[beamish]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here, and it already feels a releif to know there's a place I can belong to... thanks.
I've always been anxious when with other people. Feeling as if I need to prove my legitimacy somehow, to prove that I'm worthy of being part of the group. I used to do it using my intellect - trying to be smart and this way legitimize myself to others. This, of course, only made things worse, but it took my many years to realize it (I'm over 40). Now I'm trying just to "be myself" using some mindfulness techniques, as part of the ACT therapy (Acceptance & Committment Therapy). Breathing, listening to my senses, accepting whatever thoughts and emotions pop up without giving them too much weight, and it all works not bad so far. I find myself being more spontanous and manage to get a feeling of belonging without the need to be "intelligent". Yet there's still a lot of work to be done... I'll be glad to get more ideas and also some references to more exercises of mindfulness etc.

Thanks a lot,

Beamish.

[Hunny]

Hello,

I hope you will be able to find and feel some connection communicating here.

ACT Therapy is new to me. Do you actually do this with a Therapist? (you don't have to answer, if you don't want to)

Ice

[beamish]

Originally Posted by IceStatue

Hello,

I hope you will be able to find and feel some connection communicating here.

ACT Therapy is new to me. Do you actually do this with a Therapist? (you don't have to answer, if you don't want to)

Ice

No, I've read some books and went to a lecture of a therapist who is using this technique.

[Hunny]

Hi,

Care to mention what the name of the book is?

[beamish]

Originally Posted by IceStatue

Hi,

Care to mention what the name of the book is?

Hi again,

2 books:

A practical guide to acceptance and commitment therapy / edited by Steven Hayes and Kirk D. Strosahl

Acceptance and commitment therapy : an experiential approach to behavior change / Steven C. Hayes, Kirk D. Strosahl, Kelly G. Wilson

[greter]

I became interested in Mindfulness after reading The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh. His webpage is (oh well, google his name and Plum Village. I can't post links yet) and has lots of mindfulness excercises. He has written a lot of books, and you can usually find them at 2nd hand stores. His stuff is about midfulness from a Zen perspective and not specifically focused on the benefits of mindfulness as part of therapy, but if is teachings from people like him that influenced the rise of midfulness in therapy. He also has a lot of videos (again, I can't post links, but google his name). Jon Kabat-Zinn was one of the first people in western medicine to apply mindfulness to stress reduction and anxiety, developing a program he calls Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)--google his name and MBSR and University of Massachusetts Stress Reduction program for links to his program and his research, and google his name for lots of videos from him about mindfulness.

[beamish]

Originally Posted by greter

I became interested in Mindfulness after reading The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh. His webpage is (oh well, google his name and Plum Village. I can't post links yet) and has lots of mindfulness excercises. He has written a lot of books, and you can usually find them at 2nd hand stores. His stuff is about midfulness from a Zen perspective and not specifically focused on the benefits of mindfulness as part of therapy, but if is teachings from people like him that influenced the rise of midfulness in therapy. He also has a lot of videos (again, I can't post links, but google his name). Jon Kabat-Zinn was one of the first people in western medicine to apply mindfulness to stress reduction and anxiety, developing a program he calls Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)--google his name and MBSR and University of Massachusetts Stress Reduction program for links to his program and his research, and google his name for lots of videos from him about mindfulness.

Thank, I'll do that.