Here and now

How can spiritual work help us with addiction?

Spiritual work can raise our awareness. In turn, we become aware of a better life outside of our attachments. We also better see how our attachments are effecting ourselves and those around us. By increasing our awareness of our body, mind, and soul we can live a better life and become more free.

So how do we become more aware?

Meditation helps us become aware of our minds, our thoughts, and the pace of our thoughts. The negative spirals and the clinging to ideology can leave us feeling stuck. Stuck in habits, patterns, and undesirable cycles of destructive actions. We all have the tendency to mistakingly believe that we are our thoughts. It is critical to challenge this. I am not my thoughts, perhaps I am the one listening to my thoughts. I am the one observing my thoughts and becoming aware of them. In order for real change and growth to happen, one must question every thought. We have to observe and categorize which thoughts are unnecessary, harmful, and in turn maladaptive. An unnecessary thought is one that doesnt help us focus on growth or complete a goal.

Yoga helps us to become aware of our bodies. Conscious movement can raise ones presence. Yoga can be intimadating, but worry not- yoga is not about how flexible one can be but more about being present in ones body. Once one spends enough time on the yoga mat, it becomes a timeless space. This helps one to realize it is always ‘now’ and we are always right ‘here’. Staying present in the ‘here and now’ is a key ingredient to growth. Here and Now are where realizations happen.

Yoga also helps us to notice the slight changes and differences in our bodies day to day. It helps us to become aware of our edges and bodily limits. Once we are present in our bodies we can better understand what it wants or needs. It may not be a cigarette we are craving, it may be water or food. Knowing our bodies helps us to better perceive sensations so we can better understand what the body is asking for.

Journaling helps us to become aware of our actions and behaviors. Journaling envolves mentally returning to an event once our nervous system has settled. This allows one to see the event from a different perspective without the emotions attached. Ram Dass refers to a concept he calls "developing the witness'. This is when one takes their awareness and hovers it above themselves, like watching oneself in a movie. This practice can help us get a better view of our actions without attaching emotional response.

Last but not least of course there are psychedelics. There is an old joke Ive heard Terence Mckenna say. It went something like this, “A monk wanted to meet the Buddha across the river. He studied meditation for 20 years and eventually learned to levitate. He walked across the water and approached the Buddha, ‘Look master! I have studied for so long and now I can walk across water!’… The Buddha laughed, ‘Yeah, but the ferry only costs a nickle!’” Sometimes we need a kick start and this is where psychedelics come in. When we are starting from a very dark place we need a lightening bolt to illuminate the situation. Some situations are too dire to wait for the benefits of yoga and meditation which could take weeks. Sometimes, we are so stuck in our thoughts that we cant even begin to meditate. While psychedelics are a great jump start to healing and becoming aware- we do have to nurture that awareness and bring in things like meditation and yoga. The worst place one can be is aware of the problems and not doing anything bout it.

This is my first post because it is the first step on the path to healing- to become more aware. I do not recomend even starting this journey without being willing to do something about what you become aware of through these practices.