went to Women for Sobriety meeting
 

I just wanted to share a resource. I went to a Women for Sobriety (WFS) meeting and liked it a lot. I had not heard of it until I saw it mentioned on SR. I am so excited by it that I want others to know of it. It was just so positive and empowering. A lot of my shame around drinking left when I looked at their website.

From what I know so far, the focus of WFS is on building a positive self-image, personal accountability/responsibility, knowing yourself better, creating an enjoyable life, and not drinking/drugging (seeing addiction as a life-long problem). There are 13 statements of recovery that they encourage members to read each day. I had some concerns about some of the statements and talked about my concerns at the meeting; people were very helpful and also very ok with me expressing doubts. That was nice. It was a small meeting (5 people) so everyone got a chance to talk.

WFS is very open to people using other recovery programs along with WFS. I like that a lot.

To find out if there is a meeting near you, you have to use their contact form on their website, and they send you email about nearby meetings. I don't know how widespread their meetings are. You can read their literature or use their online program/forum, even if meetings are not close enough. (They even have literature for men! You guys are not left out.)

Welcome to Women For Sobriety, Inc.
(The link is also in the Recovery Programs sticky in the Alcoholism forum. Thanks Carol for that sticky. Very, very helpful.)

Thanks for the link! Nice to know there are other aikido peeps out there!

I'm really thrilled for you Oak.....:hug:
Enjoy and keep going.

Saliena- that is so cool that you are into aikido too. Not being able to go to aikido drunk or hung over was a big motivation for me to stop drinking. And when I thought about what my favorite aikido teacher's reaction would be if he knew about my pain and drinking, that was good motivation too. He would have been so sad.

Carol- Thanks for the encouragement (and for the sticky about resources).

I am finding the one drawback to Women For Sobriety is that there are not tons of meetings offered throughout the week. But I did get phone numbers of people I can call. I just have to do it! :rotate:

Do you attend any aikido seminiers? There is one in Atlanta next weekend. Y. Yamada O'Sensei is attending. So we are looking forward to that. :)

I post on their forums. The statements there 'speak' to me far more than the 12 steps. I enjoy it a lot!