating down a stream. Your thought is on that leaf or on that cloud. You are watching from the bank, not in the water. You are not controlling the leaf. You are simply watching it go.
4
Allow it to be there
Let the thought exist without doing anything with it. It does not need a response. It will pass on its own when you stop feeding it attention.
5
Return your attention outward
Gently bring your awareness back to what is happening around you: sounds, sensations, the task in front of you. This is the unhook.
Unlike suppression, Unhook does not try to stop thoughts from appearing. The goal is to stop giving them the ongoing attention that keeps worry loops running.
This is a placeholder page. Content will be updated as the program develops. If you have questions or are unsure how to use this tool, email michelle@michellerdavey.com.au and Michelle will help you.