HEALTH
MOST EX-ADDICTS ARE TORMENTED BY FEELINGS OF GUILT AND SHAME AFTER THEY QUIT. THIS IS OF NO VALUE, DON’T GO THERE.
lesions, but work with chi practices in the morning along with a medicinal diet and supplements, and you can return your skin to clarity and suppleness. A regular chi practice is also the
to digest and aggravate the digestive system. They can also contribute to the development of obsession and depression. In Chinese medicine vegetarian or vegan diets, detox diets, juice fasts, or raw foods are not recommended for most people, and never for depleted or chi-deficient people, which is the common state after addiction.
5
EXERCISE EVERY MORNING Drug-users usually wake feeling depressed, angry, anxious, or even
nauseous. This can continue for many years after quitting and it can lead to relapse. Physical movement quickly changes this and shifts negative states. Do a therapeutic exercise routine of core exercise, a chi practice (yoga, tai chi etc), and weights. This instantly deletes negative emotions and cravings and ultimately sets you up to access altered states more powerful than those generated by drugs. Trying to control urges or emotions with your mind doesn’t work, if it did there would be no relapse. Focus on building your body and you have the most effective anti- relapse strategy in existence.
6
TAKE UP YOGA AND OR TAI CHI There are multiple reasons to get
into a chi practice. It makes chi move, so it makes you feel good and if you feel good you don’t crave drugs. It builds health and strength and is anti-ageing. Excessive drug use accelerates ageing internally and externally and creates skin issues including rashes, dark spots, and
40 JULY | AUGUST 2017
counter for those subconscious triggers for relapse. Addiction is a compulsive or impulsive disorder. When you are faced with a stimulus you may suddenly and impulsively react. Some triggers for relapse are so fast that your conscious mind may never even recognize what has set you off. This means you have to be on guard all the time, you can’t afford to relax because you don’t know when or where you might lose it. Attempting to control these triggers with your mind is unreliable. Chi practices harness your subconscious processing power and will automatically neutralize those split- second triggers. Additionally, taking up yoga, tai chi, Qigong, martial arts or meditation is also an opportunity to connect to other people who are on the same path. Expand your peer group and move towards the new in the social sphere, but with people who will support a different future.
7 8
AVOID GUILT AND SHAME Most ex-addicts are tormented by feelings of guilt and shame after
they quit. This is of no value, don’t go there. Shame is at the lowest end of the emotional range, drug highs are at the top. There is no point discussing shame in the context of drug use. Attempting to do so is the path to relapse because you will never resolve this with the conscious mind and the ensuing frustration will lead to cravings for drugs so that things feel like they ‘make sense’ again.
GET INTO BIBLIOTHERAPY After quitting it is normal to feel demotivated, trapped in the old.
Reading is an immediately accessible way to access new horizons. You can turn a page and enter other worlds, learn, expand your horizons, make discoveries. Reading may sound boring but to prevent relapse you need to throw every change switch possible and ‘bibliotherapy’, the therapeutic power of reading, is an easy one. Read about people who have broken down barriers,
changed the world, and overcome massive, endless obstacles to pursue something beyond normal. This will help motivate you and keep you on track. Sunday is a great day to read as it imprints a new purpose over what was probably a hangover day.
9
ROUTINE NOT RANDOM Addiction is a lifestyle that revolves around drugs. It provides a sense of
purpose (getting drugs), offers rewards (drug highs), and there is a motivating drive of something to move towards (the next high). When you quit that is all gone and life quickly becomes purposeless, random, chaotic, and an emotional minefield. Relapse is the outcome. To avoid this follow a set routine every day, so there is no randomness or confusion. Remember, planning prevents relapse.
10
DO VISION BOARDS OF YOUR FUTURE To prevent relapse, and to be
happy in life in general, you need to keep moving towards your visions, towards something new. Get a big whiteboard and write whatever comes to your mind about how you see your future on it. Do it spontaneously and regularly. When the whiteboard is full, take a photo. Never wipe the board before you have recorded the content somewhere. Start generating new ideas whether you feel inspired to do so or not. This gets that mechanism functioning again and creates that feeling of ‘moving towards’ which prevents cravings and relapse. Combine all of the items above and
you will forge new routines, memories, habits, and a new future so you won’t be looking back and longing for the good old days of drug highs. You will be heading instead to an addiction-free and happy life. n
Connect with other readers & comment on this article at
www.livingnow.com.au
Jost Sauer is a published author, registered acupuncturist, addiction recovery expert, motivational speaker, and a pioneer of
extreme wellness.
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