Did / do you use mental techniques (e.g. Visualization) to get / stay sober?
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Join Date: Sep 2016
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Did / do you use mental techniques (e.g. Visualization) to get / stay sober?
Just curious, have / are you using mental techniques?
And, if so, which one did / do you use? Did they helped you? In what way?
- Visualization
- Meditation
- Affirmations
- inner Child Work
- ...
And, if so, which one did / do you use? Did they helped you? In what way?
- Visualization
- Meditation
- Affirmations
- inner Child Work
- ...
Natom
I'm not sure that I can say that any specific "mental technique" led directly to me being sober, but I can definitely say that the concept of mindfulness is part of my recovery. I also deal with anxiety so I learned about meditation and mindfulness from my counselor as part of my work to seek help for that.
My personal "plan" for sobriety is really multi-faceted. It's really more of a plan for life overall - i do spend a good amount of time here on SR and I use pieces and parts of some other sobriety methods.
So I guess if you are looking for some kind of magic technique to cure your issues with drinking all by itself, I have not found one.
My personal "plan" for sobriety is really multi-faceted. It's really more of a plan for life overall - i do spend a good amount of time here on SR and I use pieces and parts of some other sobriety methods.
So I guess if you are looking for some kind of magic technique to cure your issues with drinking all by itself, I have not found one.
nothing formal, but yeah, i "put pictures in my head" of future events and situations and what i would be doing as a sober person in those situations.
as basic as picturing myself with a lovely mug of hot herbal tea on an evening in winter when i'm 75
yes it helped. it replaced the imaginings of sitting in a rocking chair with a glass of wine or a bottle of beer...i had those pictures in my head though the reality never was "a" bottle or "a" glass.
as basic as picturing myself with a lovely mug of hot herbal tea on an evening in winter when i'm 75
yes it helped. it replaced the imaginings of sitting in a rocking chair with a glass of wine or a bottle of beer...i had those pictures in my head though the reality never was "a" bottle or "a" glass.
Like others here, I didn't use any special mental tricks. What I seemed to do naturally without thinking about it, was that I kept paying attention to the achievers in my AA group, those who had achieved years of sobriety and were outwardly joyful. I was aware of other "old timers" who had achieved long term sobriety, but who confessed to it still being hard, but I kept watching the joyful achievers.
Early on, I was taken by their example of joyful long term sobriety devoid of struggle. It did not expect to meet such people. Intuitively, it seemed like a weird contradiction..., but it's what I wanted. I idolized them and used them for my role models. I gained confidence from them, accepting that such a life was within my grasp.
Early on, I was taken by their example of joyful long term sobriety devoid of struggle. It did not expect to meet such people. Intuitively, it seemed like a weird contradiction..., but it's what I wanted. I idolized them and used them for my role models. I gained confidence from them, accepting that such a life was within my grasp.
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Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Atlanta
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Yoga has taught me a lot about visualization of intentions and about freeing myself of thoughts.
One thing I am working on a LOT now is an AA concept and like Scott, I'd venture to say one of the overall good life aims I have. It came to me one day in yoga when I could not get thoughts of my step daughter or worse, my husband's ex wife out of my head.
Kickball.
You easily plop off a person's pretty little head and it goes in a clear version of a kickball, with just that rubber band around it. You kick it way into the distance, and they go out of your head in that ball. There's an anti-rebound feature that prevents returning most of the time - but if the ball does bounce back, the head has remained undamaged and can be reattached to that person as you let them go on their merry way. I mean, I'm not a monster, I just don't want the wrong folks getting my mental energy or impacting my emotional balance.
And it makes me giggle to visualize it.
One thing I am working on a LOT now is an AA concept and like Scott, I'd venture to say one of the overall good life aims I have. It came to me one day in yoga when I could not get thoughts of my step daughter or worse, my husband's ex wife out of my head.
Kickball.
You easily plop off a person's pretty little head and it goes in a clear version of a kickball, with just that rubber band around it. You kick it way into the distance, and they go out of your head in that ball. There's an anti-rebound feature that prevents returning most of the time - but if the ball does bounce back, the head has remained undamaged and can be reattached to that person as you let them go on their merry way. I mean, I'm not a monster, I just don't want the wrong folks getting my mental energy or impacting my emotional balance.
And it makes me giggle to visualize it.
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