RE: Using ACT in the moment:-)

[Guest guest]

<<<I'm stuck again however and maybe stepped back to quickly. I feel like I need to relearn everything over again.>>> >>>Hi heather, there is no such thing as going back to sqare 1, once u have been exposed to ACT. if nothing the least anyone can get out of act is realziing that what they were doing all these years has not been helpful, hence it's time to do something diff. Other realizition merely from one reading of act, is that control stratergies DON'T work, so try the opp. = let go stratergies. so this is incase u feel like u just blanked out, here s the veeeeery 'basic' to come back too:Hence i say u don't need to learn act all over again, perhaps a refreasher, or like i like to call a 'tune up'. And i say that from my personal experince after having gone trhough Act therapy with joaann last year, then coming back to LA, and facing much racial attacks from the moment i stepped out of the house. then i remeber emailing joaans saying , "joann i am back to squre 1, anxiety is so intense that forget leavin the house, i don't even wanna leave my bedroom anymore". Yes no doubt anxiety was intense and intense enough that it was blocking me from remebing everything that i had learnt, that was already in me now, just needed to come out to the surface. Sometimes a bad experince can do that, make u feel like u have faleen back, some times mere exhaution and and overlwelming lifestyle can do that, i c a little of both in u from what i read. right?<<<So now I let my anxiety levels get back to place where I feel like I'm

not accepting. >>yup..i c here;s one act realization that just popped up:-). U know what to do, and u know what ur not doing. and u know what is resulting from it. u r NOT AT ALL confused about it. :-)U r srtugglign with expanding & accepting ur anxiety right now. So try to brush up on a little of that. which means first let go of all those thoughts about u having gone back to sqaure one, and the struggle starts again etc etc. or better yet, let the thoughts be and just hold them lighly or have them play in the backgroud like bg music in a restaurant while u focus on mindfulness and being in the present moment. when trying to expand and accept the anxiety, don't forget to show compassion towards urself for experainving the pain asssciaoted with the unplesant feelings/thoughts and sensations. tthen c if u can actually take any action needed in that moment where u r able to practicse moving forward with ur hands and legs WITH THE anxiety being present. also don't forget minfulenss exercises. try 'connecing' with breatheing exercise(this is just 1 eg. i am giving) AND DO THEM DAILY, coz u can take a break from the group no doubt, but don't take a break from practsing mindfuless....coz bottom like it's like practsing falling backwards and floating on quicksand. unless u do it several times it won't come to u , when u r put in that situtatuoion. u will do what comes to u as a natural instant, which would be stuggle to pull urself out of the qucik sand...or in the case of anxiey try any way possible to rid/control/change the feeling. And remeber don;t expect to be a pro at falling backward and floating, u will know the skill, but no one can garantee u won't feel the anxiety everytime u havta do it. perhaps level will lessen, perhaps, fluctutate. now apply this same example/ result to anxiety. <<<<How do you remember to use your tools when you need them the most?>>>don't focus too much about "remembering' to remeber. Sorry bad english. But in the sense it is like anxiety about having the anxiety. Ur tools r all there, when u relax, breathe to make room for it, accept it with compaassion and non-judgementallly,then u will be able to LIVE FREELY WITH ANXIETY!....remeber goal is not without;)try doing these things, wtihout getting stuck on the 'exact tools; i need to do. Do what now u alreday know is the best way to do. and take a deep breathe and then start..and u will sooon realize that u r already 'acting according to ACT:-)wasalaam:-)-K Designs."" Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.

That way, when you criticize them, you're already a mile away AND you have their

shoes." ~ a very pious intellectualTo: ACT_for_the_Public From: luv2BEaSAHM@...Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:26:24 +0000Subject: Using ACT in the moment

Hi everyone. I've been MIA on purpose for sometime. I was really getting a handle on ACT and was moving through life. I felt reading the group actively was holding me back though, so I chose to take a quiet step back.

I'm stuck again however and maybe stepped back to quickly. We had a earthquake (although insignificant it still got my OCD going), hurricane, flooding, back to school hecticness. My mind has been going 1000mph with obsessive thinking and anxiety. I know my problem is using my tools in the moment. I'm great at using them when things are not so out of control feeling but it seems when I need my toolbox the most I forget about them. So now I let my anxiety levels get back to place where I feel like I'm not accepting. I feel like I need to relearn everything over again.

How do you remember to use your tools when you need them the most? Is it just from doing it over and over again. Maybe I need to show myself more loving kindness?

I'm not even sure what my main purpose of this email is, it did make me feel better though sharing my feelings.