Recently I have become much more inquisitive with mindfulness movement regarding personal recovery. Mindfulness has been around for ancient times. Mindfulness based addiction recovery has been around for decades. There is a path that we must take and to not understand the depth and the power of our thinking is to ignore the greatest personal tool we have. Per SuccessConsciousness.com “Our mind and the power that is stored in it is one of the strongest and most useful powers that we possess. This power it consists of our thoughts. The thoughts that passed through your mind are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Your predominant thoughts flow into behavior and attitudes and control your actions and reactions”. So, what does this mean to me as a person of recovery? Why should I focus on the mindfulness approach in overcoming my addiction? How can I embrace my thinking to help ensure personal success? Well, according Christopher Germer, developing a healthy mindfulness approach to wellness weakens and our self from destructive thoughts and emotions.
What would that be worth to you as a person of recovery? When we make an active decision to change our behavior from that of destructive we are usually deciding based on some type of pain or sense of loss. That is all well and good, but if we don’t change our minds from the previous mapping we are likely to go back once the pressure that caused us to turn around is alleviated or forgotten about. When we do revert to a previous negative behavior we usually sink to a lower level than we were at prior to our decision to change. One of the things that Dr. Germer states is that “when we experience anxiousness, sadness, anger or even a critical self-voice instead of fighting them why not accept them”? I think this is a very interesting approach. I know it is important that things are processed appropriately rather than denying them. I think it is very dangerous to minimize, set aside or even ignore negative thoughts. I do believe that it is important to push them out with a positive approach as quickly as possible. I do see what is the doctor’s position that it is in a sense, a “paradoxical lesson”. He says “we all want to avoid pain but letting it in and responding compassionately to our own imperfections without judgment or self-blame a are essential steps on the path to healing”. I think that’s very powerful. I think that is something that we can all incorporate into our life. Why not take these thoughts captive? Once we have them captive we understand their fourth and their lesson and then we can disarm them. Once we have disarmed them we can release them to do no more harm. The next time we are presented with those emotions the power of our mind will recognize them and they can be easily dismissed without doing any present or future harm. I hope you understand the power and the value of being mindful in our approach to wellness. Mindfulness recovery is an effective tool regardless of where we are at in our journey. I hope you have accepted it as a necessary tool in you becoming well.
Robert Pardon
Robert is the Recovery Guy. Getting clean and sober on April 25, 1986 has given me the insight and practical skill set to not only stay sober, but to also re-invent myself to the person I always wanted to become. Showing others how to do this is my life goal.
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