Stress Center Peer Support

One of the things that has been helpful to me was something that resonated with me when I read Tolle's book A New Earth. Much of the book is hard to digest, hard to incorporate, I found. But the one thing that sticks is the idea of not taking your thoughts seriously, just casually observing them as they pass through your mind without analyzing them. Does that work for anyone else?

Hi Elaine,
It's like the idea of floating through and letting time pass. It does work. But unfortunately when you're in the grip of panic and anxiety, it's sometimes difficult to wrap your mind around the concept. But it will come to you in time. Just be patient and above all...breathe.
Before I found this program, I used the book Hope and Help for your Nerves by Dr. Claire Weekes. She was a pioneer in the field of anxiety and panic disorder in the 60's and 70's. I think much of this program follows her research. I've found many parallels.
I was always a serious child and didn't learn to laugh at myself until adulthood, I still stuggle with this, but I have a great husband who has a very disarming sense of humor. I now try to find the laughter in most everything, this helps alot.
When you start to over analyze, stop, close your eyes and think of something that makes you laugh or makes you happy.

It's beginning to work that way for me. It's taken a while to get to that point though. Not every thought I have is that easy to let pass through.

I think this is also one of the ideas Buddhists incorporate, if i'm not mistaken....that's how you meditate! It's a very good thing...not QUITE there yet but i'm on my way!

I'm not there yet, either. I went to a Yoga class yesterday, and felt anxious throughout, was unable to not be preoccupied with whether I was doing the poses correctly, and could not quite do the relaxation exercises at the end. I am working on thankfulness now, and that does seem to help. Thank you all.