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Every practice in the library, in one list. Narrow it by how long you have, who it is written for, and where you are right now.
What you are doing when you sit on the bank has a name. Researchers call it metacognitive distancing, and it has been studied for decades.
Knowing the name matters more than it should. Plenty of people, and especially people who were sent to get help rather than choosing it, quietly file…
The river is a way of talking, not a scene to imagine. You are not trying to see water, you are looking inward and noticing what turns up.
This is the most common way the practice goes wrong. People build a lovely picture of a stream, get bored of it, and decide the exercise does nothing…
If a river on a summer afternoon does nothing for you, use something plainer. Counting the traffic from a porch, or standing outside a shop counting how many people walk past, does the same job.
Metaphors are personal and there is no prize for liking the poetic one. Some people take to it straight away when it is a road and a stopwatch…
Run it for about ninety seconds, stop, and see how that was. Short and repeated beats one long sit, especially if sitting still is not your strong point.
A minute and a half is short enough that a restless or reluctant person will agree to it, and long enough for something to happen worth talking…
Looking for a whole subject rather than a single practice? Start from the nine areas.