in some ways I guess the bar to practise the actualism method (enjoying and appreciating this moment of being alive), is somewhat high for someone who is not accustomed to feeling happy. To say nothing about someone who might suffer from depression, trauma or anxiety. So yes, it might be that you need to do some other things to get you to a point where you can deploy it effectively. Its a vast, complex area and quite individual so I wouldn’t want to advise.
But maybe you ( or anyone starting off really) could build up the actualism method very slowly and scaffold the process a bit. For example when I first started out I just gave myself the task of feeling good for short amounts of time - saw a few minutes. Feeling good mind you, not quite ‘enjoying and appreciating this moment’ - the actualism method lite
Then I patted myself on the back for attaining that goal. I was such a miserable sod, that I was astounded when I first felt good for a whole hour
I was like ‘man, this is the best!!’. Baby steps. A lot of back patting.
There was a lot of misfiring and misunderstanding in the early days. Plenty of dissociation and ASC type experiences. It was hardly a smooth, linear path.
Eventually it got to a point when I could remember several times during a day when I felt good. Then it reached this point where I could count on one hand how many times I felt bad. And so on.
Some days, I would focus more on investigation. Other days I would work on coverage e.g. trying to keep the actualism method going as long as I could without being too OCD about it.
In this way you could build your own individual programme. The goal should be doing it in a way where you are your best friend, you have fun and don’t make it too hard for yourself from the get go.
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