The moral of the story is that suppression of and over-engagement with thoughts as well as acting on thoughts in highly reactive ways can lead to ineffective solutions and greater distress.

Mindfulness of thoughts is different because it offers the possibility of observing thinking without reactivity. We learn that thoughts are just thoughts, and that we don’t need to believe everything we think. The practice involves noticing thoughts, just allowing them to come and go, and returning attention to the breath or to some other focus of attention.