What makes us happy? What gives us joy? What brings real comfort? How do we find peace? Most of us could have easily answered those questions at age three or four or five. But when was the last time we even stopped to consider them?
One of the soul-stripping effects of any addiction is the way it rewires our brain’s reward center. That’s why so many people in recovery talk about rediscovering the joy of simple pleasures and the exhilaration of natural highs. They start paying attention to their energy levels and listening to their bodies. They start looking for things they can do each and every day to lift their spirits, things that not only feel good but are good for the body and mind and emotions and heart and soul. Meditation is one of those things that helps me rediscover my joy in sobriety.
Yesterday I did a guided loving kindness meditation. The first thing I was instructed to do was to picture my 5-year-old self in front of me and give her my love. I burst into tears immediately!! I wasn’t expecting that. And I found it hard. I felt so sad for her. Then I had to imagine someone close to give love to and I chose my son. I cried again. I felt so guilty.
There have been a few things that have come up since I stopped drinking and Finally, I am slowly learning how to unpick them, face them, smooth them, forgive them, move through them. I am learning to Grow!!!
Doing Yoga and meditation regularly is one of the ways that I have learned to mother myself in sobriety.
The whole point of this meditation in sobriety business is to create more consciousness. Awareness. Stillness.
Improved emotional regulation with meditation is a proven scientific fact. The part of your brain responsible for emotional regulation, grows with meditation practice. It physically expands.And with this expansion comes the theory of synchronicity too. The support of nature. In enlightenment you are at one with those laws of nature, so it’s like Mother Nature smiles at you. You start seeing a bigger picture; you start appreciating life and people more and more. And you are enjoying life more as you go. The richness of existence.
I make an effort to stay connected and “be with”. One way I do this is to keep doing my practice. For me, meditation is an important part of that.
Yesterday I sat with one of Tara Brach’s guided RAIN meditations for difficult emotions. That helped me a lot.
During the day, I follow Brooke’s suggestion about getting in touch with what Future Self would be thinking, doing, or choosing. Especially when I’m struggling, flailing, losing steam—when my balloon of motivation is deflating. When, like Sam Lamott, I don’t feel like getting out of bed for an early meditation, working out, hitting the yoga mat, or passing up that sugary treat. Along the path to solid sobriety, we all know the defeating thought will usually be, “I really want a drink right now.”
We train our brain to want what it wants—our cravings and even our addictions do not define us. They are not WHO WE ARE.
The posts above were shared by members of our BOOM community concerning their unique experiences with meditation in sobriety.
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Don’t let the shame of the stigma keep you from saying
“I think I have a problem with drinking”
How do you go Sober? ( more reading in blue titles)
B Be accountable Talk to Us We Understand
A Avoid alcohol like the plague Ideas Here
L Let yourself enjoy regular sober treats Ideas Here
A Allow yourself to cry when needed Ideas Here
N Nourish your body with good food Ideas Here
C Create happy & fun memories Ideas Here
E Enjoy the precious moments in your day Ideas Here
W Work hard to get what you want Ideas Here
O Organise things for less stress Ideas Here
R Realise you can’t control it all Ideas Here
K Keep going & prepare for success Ideas Here
S Sleep enough for body & mind rest Sleep
We are an independent, anonymous and private community who share resources, support and talk it through every day. Most of us are not scientists or psychologists or members of the medical profession. We are also not professional sobriety coaches. We are simply sharing our varied experience of recovery and what worked for each of us in the hopes that it may help others.
