Showing posts with label sobriety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sobriety. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
A New Look at Recovering from Alcohol and Drug Addiction
A New Way
What if the way we’ve been dealing with addiction has some holes or even many holes? What if the old way we have been doing things can be improved or even changed?
In order to seek a new way of healing we need to look at recovery through different eyes and with a holistic view. First we need to identify the person as a unique, authentic, energetic, light being who has strayed off course from who she really is – her true self.
To take this holistic view we need to look at:
-Diet
-7 Principles of Health
-Eliminating toxic residues of addiction through detoxing
-Rebalancing the energy systems
-Relapse Prevention Strategies
-Finding passion
Eliminating toxic residues of alcohol and drugs is also an important part of recovery. This is vital and can be improved upon by changing the way we view detoxing alcohol and drugs. We should take the concept of detoxing further as even months and even years later the memory of the substance and its effects are still held in the cells. Hence how many times have you heard someone relapse many years later!
When I worked with people who were striving to overcome alcohol and or drug addiction I often heard the same familiar story of the person who would bust and have no answer to why they did it. They would start out the day with no intention of busting or they would be walking down the road and out of nowhere they would have a compelling urge to have a drink that they felt powerless over. You’ve got to ask why? Could it be the old toxic memories are still on line?
While setting the goal to excrete all memory of the addiction from the cells in the body also helps clear the mind. This can be achieved through energy detoxing (EFT), steam baths, saunas, magnesium baths, colon cleansing and bentonite clay baths.
What if emphasis was also on plenty of raw fruit and vegetables. Green Smoothies are a brilliant way to get raw, whole foods in the system to replenish the body and build the body to strength again.
Nuts are also important and should be included as a regular part of the diet everyday to provide essential brain nutrition to boost brain power to optimum levels.
Water is not emphasised enough when treating alcohol and drug addiction. Three to four litres a day should be the recommended amount to drink that can assist in the removal of toxins and hydrating the body as you can bet the addict in early recovery is seriously dehydrated which can also make recovery difficult. And why make healing more difficult than what it needs to be?
Since we are energy and light beings, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is also another powerful tool to aid in energy detoxing that can assist in peeling away the layers of negative emotions which keeps the addict bound thus leading to more harmony.
Recovery is Possible
It goes without saying that people do start to feel good when they start eating better and taking part in authentic approaches. These can be done from home (not everyone can get to a long term treatment centre for many reasons) along with a support person and can have a dramatic effect in recovery. The key to long term recovery is to focus on replacing the artificial effects of feeling good through alcohol and drugs to a more authentic approach which brings out the true self; the self who is so much more than the labels ‘alcoholic, drug addict, junkie’.
The authentic self and feeling good is in truth what is craved for and the drug is the external means in which it has been artificially provided. When approaching recovery in a new holistic way can lead to purpose and meaning that brings about peace, joy and harmony that is everyone’s birthright. When we know where or how to find this is when long term recovery takes place.
http://www.authenticdiscovery.com.au/latest-news/recovery-from-addictions
Monday, September 28, 2009
A Year in Alanon
I committed to attend 6 months worth of Alanon meetings while I was at Family Week at Betty Ford. I committed to myself that I would go for a year.
I do not think I will continue to go back on a weekly basis, as it seems time is short now that I am a single working mother. But I haven't ruled it out on an as-needed basis.
The literature in particular has been very helpful to me. Several of the slogans are also great.
"Life on life's terms."
"Take what you like - leave the rest!"
"Life is a package deal."
"The three C's: You didn't cause it, you can't cure it, you can't control it."
What I think was the most helpful to me was attending week after week and seeing patterns. It seems both the alcoholic (sober or not) and the co-dependent have marked personality traits.
I saw the same people come to the meeting week after week. Some people got better, and others did not. Many people cried or complained every week about the same thing. The one thing I really noticed is while, recovery for the co-dependent is mostly about the co-dependent getting better, people who stayed in relationship with the alcoholic never seemed to get all that better. The same frustrations kept surfacing, even though they perhaps had better tools to deal with them.
It's easy to say just leave the alcoholic in your life. This is probably easier when it is your spouse, than when the addict is your parent or your child. But honestly, I did not see as much recovery for people who chose to stay with the alcoholic, sober or not. I saw a lot of recovery from the people who chose to leave.
I saw a lot of generational abuse of alcohol and drugs. My own thoughts after listening to a lot of this is that children model the behavior of their parents. I did see some interesting research about genetics while I was at Betty Ford. But overall, after being around this for the last 7-8 years with my husband and being at Alanon meetings, I have to say that I think that this is learned behavior, mostly.
The saddest thing I saw was people who had children who were addicts. Sadder still were people who had lost these children. I did not see anyone fully recover from that. That is one reason I really firmed my resolve for my own children. I know this is a touchy subject, but I do believe there are things you can do that at least help your children become less at risk for this "disease." I'd like to research that more fully. But I do think I heard a lot of people talk about their lives and their regrets over the course of a year and there are things I have filed in my head.
One thing I really liked about Alanon is that no one is supposed to tell you what to do. I think this really helps because oftentimes when someone tells you what to do, you want to do the exact opposite. I think listening to people week after week really helped me develop my own informed opinion about what would work best for me in my own life.
Overall, I am very grateful for this program. I think it has been a good use of my time. I will say though that I believe in the law of attraction. That is, your life becomes more of what you focus on.
And I am tired of focusing on the alcoholic in my life. I am ready to focus on the positive aspects. I believe I have learned more of what has brought me into that relationship through Alanon, other reading, counseling and introspection.
I have noticed that several of the people I know who had serious drug and alcohol problems and then completely moved away from that and DID NOT retain the typical dry drunk characteristics that you usually see did not ever attend AA meetings. They used either church or Islam for their recovery. That is something else I would like to further look into, with Alanon as well. I have said this before, but I think after all these years, there should be more than just AA and Alanon, or at least more progress within those groups.
There are still far too many serious consequences to alcoholism and addiction for us to not begin to take this more seriously.
I do not think I will continue to go back on a weekly basis, as it seems time is short now that I am a single working mother. But I haven't ruled it out on an as-needed basis.
The literature in particular has been very helpful to me. Several of the slogans are also great.
"Life on life's terms."
"Take what you like - leave the rest!"
"Life is a package deal."
"The three C's: You didn't cause it, you can't cure it, you can't control it."
What I think was the most helpful to me was attending week after week and seeing patterns. It seems both the alcoholic (sober or not) and the co-dependent have marked personality traits.
I saw the same people come to the meeting week after week. Some people got better, and others did not. Many people cried or complained every week about the same thing. The one thing I really noticed is while, recovery for the co-dependent is mostly about the co-dependent getting better, people who stayed in relationship with the alcoholic never seemed to get all that better. The same frustrations kept surfacing, even though they perhaps had better tools to deal with them.
It's easy to say just leave the alcoholic in your life. This is probably easier when it is your spouse, than when the addict is your parent or your child. But honestly, I did not see as much recovery for people who chose to stay with the alcoholic, sober or not. I saw a lot of recovery from the people who chose to leave.
I saw a lot of generational abuse of alcohol and drugs. My own thoughts after listening to a lot of this is that children model the behavior of their parents. I did see some interesting research about genetics while I was at Betty Ford. But overall, after being around this for the last 7-8 years with my husband and being at Alanon meetings, I have to say that I think that this is learned behavior, mostly.
The saddest thing I saw was people who had children who were addicts. Sadder still were people who had lost these children. I did not see anyone fully recover from that. That is one reason I really firmed my resolve for my own children. I know this is a touchy subject, but I do believe there are things you can do that at least help your children become less at risk for this "disease." I'd like to research that more fully. But I do think I heard a lot of people talk about their lives and their regrets over the course of a year and there are things I have filed in my head.
One thing I really liked about Alanon is that no one is supposed to tell you what to do. I think this really helps because oftentimes when someone tells you what to do, you want to do the exact opposite. I think listening to people week after week really helped me develop my own informed opinion about what would work best for me in my own life.
Overall, I am very grateful for this program. I think it has been a good use of my time. I will say though that I believe in the law of attraction. That is, your life becomes more of what you focus on.
And I am tired of focusing on the alcoholic in my life. I am ready to focus on the positive aspects. I believe I have learned more of what has brought me into that relationship through Alanon, other reading, counseling and introspection.
I have noticed that several of the people I know who had serious drug and alcohol problems and then completely moved away from that and DID NOT retain the typical dry drunk characteristics that you usually see did not ever attend AA meetings. They used either church or Islam for their recovery. That is something else I would like to further look into, with Alanon as well. I have said this before, but I think after all these years, there should be more than just AA and Alanon, or at least more progress within those groups.
There are still far too many serious consequences to alcoholism and addiction for us to not begin to take this more seriously.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Bouncing Checks
The check for $500 from my husband just bounced. Second time this week. And he wonders why I am stressed out and can't find anything good about our relationship. What a way to live.
He still tries to claim he is sober, and guess what? I don't know many 38-year-olds who can't pull their act together.
And instead of taking responsibility for his error, he basically said he didn't believe me and wanted me to email my online banking statement page to prove it to him.
My son just offered to give me money out of his own bank account. He broke my heart. He has been waiting every day to buy the Halloween costume he wants and every day I have to tell him we can not afford it right now.
Then he told me, "Mom, if you can't be married to dad anymore, you could get divorced and marry someone else."
He still tries to claim he is sober, and guess what? I don't know many 38-year-olds who can't pull their act together.
And instead of taking responsibility for his error, he basically said he didn't believe me and wanted me to email my online banking statement page to prove it to him.
My son just offered to give me money out of his own bank account. He broke my heart. He has been waiting every day to buy the Halloween costume he wants and every day I have to tell him we can not afford it right now.
Then he told me, "Mom, if you can't be married to dad anymore, you could get divorced and marry someone else."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
