Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

I'm so grateful for the Department of Veterans Affairs. You might be waiting for the punchline, but there isn't one. I'm truly grateful.

I've been in therapy for a while now. The VA has adopted Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as its playbook. If I'm understanding it correctly, mindfulness is a big part of ACT.

I attended my first VA CALM virtual class yesterday morning, which is described as a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) group.

The idea of mindfulness seems ridiculous in its goals and its practices. There's seemingly nothing to the philosophy. It's, as Jerry Seinfeld famously said, "a show about nothing."

The word mindfulness is an oxymoron. The professional mindfulness advocates that I've worked with, including my therapist, seemingly don't want practitioners like myself to use my mind. It's the weirdest thing!

In reality, mindfulness makes so much sense for people like me.

I suffer from debilitating anxiety. I've also been diagnosed with ADHD. I've also been diagnosed with other mental illnesses, including OCPD.

I'm a powder keg of overstimulation and overthinking.

As a result, the reality of "being present" has seemed like an impossibility.

My therapist has been fantastic. He's guided me through some exercises. I'm terrible at mindfulness, and as he says, it's okay.

The woman who led my VA CALM class this morning taught me some pocket practices today, which I hope to start using. The first is called "two feet, one breath," and the other is called the "three Ps". They're stupidly simple, but I have a feeling that they will be good tools if used in an intentional practice.

My therapist also likes to say that "practice makes progress, not perfection," which is a GREAT way to frame mindfulness.

My therapist, too, calls Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Steven C. Hayes "the Bible" of ACT.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.