Hello all! I’m from Steveston BC which is very close to Vancouver on the west coast of Canada. A friend recommended this site to me and given my recent unexpected and unwelcome encounters with anxiety, I thought I‘d jump into the Mastering Monsters course to see if I could find some new tools that may help me deal with this bothersome state of mind.
I enjoy following the guidance of Echkart Tolle and Michael Singer and though I believe whole heartedly with their views on being present and accepting each moment as it arises, sometimes their recommended techniques just don’t seem to be enough to keep the seeds of discouragement planted by anxiety from growing into unwanted plants in my garden of calm and gratitude.
Hello Erin. Sorry for slow response - I have been moving house! I’m so glad you’ve joined the course. And yes, the intersection of the Now with the patterns of the past is one of the most interesting aspects of the path through anxiety. I found that simply resting in the present was not so useful/easy when my anxiety was high. Working with the body’s immediate patterns helped and also slowly bring some awareness to the half-submerged beliefs and trigger thoughts deposited in the past allowed me to free up the space for Presence to emerge naturally. This is why I think the marriage of therapy and meditation is a fruitful one! All best, Alistair