Transcendental Meditation
 

I am also an alcoholic. I've tried recovery many times. I've been here many times under many user names.

This time, I didn't come here first. In fact, I'm not very enthused to be here. Instead, I tried AA for the first time, and am working through the 12 steps, and loving it. I enjoy the face to face time more than I expected. It makes me feel like I'm in a zero ******** church, without priests, where you can smoke and drink coffee. I love it.

It's unlikely you'll find me online here much, if at all. I'm finding it pretty easy to quit this time (famous last words, I know). I just wanted to sneak in a plug for AA, but also to share how much transcendental meditation has helped me in recovery. All of the swirling thoughts that would usually trigger me get silenced through meditation.

I sit quiet with my legs crossed, though I don't think this is necessary. I put my hands together so that just the fingertips of each hand are touching. I close my eyes, and repeat a meaningless mantra, "hooooon-gaaaaaa." I try to concentrate on this mantra, and my breathing, thinking "hoooon (inhale), gaaaaa (exhale). If my mind wanders, I bring it back to the breathing and the mantra. After maybe 5 minutes, it begins to feel like a trance. There are sensations in my head that are hard to describe. After 10-20 minutes I sort of bring myself down out of it, and I'm in a clear state of mind, very present, for quite a while.

I had never tried meditation before, so I'm very surprised how effective it is for me. It never really seemed like my thing, but I had kept hearing about it. Anyways, I'm no expert, but I'd encourage others to try it. To me it seems, you can want to change your thoughts, but meditation clears our the garbage thoughts, so that there's room for positive thoughts, or spirituality, whatever.

Look into it. Try AA too, if you haven't tried it. If you've tried it and had a bad experience, fair enough. If you're trying to give yourself over to a higher spirit, whatever, like I am, I think you'll find that transcendental meditation puts you in the right clear state of mind to allow that to happen. You don't have to take a class. I just made up my mantra and did it, though I sure there's more expert advice out there than what I can give you.

I will say this, though: It's like magic!

Best of luck, everyone. So long, for now.:tyou

This was great! Thank you for the description of how you meditate. I am definitely looking for a way to increase my meditation practice and I would like to use your mantra suggestion. I too have recently re-found AA and I am over the moon for it. I feel surrounded by love and support and I realize now that I truly I am an addict and an alcoholic and we are addicts and alcoholics really need each other.

Welcome to SR Too :)

D

Every spiritual tradition has some sort of contemplative, transcendental practice of quieting the mind. And, interestingly, they all suggest about 20 minutes of some kind of prayer/focus/silence to quiet the mind/chatter/rational mind/monkey-mind. I was interested to learn how sitting zazen (Buddhist) sometimes focuses on counting 10 breaths, and there beads 10 beads on a decade of the rosary (Catholic). I finally had to ask myself, "Are all these traditions driving at the same "Thing."?! It was an awesome moment of peace and sense of inclusiveness for me.

I've learned through much spiritual reading and reflection that the truths of the AA program are common to many other traditions throughout history, so it really offers the gift of throwing a few thousand years of deep spirituality at our worst problem. Bill W knew the mind of us drunks, and was a good communicator, he got right to the point, with the mission of keeping people sober. I do believe the Spirit spoke to him in a unique way. So it really helps me when I read a post like yours, which has some things I do normally, and some I might like to try, like the mantra, but feeling like we're all under this big spiritual tent together finding out how each of our souls fit into the Big Plan like their own puzzle piece.

TM practitioner here , invaluable in my getting sober, though I wish I practiced more these days. Thanks for the reminder and welcome.

Yea AA gets a bad wrap...I also think that if one has gone before and didn't like it...they should try it again....because it could have just been at the time...the person didn't need what AA offers....

Like you said...coffee, cigs..and good friends...all you have to do is sit in a chair...look around, realize you are not alone...and plenty of other people have it worse as you find out in there.

Love meditation, its a game changer as is ashtanga yoga..and NA/AA. So different to what I though they would be like.