Meditation for Recovering Addicts, Part 1

We hear a lot about meditation and prayer in 12-step communities. Few people are comfortable with meditation and fewer still practice it in a formal manner. Some in long-term abstinence have become familiar with meditation as a means of quieting their busy mind and find meditation very helpful. What is not discussed in meetings are the many ways that meditation benefits recovery for those with addictions.

Western culture is unfamiliar with these practices and promotes the daily insanity of multitasking and multifunctioning, to the tune that our healthcare services are overwhelmed in caring for those who live too fast, are continuously stressed out, and are suffering the ills of fast-paced lifestyles with diseases such as heart ailments, digestive disorders, obesity, diabetes, panic attacks and anxiety disorders, depression, many forms of addiction, and cancers of many types. All of these diseases are just that

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Meditation for Recovering Addicts, Part 2

There is little talk in traditional 12-step recovery groups about the practice of meditation. There is little conversation in these groups about the benefits or the reasons for meditation. Today there are special groups of 12-step recovery members who are forming alternative groups with interests that include meditation practices, but they are not as widespread as the bulk of the recovery meetings. It is important that these concepts become more widely available to recovery members who are not able to access these groups.

Long-term abstinence is difficult to achieve when recovering addicts do not know what emotional process they are in. Daily, all cultures, around the world, are faced with the stresses of life. These can range from driving in traffic, difficulty in relationships at home and at work, illness (either personal or familial, or both), birth, death, marriage, divorce, the list goes on and on. Navigating these turbulent waters is a balancing act for everyone. Recovering addicts do not have all of the emotional stability that is required for dealing with these stressors without a great deal of help. While it is important for them to maintain their involvement in 12-step support groups, working with sponsors and other 12-step advisers and friends, maintaining a spiritual connection is tough when you are not aware of how you are feeling about any and all of this activity and its inherent stressors. Meditation can be the safe haven for most addicts when they walk through the fear that bars them entrance into the quietude and serenity that is found within them.

This is the seat of all of the wisdom and answers that anyone needs to access. But it is a task that is intimidating when most of us just want to

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