Originally Posted by
Aellyce I quite like Recovery Dharma, also attended meetings in the past, they do book studies in some of them. I think many things in the book can be applied to life and any kind of self-improvement, beyond recovery as well.
I struggle a lot with cravings and any approach to handle them better is helpful for me. Do you meditate? I use an app called Waking Up to guide my practice now, created by an American neuroscientist/philosopher Sam Harris who studied extensively with many great Eastern teachers.
Thanks for this post.
Hi Aellyce
Yes, meditate every day. Usually twice, but at least once. I use the Plum Village app. I will look into the Waking Up app - I haven't heard of it so thanks for mentioning it.
Dealing with cravings has been the hardest part of the sobriety journey. It has taken me years and a lot of trial and error to find something that works for me. Gelong Thubten is a Tibetan Buddhist monk who teaches secular meditation. I came across his talks on Youtube. In one of them, he said that the practice of compassion-based, mindful meditation will transform you. That has absolutely been my experience. I wouldn't have believe it if I hadn't experienced it myself. Combined with the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh about how to deal with difficult emotions, it's been a great help. I was so frightened of cravings before. So frightened I would keep drinking because I didn't think I could tolerate the cravings, even though I knew from the experience of having several years of sobriety that the cravings do pass. I know that even one drop of alcohol will trigger cravings and suffering. I never want to go back to that.