Techniques for ridding yourself, bypassing, or avoiding unwanted intrusive thoughts are attempts at control. The problem is that attempts to control are prime examples of paradoxical effort and are guaranteed to increase entanglement. Trying to control the thoughts is entirely the wrong attitude. It ignores the fact that the thoughts are meaningless and harmless, and don’t require controlling. The attempt to control them reinforces the wrong message. It is an example of paradoxical effort: it works backward. It suggests urgency, importance, and danger, when none exists.
