Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

[MyOwnWoman]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

When Things Fall Apart --- SAVED my life several years ago.

I'd love to hear about books that tie meditation to recovery. The one time I went to a therapist specificallly about my drinking, she talked about some writer who professed that meditation is the only thing that can substitute an alcohol addiction... something like that. Like, you can replace the addictive substance with an addiction to meditation. I don't think I'm getting it right - (i was likely very hungover during the session!!) -- but something about it seemed to make sense to me.

I read something recently about how the 'pleasure center' of an alcoholic's brain is all screwy, so when we drink it makes us feel that 'happiness' (however artificial) and we want MORE, so that's why we can't have just one. So with this in mind, and knowing that meditation can bring on feelings of peace and joy - similar to what we get with that third or fourth drink - well, it makes sense that meditation can 'satisfy' that need our brains have to experience pleasure.

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Yes! The understanding is growing within the various academic and clinical communities that meditation can be a significant piece of a recovery program. And a rapidly growing body of research supports this understanding. (I have a lot of references and summaries of recent research, if anyone is interested.)

But some caution is in order, to not go into it with the hope or expectation that a session of sitting meditation will necessarily create or induce feelings of peace and joy... if it did, we would all be meditating, all the time... ! It helps us handle everyday stressors, and gradually can create an overall sense of calm (sometimes even joy) in the face of everything life throws at us... And it helps us to understand the temporary, fluctuating nature of all of our impulses and desires and preferences, including the impulse and/or strong desire to drink, or to run away from pain (that never works, in the long run)...

wip

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

More about Meditation and Recovery

Click here for a website with some good material about meditation and recovery from alcohol abuse, including some book titles. I am familiar with several of them, and they are good (although most of them operate within a 12-step framework, more or less). There are a couple of others (good ones) I have seen over the past few years, and I will try to find them. Here is an excerpt from the website:

Meditation for Addiction Recovery

Meditation can be a powerful tool in relapse prevention and can become what one therapist called a ?positive addiction? that provides a healthy alternative to addictive behaviors. People also report that meditation leads to new insights about the source of their cravings and helps to dissolve them.

In their book, Mindful Recovery: A Spiritual Path to Healing from Addiction, Drs. Bein and Bien offer ten ?doorways? to recovery, from journaling to meditation, and they present dozens of specific meditation exercises based on their experience as therapists and meditators. Their book says: ?People use addictive behaviors to avoid facing what hurts them. The Buddhist mindfulness practice offers a gentle way to begin facing pain and working with it to establish a new relationship to life. Mindfulness helps in two ways: first, by becoming aware of yourself and your environment, you understand what hurts you, what ?triggers? you, and second, by befriending your triggers, you can disarm them. Mindfulness provides a larger purpose, a broader context in which to see a problem. And then things fall into place more gently. If you are awake and relaxed and enjoying your life, there is less need and desire for your addictions.?

Kevin Griffin writes about Buddhism and the Twelve Steps saying this: ?Buddha said that the cause of suffering is desire, and the Twelve Steps try to heal people from desire gone mad: addiction. Both systems ask you to look at the painful realities of life, to understand them, and to use this understanding as the foundation for developing peace, wisdom, faith, and compassion. The practical aspects of Buddhism is one of its main corollaries to the Steps.? His book, One Breath at a Time, is an exploration of how the two systems can work together, and he offers meditation techniques based on Vipassana and Metta practices.

[nancy]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Hi Work in progress,

Just wanted to thank you for your thoughtful threads and responses elsewhere. I feel pretty certain that MBSR is a valuable tool. I think meditation can play a big role but I suppose also know that those who need it the most might find meditation the most challenging (those with monkey minds.) Maybe you can comment on that because I think in practice, meditation can be difficult to achieve.

I think of alcoholism as a symptom of a psychological problem, running away from the self. I think meditation would help with that because it encourages you to be at one with yourself, not to run away from who you are. Also, people with neuroses give so much credence to all their thoughts. People who are wise or who are involved in meditation advise us that acually thoughts are not that important. You can't let thoughts dominate your life. There will be good and bad, all part of you, but not to get freaked out by.

Surely, if an alcoholism problem is caused by a psychological problem, then MBSR would help.

I just ordered the book you recommended, Mindful way through depression.

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Thanks, Nancy! Good points and good questions.

First, as to "monkey mind": the truth is that we ALL have monkey mind. Usually we are first aware of it, and quite surprised by it, when we first begin to practice meditation. Many people give up at that very early stage because they feel as if they are "doing it wrong," or unsuited for the practice... the fact is that meditation is a type of mind training, similar to learning a new sport or other physical skill. It takes practice and work, and it is an uphill battle at first, while the brain is adapting to the new "movements" (regardless of whether they are mental or physical "movements" or routines). Which leads us to:

Second, it is work, and requires commitment, to start and maintain a meditation practice, in really precisely the same way that it requires effort and commitment to start and maintain an exercise habit or practice or routine.

Meditation is helpful for anyone who is working on making difficult behavioral changes, because it helps us to learn that our impulses are not phenomena that MUST BE OBEYED, and our thoughts are not things that are ABSOLUTE TRUTHS... in fact, if we learn to non-judgmentally OBSERVE our thoughts, impulses, emotions, and physical sensations, and, in the act of observing and naming them, to take just a small step back from them (and the intensity they sometimes bring with them), then we will have a much better chance to accomplish our goals... whatever they might be!

best wishes,

wip

[nancy]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Hi WIP

Yes, I know it's always said that people have monkey minds and need to return themselves to practice. I guess what I was getting at is that people with addictions, who need it most, might have super-active-monkeys and that this prevents them from taking advantage of the meditation advantages.

Thanks again for all your posts. You are such a great addition to the website.

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Thanks, Nancy! And I think you are quite right: especially in the early days and weeks after giving up alcohol, there will be increased mental turmoil, chaos and distractibility; also, people with substance abuse problems have, by the very nature of the problem, quite a bit of impulsivity. Very hard to sit still, very hard to engage in the practice of refraining from acting on strong impulses, cravings, etc. And that is a large part of meditation practice... And as you point out, such individuals are among those who need it most! Yet another example of how difficult it is to engage in the work of recovery. It is uphill, nearly all the way, isn't it?

wip

[SingOn]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Wonderful, everyone. (I'm on Day 3, and too busy catching up with life to miss drinking.) Great thread here - thanks for the website info, the meditation quote, and the book title. I'm off to find the book! A million thanks to all.

[kriger]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

WIP,
I just read all five pages of this thread and I am totally curious. I have no past exposure to meditation but I have been working a bit on my "spirituality". I can see the value so I, too, will be reading further and looking at websites suggested. I want to do all I can to ensure my success on this journey to be AF. I can see the many other benefits of meditation, as well. Thanks for your wealth of information on this interesting subject. kriger

[kriger]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Hi SingOn,
It sounds to me like you breezed through the weekend! Good job-keep up the good work! kriger

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Hi, Kriger, Sing... Glad you are interested, and do feel free to ask here (or pm me) if you have questions. It is a great help to my own meditation practice to talk with others who also are engaged in this type of practice. It is hard to keep the discipline to do it all alone; I will be leading a meditation group here in town, starting this month, but it only meets once a month. Ideally, one would have a group to meet with once a week or so, to practice and talk about one's experiences, questions, challenges... Maybe we can do a bit of that, here.

wip

[Arial]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Great thread

hi WiP,

Many thanks for initiating this thread - and sharing all your information etc. - the website looks to be a fantastic resource. I'm just starting a course on cognitive behaviour therapy and also councelling children and adolescents. I've researched meditation but have never yet got it off the ground. This thread could be the incentive and motivation I need! I have to say the CDs from MWO are the most effective part of the system for me - infact it was just reading here and the tapes that set me on the road to AF for 3 months. Unfortunately the journey collapsed for numerous reasons, several emotional triggers, problems etc so I just gave in to the call of the bottle. But I'm at another point in life where I'm looking to make serious changes and these courses (and becoming AF again) are a start. I am really interested in this whole area so I'll definitely be reading and learning along with everyone else. Again, thank you for your invaluable contribution!

:thanks: Arial

[nowandzen11]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Yes, Great thread

When I lived in New Orleans, I practiced meditation here and there. Now that I live in CA, it is everywhere and I have explored quite a few avenues. I love this one center in my city. There is sitting and walking meditation on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays. The cool thing about Sundays is that there is a suggested book reading and after meditation, we sit around and discuss the book. The first book was - Zen Mind, Beginners Mind. I will have to look at the book to see who the author is.

There is a Zen Center here on a mountain that I want to go to. I think visitors can only go on a sat or sun. They do silent chores etc. I am going to make it a point to go one day.

I find meditation to be one of the most positive things I've ever done. I just need to do it more.

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

Thanks, Arial and NowZen! I teach and use Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, which is a group treatment that consists primarily (not entirely) of a very STRONG dose of meditation practice. And it is also being used for folks with substance abuse problems; very different from the standard 12-step approach (which is effective for some... not for others).

My best pick for those starting out to build a daily meditation practice: Mindfulness In Plain English. It is considerably more user-friendly for contemporary Westerners than Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (although the latter is certainly a beloved classic for many).

wip

[A Work in Progress]

Anybody into Mindfulness Meditation?

p.s., NowZen, you might want to check out Spirit Rock retreat and meditation center; they are in California, and offer GREAT meditation retreats that are similar in nature to what people do in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.

wip