As much as this forum might have some stuff in it which from an actualism point-of-view is a bit on the “wrong” side, I think it‘s great that people are talking about their own issues and kind of putting it all out there. It is only by doing so that more experienced people, actually free people etc can help, contribute, weigh in.
Firstly, I could not agree more with agree more with @Srinath that there is an element to actualism which is tricky. I have tried nonstop for a year and a half and it has only now started yielding “stable” results (totally worth it by the way). It might sound like the most obvious thing in the world to enjoy and appreciate, but it isn‘t that easy to apply it for a feeling-being programmed to do anything but (and with daily life circumstances which don‘t exactly support that either). Even now, where I am having these intermittent periods of 15 mins here and thrtr which are full of wonder and enjoyment, it is still tricky for me to work out how to prolong these periods or reinitiate them when they come to an end. But this is nothing compared how difficult it was when I first started actualism, completely burnt out and with major chronic stress issues. Try getting back to feeling good when you live at the extreme end of feeling bad!
This is why I recommend a balanced approach for those who find themselves starting out in a worse state than the average person. Actualism is all about wellbeing, and I don‘t think there is anything wrong with doing other things which promote wellbeing. There is a risk that people who are already somewhat “messed up” then go all hardcore trying to make PCEs happen without knowing when they are going wrong, and by so doing, get themselves in all sorts of trouble. I think all or most actually free people have had panic attacks or dissociative ASCs and such along the way - and for a person whose sympathetic nervous system is constantly activated, this would not help one feel better, obviously.
Personally, I did go hardcore. I turned down SSRIs twice, I went for PCE walks despite feelings of dread/exhaustion, I followed what I perceived to be rules of successful actualism (like giving up exercise because Richard stated it distracts from the stressor within etc). On top of that I was trying to set up an entirely new career having moved back to Australia whilst corona was happening etc - there was a lot going on. Anyway, I would say my approach was misguided, and not many people would persevere through it as I did, hence my offering this advice. That being said, there were enough experiences in that period which showed me a window to the actual world and which kept me going, so I don‘t necessarily regret my approach even though it was at times painful. For other people, I would wish things to be a bit easier if they can be…
So when I talk about supplementary activities to actualism, I mean stuff like leaving your phone at home and going to the park for a few hours, spending time with family or friends or pets, doing fun stuff like going to the zoo which will get you looking at the world, taking time off from work, having a holiday away, doing yoga or some form of relaxing physical exercise, picking up hobbies like cooking or building lego etc etc. I wasn‘t meaning opening up the whole pandoras box of stuff which people use to try and deal with the human condition whether icebaths, vipassana, homeopathy, self-diagnosing trauma and running marathons (this list is not a comment on anything people have mentioned here btw).
I would also be careful about diagnosing stuff. Giving yourself a named illness, which might be reinforced by a therapist or something, might not necessarily help - it is easy to turn that into an identity thing. A friend who is a psychologist said he thought I had burn out, and so that‘s what I have called it - but I was wary about turning this into some kind of label where I was going to then try to fix some obscure illness called X, rather than just…fix the fact I felt bad.
If you are feeling bad often, or in a totally exhausted/fucked up state, I would suggest trying to remember a time in your life when you felt really well. What was your life like then, compared to now? What are you doing now, that you weren´t doing then, to contribute to feeling bad? What lifestyle changes can you make now, to get yourself closer to feeling good like you used to? This is almost like “tracing back to when you last felt good” but on a long-term scale.
Doing this, I realised firstly I was trying to get away from feeling bad using promiscuous sex and sexting - feeling aroused all the time gave me the “energy” I had to get through life. Underneath I was absolutely exhausted, but with a fulltime job and never being able to resolve this exhaustion, I was using this drug called sex to distract myself (admittedly fairly common in the gay community). Which only made things 1000 times worse of course, because sex drive was now in control - keeping me up till 3am finding a partner online, pumping myself full of chemicals including adrenalin and generally causing havoc. Hardly the way to rest and relaxation
Secondly, I realised how little I was enjoying daily life. I was making actualism “rules” for myself, like not catching up with people, not wanting to use socialising as a form of enjoyment etc - going all Richard-imitative with it. Imitating an actually free person, whilst not being one.
Thirdly, I realised having a full-time job and only 4 weeks off a year is not an easy system to be a part of when one is exhausted. When I was a kid we used to have long summer holidays to recover from the school year. As an adult you are supposed to power through, and if you get anxious or depressed, they prescribe you medication. I looked for a career pathway that would enable me to get out of this (which is in digital, like many of us) as well as any opportunities I could to take a decent holiday, which I will be doing soon, as well as work hours which are flexible. Obviously there are feelings to look at here too (the resentment for having to work), but positive lifestyle changes are absolutely compatible with actualism and there is absolutely no reason to avoid them.
So that’s what I mean by doing stuff to support (not replace) one’s application of the actualism method. These days I am sleeping 8-9 hours a night, having proper REM sleep, I have appetite, my nervous system is settled (there is still the occasional trigger), I drink decaf lol, I look healthy according to friends and family. I go out, do stuff, have fun, explore the natural world. All of this really helps with actualism, which is probably why these wondrous experiences are happening occasionally. But even without those, the effort and perspicacity required to get oneself from feeling bad to feeling pretty good (for a feeling being) is really worth it. It facilitates discovery and experience of the actual world. The great thing is as well, there is a whole forum of people who can help support each other in it.