Can you talk more about the Healing Tools of Recovery?
Awareness and acceptance of this moment are the cornerstones of healing in recovery. Healing occurs now - not in our past life or in some imagined future.

Recovery teaches us to accept who we are today - right now. It is a perspective that where we are now is just where we are supposed to be - where the realities of our life and the choices we have made have led us. There is no other way than the way things are.

The more that we resist the reality of who and where we are right now - the more we lose ourselves in the sickness of our imagination. We either neglect - or overly dwell upon - that which does not fit with who or where we believe that we should be. We imagine that we have made mistakes, not choices.

We give the power of our present life over to a mind that meanders endlessly within itself - preoccupied with past and future - despairing and distracted from this moment of our life.

The principles of recovery open a world of ways to heal. These do not immediately solve every problem that we think we have today. These problems are the result of a lifetime of circumstance and choice. They are sustained by our non acceptance of today.

Recovery offers us the ways to begin healing today. It is a guide to healthier choices today and less likelihood of further crises. It is a letting go of the grip of the past and a celebration of the freedom of life in this moment.

Recovery is at the same time, a treatment for addiction and a path of health and healing. Many concurrent disorder of mood and anxiety may be greatly helped by these principles and practices.

Pause

The rushed pace of life, work and family seems unending. There is little time for reflection - little space in the day. The life of addiction is hectic - pressured, hurried and restless.

Try to remember to Pause a few times each day. Stop and have a look at what you are about. Question your need to rush.

“I write ‘Pause’ on sticky notes - and put them where I will find them throughout the day.

If I don’t stop for a moment when I find one, I know that I am losing touch with what is important for me.”

Check your body for muscle tension. Take a breath deep into your abdomen. Then let it go. Bring your mind back from wherever it is wandering. Say the Serenity Prayer.

Enjoy the moment. Then do it all over again - it is not healthy to rush.

Listen

There is meaning in all that you hear. Listen to the stories of others in recovery. Reflect on their meaning to you. Learn how others have faced a situation like yours. Don’t let your head get in the way - by comparing and distancing yourself.

Listen to the signals within. Feelings express themselves in your body.

“ My dog can tell when I am angry.

I should be able to learn how to see it.”

Notice if your muscles are tense, when flames of anger rise in your chest or the shortening of breath in anxiety. Listen for these signals. Consider their cause and notice your response.