Natural Ways to Recover From Addiction

Lifeshare University of Healing

Presents

What is Addiction?

Addiction is the fact

or condition of being

addicted to a

particular substance,

thing, or activity.

Types of Addiction

Drugs and Alcohol addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug and alcohol seeking and use, despite harmful consequences to the drug addict or alcoholic and those around them. Drug addiction and alcohol addiciton is a brain disease because the abuse of drugs and alcohol leads to changes in the structure and function of the brain.

Soft Addictions are those seemingly harmless habits like over-shopping, overeating, watching too much TV, endlessly surfing the internet, procrastinating—that actually keep us from the life we want.

They cost us money, rob us of time, numb us from our feelings, mute our consciousness, and drain our energy.

Who is Susceptable to Addiction?

From video games and food to drugs and alcohol,

we all have addictions in life, some more severe than

others-- and we are all susceptible to soft addictions

regardless of age, gender, race or color.

What Need is your addiction filling?

All behaviors are motivated by a desire to increase comfort or decrease pain.

Addictions are driven by the belief that the behavior

can fulfill needs that other choices can not fill.

Ask yourself these questions:

Can I identify the need that my habit is attempting to fulfill?

Do I believe I can substitute a nourishing habit for a toxic one?

Do I believe I will need to practive total abstinence from my harmful

habit or can I manage my habit to reduce the harm it is causing?

Is addiction a disease or a choice?

There are many questions to whether addiction is an illness that can be treated as a chronic medical

condition or a conditioned behavior that can be changed through intention and will.

Ask these questions:Do I believe I have a disease over which

I have no control or do I believe I have some control over my habit?

Am I experiencing negative consequences because of my choices, or do I think I am

managing well enough?

Am I prepared to change my thinking, behaviors, and relationships if that will enable me to free myself from this habit?

AM I repeating the same behaviors but expecting a different outcome?

What are the patterns in my life that I will continue if I do not consciously change them?

Ready to change? Let's Take action!

YES YOU DO DESERVE TO EXPERIENCE JOY! ARE YOU READY TO BEGIN CHANGING YOU LIFE

TODAY?

Make a commitment to yourself right now... that you are going to transform your life and stop repeating the old patterns of destruction, learn the lessons and move forward onto new positive patterns of celebration!

Intention

Intention defined in medical terms is “the Healing Process of a wound”

When it comes to addiction, there is something buried or subconsciously hidden within ourselves that we are attempting to cover up or “heal”.

Most of the time this is an unpleasant emotion or feeling from a past experience that we do not want to face;so we begin to cover that emotion or feeling with something that makes a pleasant experience, even if it means harming ourselves in the long run.

Attachment

After time, our mind and bodies become dependent or attached to the habit of choice.

Our physciological and psychological patterns deepen the behavior and our mind and bodies become dependent or attached to the habit or pattern of choice then creating an addiction.

Addictions not only affect the addict, but affect peopl;e around them including friends, family and children.

Craving

Cravings become more and more intense for the substance or behavior and we begin to feel unable to control it and it begins to interrupt our lives in a negative way. Not only can drugs and alchohol disrput our life and everyones around us.. but those soft addictions that we feel are harmless also take away time from more positive things and also drain our energy leaving us feeling worse than we did before we did it.

Addiction

After the cravings become so strong and we feel we are powerless and need them to survive or get through the day, it then becomes an addiction. We can stop them before they get this far.. we can stop them at intention if we look deep within and are truthful with ourselves from the start. We need to express our emotions as they come and be fearless about confronting our feelings. Even if we are afraid... Joyce Meyer always said “DO IT AFRAID”

DO IT AFRAID!

When we ask for support from the Universe , support groups or from other types of support, We Do it Afraid.

We can receive help to prepare the way for our lives and help us through the addiction recovery process. We can also look to nature for help.

There are many natural methods and techniques that can help us before the addiction starts.

Lets move forward and go over some of those natural ways that you can help yourself.

Find Quiet Time

Allow yourself quiet time to meditate. Meditation is healing is so many ways, mind body and spirit.

Meditation helps us connect to the universe as well as find the truth within ourselves. You can also set up a smalle meditation area that you can go to such as a spiritual altar or going out into nature and walking by a lake or in a park.

Once you find your quiet space.. you will not know how you lived without it before.

Acceptance

Stop trying to control things and allow the universe to lead you.

Follow your intution which can be found during meditation time. Accept others as they are.. for we all are here to accomplish different things and are learning at different divine times.

Worry about your own life and stop worrying about everyone elses life.

When you do this you create positive energy within your own life, learn more about yourself and eliminate gossip which creates negative and draining energy.

Faith and Hope

Our lives can be stressful and confusing at times. Relationships, finances, careeer and material possesions can cause us to feel unstable in the world.

We need to develop the skill of having faith or confidence in positive things.

Make a list of five positive things that don't change – like a mother's love for her only child. Create a positive affirmation and read these daily.

Love Yourself - Stay Positive

Instead of negative self-criticism, learn to evaluate objectively your strengths and weaknesses.

Make a list of three things you do well, three that you could be better at, and three that definitely need improvement. Take into account feedback from parents, spouses, teachers, and employers over the course of your life.

Where were they correct?

Learn to ask yourself the question, "How am I doing in this moment?"

Be gentle with yourself. Don't beat yourself up.. We never stop learning in life.

Choose Friends Wisely

All great people have a sense of self-honesty.In order to achieve it, we need to take the counsel of others.

Find at least one, but no more than five people in your life whose advice you are willing to follow.

Find support groups where people are familiar with what you are going through.

I will give you a website to find support groups in your area at the end of this presentation.

Share with these people or groups your strengths and weaknesses.

Find a Life Buddy that can hold you accountable for your actions.

Practice Humility

What are we really willing to do to move past our limitations? Make a list of everything you've ever wanted to achieve in life.

Add to it all of the things people you admire have accomplished. Looking at our self-examination list, with input from our management team, evaluate how your strengths and weaknesses contribute to or hold you back from these types of achievements.

Learning the truth about ourselves is hard work. Staying aware of our truth in light of the constant changes in our lives takes humility and courage.

Practice humility by admitting that you are not alone, need help along the path and are willing to follow advice.

In your refuge practice, ask the universe for support to stay in this space of awareness and self-knowledge.

Let Go of the Past

We carry the burden of deep resentment on non-verbal levels deep in the core of our beings.

Our bodies hold the pain, causing tension, stress, fatigue, and disease. Many times this is what we are trying to cover up with the addictions that we seek out.

Keep a gratitude journal and write down every day what you are grateful for in your life.

Forgive yourself and others for the pain that has been caused. Allow yourself to heal for the true meaning of forgiveness is letting go of the hope that the past could be any different.

When we close old doors we make room for others to open and new positive things come into our lives.

Give Back

Take a volunteer position, write letters to prisoners, sponsor an animal shelter, join Volunteers of America.

Make it a regular part of your week. When we help others, we forget about our own problems and it is so rewarding to put a smile on someone elses face and bring joy into their lives!

Knowing you can help another person builds confidence and also helps you learn more about yourself.

Admit Your Mistakes

When we admit we are wrong and see what is hindering us, we are able to learn the lesson and change how we handle it.

We only can fix something in our lives if we are aware of the problem.

It is like getting a flat tire... we wont fix the tire until it goes flat... but if we knew there was a slow leak.. we could fix it before the entire tire is flat and we get stuck on the side of the road.

Being aware of what is happening in our lives brings enlightenment into it.

Find Your Spirituality

Yaga, Meditations, reading spiritual books, going to workshops, listeinging to teachings, praying or even going on a weekend retreat can increase our spirituality.

Any activities that we do that leads to connecting with and finding our true self is enhancing our spirituality.

The Dalai Lama says that if we can't be kind to others when the stuff hits the fan (I paraphrase) then our spiritual practice is of little value.

We need to practice unconditional love every day with those we're closest to. Working with some of the meditations above, imagine some of these people in our lives and visualize sending them infinite compassion and love in the form of your favorite colored light.

Develop that feeling of compassion in meditation, then follow it up with actions based on benefiting others. Keep giving. No matter what.

Summing It All Up

All in all, when we admit we have a problem, find the underlying truth to the addiction, and face our fears while finding healthy and positive ways to deal with the emotions, we can truly stop our addictions before they start.

We need to become aware of what is surrounding us and what we are suprrounding ourselves with.

Awareness brings Enlightenment and Enlightement helps us reach our highest goals no matter how high the mountain, becoming aware helps us climb without losing our breaths.

SUPPORT IN YOUR AREA

SUPPORT GROUPS

http://adai.uw.edu/hotlines.htm

To find support in your area visit the link above

Thank you!