Day 0

Hi. Welcome to forum!

Make sure you crate a personal journal thread in Reboot Logs section and blog there on a regular basis. As well as just generally be active participant in various forum discussions. I recommend this to everybody new here because it's the major thing that helped me when I was first starting. Just lurking on forums, reading and learning is great. But it usually is so much more powerful to engage. It helps to keep us motivated and accountable when we are active part of community. And keeps this in front of our minds so we don't forget about importance of it and slip away in our old habits. Sharing is also therapeutic. This is a major reason why AA meetings work so good. But that was developed before internet era. These days we can get most of the same benefits online through communities like this. So don't underestimate the power of active participation.

I would also like to suggest you to look into mindfulness meditation. It has helped me personally tremendously to learn how to deal with urges. It takes a while to get good at it and notice results, so you need to be consistent with it, but once you do it's very powerful. It has been used by sages for thousands of years to deal with various issues of the mind. And in recent decades the science is also catching up to what ancient sages have know for centuries. Meditation these days are widely used as very effective tool by psychologists for treating addiction and by neurologists for supporting recovery of the brain. It is a great exercise for the brain the same way as jogging is great exercise for the body. Check out this Ted talk, it gives a good idea of what's it about when it comes to philosophy. As far as practical side of it there is this awesome smartphone app called Headspace for guided meditations to get you started.

Wish you lot's of strength and success in your reboot journey!

 

Hi @Sovereign Mind and welcome to NoFap. You're in the right place, my friend. As someone with an unfortunately intimate relationship with generalized anxiety disorder, I understand what you're talking about. I'm glad you're here and I'm glad I read your post. I'm sorry to hear about your friend.

Look back at that month of success you had and remember the good feelings. Let that be your motivation for this reboot. You have the desire to really kick this addiction and I believe that you can. You survived that miserable anxiety; honestly, it's one of the worst things I've ever experienced. Making it through that shows me that you're a champion. You can and will beat pmo addiction.

Here are some things that helped me:

There are a lot of good resources here. There is the List of Resources found here: https://www.nofap.com/forum/index.php?threads/new-users-list-of-rebooting-resources.50878/

There are also groups you can join with likeminded men.

Three things I found extremely valuable are:
-getting an accountability partner; that forum is here: https://www.nofap.com/forum/index.php?forums/accountability-partners.7/

-starting a journal and writing in it daily. You'll find that section under Reboot Logs. I would also suggest reading others' journals and other posts.

-interact with the guys here. You will find an amazing community of supportive, motivating guys all on the same journey as you are.

You don't have to do this alone. We're all in this together, and together we are stronger. Feel free to message me if you want to talk or have questions. And, if you're comfortable doing so, please keep me posted on your progress.

Welcome to NoFap, my friend! I'm proud of you for joining and glad you're here.

All my best,
Jay

 

There are quite a few methods of meditation, some are sitting ones where you have eyes closed and some are mowing ones where you try to keep yourself mindful of what you are doing. I meditate while stretching and jogging, so yes you can meditate while painting too. The key is to remain mindful of all your body movements, strokes on canvas, smell of colors and so on. Do not daydream. If you need to actively engage into thought for practical purposes, such as visualization, then be mindful of it and do not get lost in it.

So yea, you can do it. It is more advanced technique however so I would recommend also doing sitting meditation for a while, just to help yourself started.

 

You’re very welcome, @Sovereign Mind I’m glad to meet you. I’m happy you found the links helpful. I’m more than happy to answer your question about anxiety. I will send you a private message.