Breathe!

Breathing with awareness is another strong tool to create gaps between thought.
The Buddha called breath meditation "the lion" of all meditation techniques.
Instead of our own thoughts we observe our own breath.
First the coarse form: the rising and falling of the chest and tummy.
Then ever more subtle: the stream of air up and down our body.
After some practice the touch of the air to the nostrils is enough...
When our attention is on the breath the stream of thoughts stops as we cannot be fully aware of the breath and think at the same time.
We have now established that we can think only one thought at the time. Thank heavens our thinking is not layered (as we often think). It is linear. It may be chaotic, but it is linear all the same. Thus our layer of random thought, the chatterbox in our head, is only skin deep and, contrary to popular belief, it is easy to discipline.
Breathing can be seen as the first tool of disciplining the mind. It can be compared to the symbolic stick a trainer uses with a puppy (not to hit, but to lead) or the whip (again not to hit or beat, but to lead) with the young horse.
With gentleness and breathing we can eventually somewhat control our stream of thoughts. But just as with the horse or the puppy we never gain full control as that would be the equivalent of death.
We want our mind to be happy and curious like a puppy or a young horse. But when in danger; in rage or fear, we want to be able to pull it back and force it to stop its' foolish ranting.
When the mind is free it is a pleasure to observe her. She is alert and playful, full of good ideas and energy.

Lion Buddha by Susannah Israel, 16″ x 12, “Ceramic