I believe that meditation and the ability to develop a detached and accepting awareness of the present is essential to my sobriety, the latter being the foundation to AVRT. Mindfulness meditation is now being clinically observed to have the ability to address the structural model of addiction where the lymbic system overrides the thinking brain. This model allows us to understand the lament of the lapsed that often has the refrain 'Before I knew what was happening, I was drunk again'.
Meditation addresses the
lymbic hijack phenomenon by actually adding additional wiring to the brain that supports increased levels of
self-observation, optimism, and well-being.
Evidence based treatments for alcohol dependence are becoming accepted throughout the wider medical community. Mindfulness and its manifestations of observation, acceptance and separation (AVRT)
have been found to be 'highly significant' in reducing relapse.