773niki

Hi all,
On my for once REAL quest to stay sober and work the AA program while throwing fear and ego aside, I've decided last week to attend 90 meetings in 90 days (as that one hour a day compared nothing to the amount of hours I've spent drinking). I am also dedicated to getting a sponsor and for once, my willingness and my acceptance and my vulnerability is on my side. I can't stand this disease - for the first time in my life, I truly feel like I have surrendered. There's an odd inner peace I can't quite explain yet, but I'm rolling with it.

I'm only 8 days in, but I've attended a meeting all this week and I'm in a PHP program. I do want to follow their advice and learn some meditation skills.

Does anyone have any recommendations? I'd love to be able to download to my ipod...but I havent' found any on itunes geared toward alcoholism. Is this a necessity or is mediating in general just fine? I tried one this morning and it was almost amazing. 30 minutes went by like that and I am not a good "calm" mediating person.

Anyway, any recommendations are appreciated. Thanks!

oinobares

Hi Nikki,

It sounds like you have a great plan and the attitude and resolve to carry it out! I also experienced an unusual sense of inner peace and relief when I finally surrendered (also did a 90/90).

As for meditation, I take long walks or find quiet moments when alone in the house to sit and practice some mindfulness. I have nothing structured to recommend, since I try to listen to my breath and the sounds of the quiet around me and then offer some prayers of gratitude. Even those brief moments of mindfulness are revitalizing. I have taken meditation/reflection/mindfulness stuff from here and there (e.g. Jon Kabat-Zinn--books and youtube).

Best wishes to you! (a fellow Chicagoan too!)

773niki

Thanks - also, thanks for talking about the inner peace you felt when you finally surrendered. I think people I say this too think I'm crazy and sometimes I think I may be fooling myself, but deep down, I know I'm not. It's sooo crazy but it's so real too.'

Anyway, if you don't mind me asking - are you actually in Chicago or a suburb? Any recommendations on meetings in or around the north/northwest side?

tomsteve

my sponsor made it really simple when i aked him about meditation. his solution: turn off the radio.

oinobares

I'm in Chicago, but on the South side, and I only have 150 days, so my meeting range has been limited to down here locally. I keep meaning to venture out, but I'm not really on the North much. The one meeting I keep hearing mentioned down here in the rooms is the Mustard Seed group, on North Ave. They have a ton of meetings there, and all sorts, open, closed, womens, mens, etc. mustardseedgroup.org But I haven't attended!

I keep thinking that spiritual relief on surrender must be something like a conversion experience In any event it made me feel like everything was going to be OK, and it helped re-kindle my faith.

Stay strong!

freshstart57

It is hard to be mindful and meditative with the radio blaring, so turning it off is definitely a good start. Believing that is all there is to meditation is dismissive and needs a little more information.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Eckhart Tolle, Thich Nhat Hanh are popular writers in the field of meditation and mindfulness, and Tolle's New Earth is one of my favourites. Dr. Richard Fields has some good YouTube videos on the topic too.

Anna

I don't think meditation has to be geared towards addiction. Meditation is itself enormously helpful. I have used Eckhart Tolle's meditation guide for years. You can find his guided meditation on youtube.

flutter

My favorite meditation is called the "Sa Ta Na Ma" meditation (google it), it's SO simple, but very helpful to me especially in times of stress or any sort of discontent.

Here's a decent description: Kundalini Yoga - Free On-Line Training Lesson 15 - Kirtan Kriya, for Evolutionary Change.