Watching your thoughts

Watching your thoughts instead of being rapt up with them could be a way to reduce stress. To me what it means is to be able to observe your thoughts like you may observe your breathing when meditating. When I first was learning ACT (Acceptance and Commitment therapy) One technique that was described was to tell yourself I am having the thought that…”. This would be the way to do it in the purest way to observe your thoughts. There are plenty of other techniques that you can use to achieve distance from your thinking.
It might also be helpful to step back from neutral and positive are real important to help you in your journey of stepping back from thoughts.