Originally Posted by
freethinking 
This is my 1st post....have been lurking for a few days in different forums but what I am reading here is really resonating.
If you could recommend 1 book on AVRT or RR for a beginner, what would it be?
Also, once you separate yourself from "The Beast" or addictive thoughts and recognize them/it as such....do you then replace the thought with something else? Or is simply recognizing it enough?
I have been in and out of AA for almost 20 years with maybe at most, 15 months of consecutive sobriety (and that was because I was pregnant and HAD to be sober - at least in my head). Without going into my whole story, I have been sober for 3 months now and am doing okay....but I suspect a lot of what is going on right now (based on history) is me "coasting". My main issue is that I do not have urges or cravings - but once I have the thought to really drink: bam, it's done. In looking back, it always seems "decided" by the time I think the thought.
And I bet if you try to overturn the decision you immediately feel a shot of dismay/despair/disgust/rebellion at trying to deprive yourself of the booze!
That's how it was for me.
Who is the person that is observing those feelings of disgust and what exactly is being observed?
I've been trying to distill AVRT and make it my own through understanding it and have concluded that the AV is any voice that suggests/hints future use of alcohol no matter how indirect and that my real 'voice' is silence underpinned by a sense of peace. When I watch with this silent mind the AV just puffs away like an illusion.