"Mindfulness – which is the opposite of avoidance – is a natural antedote to addiction, which is, at its core, about avoiding life." Dr. Thomas Bien
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.
"Zen is the ultimate and original recovery program," says author Mel Ash in his book, The Zen of Recovery. "It exposes our denial of true self and shows us how all our other diseases and discontentments flow from our fundamental denial of unity with each other and the universe."
Sogyal Rinpoche writes: "All we need to do to receive direct help is to ask. Didn't Christ also say: ”Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. Everyone that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth”? And yet asking is what we find hardest. Many of us, I feel, hardly know how to ask. Sometimes it is because we are arrogant, sometimes because we are unwilling to seek help, sometimes because we are lazy, sometimes our minds are so busy with questions, distractions, and confusion that the simplicity of asking does not occur to us. The turning point in any healing of alcoholics or drug addicts is when they admit their illness and ask for aid. In one way or another, we are all addicts of samsara; the moment when help can come for us is when we admit our addiction and simply ask."
Books Available from Amazon
Mindful Recovery: A Spiritual Path to Healing from Addiction, by Thomas Bien and Beverly Bien, ($11). This thoughtful book offers specific meditations you can learn on your own.
One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps, by Kevin Griffin, ($11). Written by a Buddhist who has worked with the steps, this book helps connect the two systems.
The Zen of Recovery, by Mel Ash ($11) Ash is a meditation teacher and AA sponsor who aptly connects the spiritual practices with the Twelve Step program.
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, by Sogyal Rinpoche ($14 paperback) An international best-seller, this book offers sage advice for every situation. You can tell that Rinpoche has helped many people face life's most difficult problems.
Overcoming Addictions: The Spiritual Solution by Deepak Chopra ($10) also on audio cassette ($10)
Letting God: Christian Meditations for Recovery, by A. Philip Parham, ($12)
Guided Meditations, Explorations and Healings, by Stephen Levine ($11). This book offers dozens of different meditation techniques for developing compassion, confronting illness or grief, recovering from addictions or eating disorders, and working with pain.
Meditation for Beginners: Six Meditations for Insight, Greater Clarity and Cultivating a Compassionate Heart, by Jack Kornfield ($20) hardback book with CD or CD without the book. Kornfield uses clear language and step-by-step demonstrations to show how simple it is to start - and stick with - a daily meditation practice. In this complete beginner's course, Jack introduces the "Insight" tradition of Buddhist meditation.
Links
Thomas and Beverly Bien have a therapy and teaching practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico which is described at their website: www.mindfulpsychology.com
Many Vipassana meditation centers offer retreats and classes for people in recovery. Check with these two: the Spirit Rock Meditation Center www.spiritrock.org and the Insight Meditation Society www.dharma.org
The Chopra Center for Wellness www.chopra.com offers meditation classes and has information about speaking and teaching tours of Deepak Chopra. They conduct public retreats, and also train people who offer their methods in other parts of the country. Check with them for more details.
