Language of Letting Go - October 28
Nature Girl
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Language of Letting Go - October 28
You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go
Meditation and Prayer
The Eleventh Step asks us to meditate as a route to improving our conscious contact with God.
Meditation is different than obsessing or worrying. Obsession and worrying are fear connections. Meditation means opening our mind and our spiritual energy to the God connection.
To connect with God, we need to relax as best we can and open our conscious and subconscious mind to a Higher Consciousness - one that is available to each of us.
In the busyness of our day and life, it may seem like a waste of time to slow down, to stop what we're doing, and take this kind of break. It is no more a waste of time than stopping to put gas in our car when the tank is almost empty. It is necessary, it is beneficial, and it saves time. In fact, meditation can create more time and energy than the moments we take to do it.
Meditation and prayer are powerful recovery behaviors that work. We need to be patient. It is not reasonable to expect immediate answers, insight, or inspiration.
But solutions are coming. They are already on the way, if we have done our part - meditate and pray - and then let the rest go.
Whether we pray and meditate first thing in the morning, during a coffee break, or in the evening is our choice.
When our conscious contact with God improves, our subconscious contact will too. We will find ourselves increasingly tuned in to God's harmony and will for us. We will find and maintain that soul connection, the God connection.
Today, I will take a moment for meditation and prayer. I will decide when and how long to do it. I am a child and creation of God - a Higher Power who loves to listen and talk to me. God, help me let go of my fears about whether or not You hear and care. Help me know that You are there and that I am able to tap into the spiritual consciousness.
From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.
Meditation and Prayer
The Eleventh Step asks us to meditate as a route to improving our conscious contact with God.
Meditation is different than obsessing or worrying. Obsession and worrying are fear connections. Meditation means opening our mind and our spiritual energy to the God connection.
To connect with God, we need to relax as best we can and open our conscious and subconscious mind to a Higher Consciousness - one that is available to each of us.
In the busyness of our day and life, it may seem like a waste of time to slow down, to stop what we're doing, and take this kind of break. It is no more a waste of time than stopping to put gas in our car when the tank is almost empty. It is necessary, it is beneficial, and it saves time. In fact, meditation can create more time and energy than the moments we take to do it.
Meditation and prayer are powerful recovery behaviors that work. We need to be patient. It is not reasonable to expect immediate answers, insight, or inspiration.
But solutions are coming. They are already on the way, if we have done our part - meditate and pray - and then let the rest go.
Whether we pray and meditate first thing in the morning, during a coffee break, or in the evening is our choice.
When our conscious contact with God improves, our subconscious contact will too. We will find ourselves increasingly tuned in to God's harmony and will for us. We will find and maintain that soul connection, the God connection.
Today, I will take a moment for meditation and prayer. I will decide when and how long to do it. I am a child and creation of God - a Higher Power who loves to listen and talk to me. God, help me let go of my fears about whether or not You hear and care. Help me know that You are there and that I am able to tap into the spiritual consciousness.
From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.
Nature Girl
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Beginning and ending each day with a prayer helps me stay grounded and continue to turn my will over to God.
Meditation was hard for me at first. I rarely knew a quiet moment and my mind was in such turmoil, it was hard for me to focus. Today it is an important way for me to listen, to God and to my inner voice, both important guides on my journey.
Sometimes I meditate sitting with a candle lit, sometimes several candles. Sometimes I begin with a prayer to quiet myself and connect. Sometimes I meditate watching the sun rise or set and listening only to the breeze and the birds and the water rippling on the shore. Any place that makes me feel connected to God and allows me to be still and just take in His beauty is a meditation in itself.
It doesn't have to be complicated, sometimes just taking 5 or ten minutes is enough. But I know when I am finished I always feel calmer and know that life is exactly as it is supposed to be right now.
Hugs
Meditation was hard for me at first. I rarely knew a quiet moment and my mind was in such turmoil, it was hard for me to focus. Today it is an important way for me to listen, to God and to my inner voice, both important guides on my journey.
Sometimes I meditate sitting with a candle lit, sometimes several candles. Sometimes I begin with a prayer to quiet myself and connect. Sometimes I meditate watching the sun rise or set and listening only to the breeze and the birds and the water rippling on the shore. Any place that makes me feel connected to God and allows me to be still and just take in His beauty is a meditation in itself.
It doesn't have to be complicated, sometimes just taking 5 or ten minutes is enough. But I know when I am finished I always feel calmer and know that life is exactly as it is supposed to be right now.
Hugs
Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Omak WA
Posts: 1,049
"Meditation and prayer are powerful recovery behaviors that work. We need to be patient. It is not reasonable to expect immediate answers, insight, or inspiration."
Meditation and prayer have played a big part in my recovery on a daily basis. I had a hard time with concentrating on my prayers....because I wanted to be conscious of what I was saying and asking for. :praying
The Serenity Prayer Is the most helpful prayer for me to decide if I can or cannot change something. This was a big problem for me and before I could do this I would spend sleepless nights running old tapes through my head.
When the weather was warmer I would sit out on my patio to do my meditations. I have the very first meditation book given to me in my first alcohol group at Mental Health. I have written on the margins and any clear space I could find. It is interesting to go back and read what my feelings were in my beginning sobriety. It is called: "Each Day a New Beginning." I have several others that are just as worn out from reading so many times over the years.
I also learned about Affirmations and those are fun to do. When I was in the Emotional Care Unit once.....they had a box full of Affirmations that we could go through to pick out one that fit what we were dealing with and then we had to memorize it for the evening group.....hard to memorize when your mind will not stay still long enough to concentrate...but most of us managed to do it. :ghug
Meditation and prayer have played a big part in my recovery on a daily basis. I had a hard time with concentrating on my prayers....because I wanted to be conscious of what I was saying and asking for. :praying
The Serenity Prayer Is the most helpful prayer for me to decide if I can or cannot change something. This was a big problem for me and before I could do this I would spend sleepless nights running old tapes through my head.
When the weather was warmer I would sit out on my patio to do my meditations. I have the very first meditation book given to me in my first alcohol group at Mental Health. I have written on the margins and any clear space I could find. It is interesting to go back and read what my feelings were in my beginning sobriety. It is called: "Each Day a New Beginning." I have several others that are just as worn out from reading so many times over the years.
I also learned about Affirmations and those are fun to do. When I was in the Emotional Care Unit once.....they had a box full of Affirmations that we could go through to pick out one that fit what we were dealing with and then we had to memorize it for the evening group.....hard to memorize when your mind will not stay still long enough to concentrate...but most of us managed to do it. :ghug
Nature Girl
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: By The Lake
Posts: 60,328
Each Day A New Beginning is a wonderful book and we sometimes post readings from it here, as well as the Language of Letting Go.
These readings help me to meditate too. Sometimes just one line says something to me that changes my whole perspective.
The wonderful thing about recovery is that these gifts appear out of nowhere, when we least expect to see them.
Hugs
These readings help me to meditate too. Sometimes just one line says something to me that changes my whole perspective.
The wonderful thing about recovery is that these gifts appear out of nowhere, when we least expect to see them.
Hugs
Forum Leader
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: In my little piece of heaven
Posts: 2,870
This is from Paths to Recovery, one of the Al Anon books:
Step 11: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out
Although referred to as the second maintenance Step, Step 11 does introduce a new action-the action of seeking through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God. What is prayer? What is meditation? How are they different? An important note to make is that this Step guides us with the words prayer and meditation, not prayer or meditation
How do I do find the difference between prayer and meditation? Can I talk to my sponsor, another Al-Anon friend or someone I’m sponsoring about the difference?
Am I willing to try prayer and meditation today?
What can I do to add prayer and meditation to my life today?
Do I have a special time and place to pray and meditate? What can I do to create one?
How have I sought to improve my conscious contact? Have I sought out help from my group? My sponsor? Anyone else in Al-Anon?
What personal spiritual experiences can I draw on to help me improve my conscious contact with a Higher Power?
What does it mean to me to pray only for God’s will and not my own? How can I distinguish between God’s will and my self-will?
How have I been mistaken about God’s will? How has my self-will caused me difficulties?
How am I willing to be guided today?
Is something blocking me in this Step today? What is it? What Steps can I review to help me feel connected again?
What do I need to have the power to carry out God’s will for me? Have I asked God for that power?
I found these questions to be very helpful in learning about Step 11.
Cats
Step 11: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out
Although referred to as the second maintenance Step, Step 11 does introduce a new action-the action of seeking through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God. What is prayer? What is meditation? How are they different? An important note to make is that this Step guides us with the words prayer and meditation, not prayer or meditation
How do I do find the difference between prayer and meditation? Can I talk to my sponsor, another Al-Anon friend or someone I’m sponsoring about the difference?
Am I willing to try prayer and meditation today?
What can I do to add prayer and meditation to my life today?
Do I have a special time and place to pray and meditate? What can I do to create one?
How have I sought to improve my conscious contact? Have I sought out help from my group? My sponsor? Anyone else in Al-Anon?
What personal spiritual experiences can I draw on to help me improve my conscious contact with a Higher Power?
What does it mean to me to pray only for God’s will and not my own? How can I distinguish between God’s will and my self-will?
How have I been mistaken about God’s will? How has my self-will caused me difficulties?
How am I willing to be guided today?
Is something blocking me in this Step today? What is it? What Steps can I review to help me feel connected again?
What do I need to have the power to carry out God’s will for me? Have I asked God for that power?
I found these questions to be very helpful in learning about Step 11.
Cats
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