Why Is It Hard To See Our Good Qualities
Our fundamental nature is good, yes. But most of the time, we are tossed on waves of desire, craving, anger, pride, ignorance, and jealousy. Ive got to get a better apartment. Im desperate for cash. My boss doesnt see that I do his job better than he does. I have no idea how to fix this relationship. My best friend always has someone, and Im still single its not fair!
In Buddhism, these powerful emotions are referred to as the five defilements or the five poisons. They influence our behavior, creating untold suffering: problems in our relationships, depression, panic, lack of self-love, physical disease, and problems for the environment, too.
Addiction Recovery: Readings For Positive Results
Addiction recovery and withdrawal can be challenging, and professionals recommend using meditation and mantras to deal with issues effectively.
Mantras and daily meditations can slowly equip you with the right tools to effectively combat any urges and deal with recovery.
Mantras, meditation, and affirmations can help keep the negative thoughts away and anchor the mind in focus. These mantras often include an affirmation of believing in yourself, your recovery, your new path, freedom from addiction, and embracing the sobriety. These mantras help you embrace the latest chapter of your life and also equip you with self-control against addiction.
Mantras and meditation can help deal with addictions without having to rely on foreign chemical-based medications. Today, you will learn what mantras can help you deal with your addiction and help you emerge victorious from the other end of the tunnel. Moreover, you will also learn how to adhere to these mantras daily.
When Should You Do It
When starting, try meditation first thing in the morning or at midday as opposed to the end of the day where you can fall asleep because you are tired. Sit in a quiet place where you feel you can find yourself at peace, try a position with your back straight to avoid sleepiness . For me, the best place I could find was sitting under a tree after my group meetings.
If there is a special time during the day in which you feel you will have fewer distractions, then choose that time, just try to make sure is not your sleepy time.
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Be Aware Of Yourself: Its All About You
Dont try to stop thoughts coming in to disrupt you, just sit quietly and let go of your worries. Dont try to block anything, just be. What does this mean? It means that you shouldnt start by sitting down and expecting a specific outcome from meditation. Be aware of your thoughts, your body, your surroundings. Sometimes focusing on your breathing, your body, or the sound of nature around you is all that is needed. Enjoy the moment.
I Am Not Alone In This Battle
The fear of isolation often drives people towards self-destructive tendencies, such as addictions. Therefore, you need to re-affirm that you are surrounded by the ones you love and those who love you. You are not alone in this battle, and this mantra will help you see how much others can help you during recovery.
You need to recite, I am not alone in this battle, and others love me. This will help you understand that you have others who care about you and will be with you through thick and thin.
Isolation, and the thought of it, will easily contribute to negative behavior. Remember that you can always rely on your:
- Relatives
- Acquaintances
- Mentors
You need to continually remind yourself that these people will always be there to support you during these tough times, and they will do everything in their power to refrain from making a bad decision.
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I Matter And I Deserve To Be Happy
When addicts begin to underestimate their value and start perceiving themselves as undeserving individuals, they tend to spiral downwards into a self-destructive path. However, self-affirmations and mantras can help deal with self-pity and low self-esteem.
An addict can use the mantra, I matter, and I deserve to be loved, cherished, and happy. Reciting this mantra can help shun away all the bad thoughts, and boost self-esteem and confidence. Once you have understood your importance, you will no longer have to justify your existence with the help of an addiction.
Finding Your Mindful Presence
When youre feeling out of yourself, try this brief meditation to give yourself permission to pause. We all experience a moment when we feel out of ourselves. Almost as if we could see ourselves doing something from afar, like in a movie, where were the leading role. This meditation can help you pause for a second and arrive in the present to help you recognize the life thats in front of you.
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Use Of Meditation In Drug Rehabilitation Programs
. University of California Berkeley. . What is Mindfulness?
. Manheimer, E., Anderson, B. J., & Stein, M. D. . Use And Assessment Of Complementary And Alternative Therapies By Intravenous Drug Users. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse,29, 401-413. doi:10.1081/ada-120020522
. Pruett, J. M., Nishimura, N. J., & Priest, R. . The Role of Meditation in Addiction Recovery. Counseling and Values,52, 71-84. doi:10.1002/j.2161-007x.2007.tb00088.x
. Carlson, B. E., & Larkin, H. . Meditation as a Coping Intervention for Treatment of Addiction. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought,28, 379-392. doi:10.1080/15426430903263260
. Zgierska, A., Rabago, D., Zuelsdorff, M., Coe, C., Miller, M., & Fleming, M. . Mindfulness Meditation for Alcohol Relapse Prevention: A Feasibility Pilot Study. Journal of Addiction Medicine,2, 165-173. doi:10.1097/adm.0b013e31816f8546
. Khanna, S., & Greeson, J. M. . A narrative review of yoga and mindfulness as complementary therapies for addiction. Complementary Therapies in Medicine,21, 244-252. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2013.01.008
. Davidson, R. J., Kabat-Zinn, J., Schumacher, J., Rosenkranz, M., Muller, D., Santorelli, S. F., Sheridan, J. F. . Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine,65, 564-570. doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000077505.67574.e3
Daily Meditation From Voices Of Recovery
We may work a Fourth Step again when we have new challenges to face or when we need to examine ourselves more closely.
Sex Addicts Anonymous, page 37
After some years in recovery, I began another Fourth Step inventory by making a list of people Id known in my life. Looking through old photo albums and journals, I saw my past through new eyes. I saw behaviors and thought patterns indicating sex addiction and intimacy avoidance throughout my life.
It was clear I had problems back then. However, nobody could have known the exact nature of my illness. Understanding of the problem and its solution were still being developed by the pioneers of this fellowship.
Like a person diagnosed with a learning disability later in life, I now look back on my life with dawning understanding. I had a disease! As I see my past self more clearly, my compassion grows. This compassion is most evident as I continue to discover past wrongs that require amends. I can now look on that broken child of God, not with shame and revulsion but with compassion as I take responsibility for my life.
I did not ask to be sick. I was doing the best I could with what I had. However, I have now been blessed with tools like a Higher Power of my understanding, the Steps, Traditions, and slogans. With the support of fellow recovering addicts, I dont have to remain stuck in the past.
No longer bound by it, I can view my past with acceptance, love, and compassion.
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How Guided Meditations Bring A Sense Of Peace To The Recovery Journey December 9 2019 By Renewal Lodge Inaddiction Treatment Recovery
Guided meditation is one way people can experience peace in rehab and recovery. Many people use meditation to cultivate inner peace, awareness, and to quiet their busy minds. It is an effective way to decompress from the daily stress and struggle of life. However, for people in recovery from addiction, it has another goal in mind. That goal is to help people in recovery feel more connected to themselves, in their body, and able to lean more into their treatment than without meditation.
What is Guided Meditation About
People turn to meditation for all kinds of reasons in recovery. In rehab, it may be a way to clear the mind, experience positive feelings, and work towards healing. Guided meditation is a specific form of meditation that requires an instructor or someone to guide the journey. People often experience guided meditation with imagery, affirmations, or some type of storytelling focused on helping the individual walk through experience. The goal is to provide an imagined scene to explore. Take, perhaps, a place of peace like the beach. From there, they allow that person in the experience with them to draw from within to provide the rest of the imagery so they dont plant ideas in their minds. This allows them to shift focus and create a positive experience in a safe space, even though it is imagined.
Basics of Guided Meditation
Why it Works
Additional Benefits
Day By Day Second Edition
Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts
Softcover, 384 pp.
Day by Day second edition
A collection of Hazelden Meditations written by people in recovery from opioid addiction for people looking for a daily reader designed to support their sobriety.
During more than 40 years, more than a million people have relied on Day by Day as an essential source of inspiration, spirituality, and mindfulness for their ongoing health and wellness. Reinforcing the Twelve Step principles of Narcotics Anonymous, each thought of the day in this classic collection fosters the coping skills, insights, and spiritual growth that have helped people around the world find freedom from drug dependency and addiction.
- Available as an ebook that can be purchased from your favorite ebook retailer.
- Mobile app Apple
Originally written for people recovering from alcoholism and other addictions, this classic meditation appeals to anyone interested in personal and spiritual growth.
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Daily Meditations To Try In Addiction Recovery
The early days of addiction recovery can be frightening, senseless, and intimidating. Suddenly, most people find themselves without the structure and ongoing support they had during treatment. Even with the skills needed to maintain their recovery efforts, many do relapse. One thing to help you stay on track are daily meditations. Short, five-minute sessions at any point throughout the day can help you stay focused and balanced. Here are five recovery daily meditations to try in addiction recovery.
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How Can Meditation Help Enhance Mantras
Deepak Chopra, the famous spiritual guru, spoke on Oprah Show and offered meditation tips that can boost the overall impact of mantras and help you obtain favorable results during recovery. According to him, you should:
- Sit quietly in an empty room.
- Take deep breaths.
- Clear your head and picture your addictions.
- Let the pain sink in and try to push it away.
- Take a few more breaths and clear your head.
- Allow the pain to sink in again and recite the mantras that you want.
- Perform this meditation exercise every day and feel the negative thoughts leaving your body.
I Must Reveal It To Heal It
Facing your problems head-on is the first step towards overcoming them. This is precisely why you need to face your addictions and demons and strengthen yourself to deal with your shortcomings positively.
Therefore, you need to recite the mantra, I will no longer suffer from my addictions. This will not only help you state your addictions out loud and confront them, but it will also give you the courage to say no to these addictions in the future.
You need to:
- Find some space every morning.
- Let the natural light shine brightly on you.
- Recite this mantra slowly.
- Let yourself hear your addiction over and over again.
You need to let yourself be open about your additions and reveal them to heal them. This mantra will help you get through the harsh withdrawal period and addiction recovery.
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What Is The Best Way To Meditate
There isnt a set in stone way to meditate, there are several meditation techniques you can try until you find the one that fits you the best. Repeating a mantra, prayer or statement may help to avoid distractions. Whenever I was in a place where there were no trees available, I tried listening to the I tried listening to the sound of rain, to me, it was relaxing. There are plenty of audios on YouTube that you can use if you cant find a quiet place.
Remember, meditation and its benefits will come at their own pace, dont resist your thoughts or feelings, let them flow in, and focus on that. Sometimes we need to understand the thoughts that creep in. Lets just make sure we focus on one thing.
The Benefits Of Meditation In Addiction Recovery
In a certain way meditation and addiction are opposites: meditation is checking in with the here and now, while addiction is checking out of the here and now. By giving them more control over their emotions and insight into themselves, meditation can be a powerful tool for addicts at all stages of recovery. Theres plenty of evidence that meditation plays a number of remarkable roles in helping heal addictions.
Healthy Choices
Meditation teaches how to make choices. As cravings continue to arise, especially in early recovery, individuals can observe their thoughts and desires without having to act on them. Recovering addicts learn that they are not responsible for their thoughts, but they are responsible for how they react to those thoughts. Through meditation they can acknowledge their addictive thoughts without trying to push them away, yet choose the path of recovery.
The mental clarity that comes from the practice of meditation makes it easier for addicts to make healthy choices that support their recovery.
Emotional Balance
People in early recovery typically experience mood swings, described by some as an emotional rollercoaster. By training the mind to focus on one thinga sound, word, or breathat a time, meditation helps recovering addicts maintain a degree of emotional balance.
Relapse Prevention
Mindfulness also opens doors to creativity, which often leads to greater enjoyment of life.
Stress Relief
Relationships
Meditation and 12-Step Recovery
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Yoga: The Other Important Tool In Recovery
Yoga poses can also help you deal with stress, and bring a sense of balance into your daily life. The word Yoga means to unite, and can strengthen the connection between your mind, body, and spirit. As covered above, this unity is often disconnected when individuals first enter recovery because addiction tends to numb thoughts, feelings, and mind-body awareness.
Now, as a spiritual and physical practice, yoga can also help increase strength and improve flexibility. Like meditation, yoga can also help reduce the stress response, which helps lower your heart rate and blood pressure, reduce cortisol levels and feelings of depression and anxiety.
Now, there are yoga practitioners in the media all the time, who are able to twist their bodies into incredible postures and demonstrate remarkable flexibility. Its important to understand that this isnt necessary to receive the benefits of yoga poses, and this kind of flexibility is the result of several years of consistent daily practice.
You can experience the mind-body benefits of yoga immediately, as you practice the postures. Lets take a quick look at the benefits youll receive from some basic poses :
Finding Help In Addiction Recovery
Daily meditations like this one are paramount to maintain a healthy recovery journey. Even still, support is vital for long-term addiction recovery. If you or someone you know is struggling with recovery, dont hesitate to reach out. At Lighthouse Recovery Institute, our aftercare recovery programs offer a sense of structure, fellowship, and community that can give you the support you need in early recovery. More than addiction relapse prevention, we offer a sense of community and family that helps you in your recovery journey.
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Prayer And Meditation In Addiction Recovery
Summary
In the Twelve Step way of life, three of the Steps call for prayer and one calls for meditation. After defining prayer, the author discusses various types of prayer, lists common formal prayers used in Twelve Step meetings, and discusses how God gets back to the individual who prays. He then discusses the two major types of meditation, reflection and centering, and provides clinical implications.
Doesnt That Just Prove Im Bad
Nope! Not at all. It just proves that were only familiar with these poisons. Our minds grab these five defilements and stick with them. Thats because we dont know how to access the deeper, more profound levels of our consciousness. Your mind is like a lake of pristine water. There are ripples and waves on the surface, but beneath that, the water remains pure. The real quality of mind is pure and pristine: it has awareness, genuine love, and compassion. The poisons, the negative emotions, exist only on the surface. This is the Buddhist way to view your true nature: seeing wisdom within the defilements.
You are not the limited person you think you are. Any trained Buddhist teacher can tell you with all the conviction of personal experience that, really, youre the very heart of compassion, completely aware, and fully capable of achieving the greatest good, not only for yourself, but for everyone and everything that you can imagine.
Mingyur Rinpoche
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