By Daniel Wittler

I am blessed to have been sober almost four years at this point in life. I think of that number four and I can not believe it. I spent many years attempting to get sober, staying sober for a few months/weeks and then falling back into my terrible habits very quickly and heading back into detox. I see this alot, chronic relapsers some will call these types of people, they are my favorite to help because once they finally see how to truly get and stay sober, they are the most passionate ones. I know I am passionate about helping because I was someone who thought that my destiny was to be a failure my whole life. I was so hopeless from countless attempts to get sober that failed. Thankfully, when I finally got desperate enough, I saw that there were actions that had to be taken very seriously, and not just for a few months but for the long term. I’d like to share some of those things with you.

Humility

A big reason I kept coming up short in recovery was because I thought I knew what I had to do. Every single time whether I was in treatment or was just coming back to a meeting after a relapse, people would make some suggestions and I always would say “Yeah, I know” and then do whatever I thought was right. Whatever I thought was right to do always led me back out. Humility to me is the practice of being teachable and it is invaluable in early recovery. My first year of sobriety this time was filled with me asking others I trusted constantly what to do and simply listening, no arguments, no ‘yeah, buts’ just simply ‘ok’ and I would go and do what was suggested. Of course while doing that, I got the best results I had ever gotten in recovery by far. I always tell people, if you knew what you had to do to get sober you would of done it a long time ago. Remember,always remain teachable.

Consistency

If I had one theme that carried through my life story, it was lack of discipline. I had always been the king of doing something new and productive for a few days, maybe even a week and then dropping it. Whether it was practicing something new, eating healthy, exercising again, anything like that I always started out great and puttered soon after. I did this in recovery too and the results were very obvious. I was told I absolutely, positively needed to be all-in with this deal. All-in to me meant I was going to do everything I was asked to in order to get sober, but also meant doing it everyday. Having a consistent routine that benefits your recovery is vital. I’m not going to lay out what your routine should look like because I truly feel it should be personal to you and you need to find what benefits you. We get a daily reprieve though, everyday we need to do what’s best for our recovery.

Action

For a long time I fell victim to talking the talk without walking the walk. I spent so many years talking about all these great plans I had and that would be about all I did. I made sure this time to not so much tell everybody what my plans were but to just align my goals/plans and get started on working on them right away. This falls in line with my other suggestions about humility and consistency, if we don’t take action, the right actions, ASAP we are a ticking time bomb waiting to relapse. Whether it’s needing to find a sponsor, needing to find a new job, needing to do stepwork, needing to find a commitment at a home group, the longer you wait to do these things to more detrimental it can be to your recovery. I am at my best when I am doing what I am supposed to do right away and not procrastinating, it is rewarding and also puts my mind at ease big time. Even if you are a few years sober, you have built a life that you want to keep building, there is more responsibility in your life and even more things to call to action. Keep on building. Keep on taking action.

I am very aware that the things that I have stated are simple.To be perfectly honest, recovery and staying sober is a very simple deal. There is a clear path laid out that we need to walk, the problem is we allow our minds to get in the way constantly. Sometimes we need to stop listening to the mind and just do what we know is right. Keep things as simple as you can and your recovery will flourish.

By Tim Case from Place for Papers. 

Description: Read the following article to find out why spiritual growth plays a great role in studies. Follow the listed prompts and learn to develop your spirituality.

What Promotes Students’ Spiritual Growth?

Annually, a huge number of high school students enter colleges. For the majority of freshmen, the following four academic years is the period of acquiring knowledge and skills necessary for building a successful career in a specific area. In other words, college years are devoted to students’ professional and intellectual development. However, what about their spiritual growth?

In order to answer the above question, it is necessary to find out what spirituality is. Spirituality is a complicated many-sided notion that goes beyond such issues as egocentrism and ethnocentrism. It is the notion that identifies one’s ability to serve others, stay calm and concentrated in some nerve-racking situations.

If we help students develop their spiritually, we will get a chance to create a completely new generation of kinder, more friendly and sensitive people who put justice above everything else. Additionally, by encouraging students’ spiritual growth, we will teach them to cope with stress and be more resistant to anxiety.

Main Items Contributing to Students’ Spiritual Development

It can be often heard that college studies leave no room for students’ spiritual growth. However, it is rather a disputable statement. During the academic years, students communicate with people from different cultures, go abroad to participate in internship programs, attend diverse seminars, and join various communities. In other words, they broaden (and sometimes change) their outlook and gain valuable experience what definitely promotes their spiritual growth.

Yoga and meditation are also considered effective means of stimulating students’ spiritual growth.

If to explain students how to perceive their inner world and help them connect with their inner “ego”, we would help them develop not only their spiritual abilities but also the academic ones. Being aware of their spiritual peculiarities, it will be easier for students to decide on the goals they want to achieve, enhance their psychological development, and enjoy their college years.

Many students have already expressed a lively interest in such a notion as “spirituality” and become more and more involved into it. As to college administration, they have just started exploring the influence of spirituality on students, their performance, and higher education as a whole. Those administrating students should realize that they serve as mentors and play a crucial role in their (students) development. They should also cultivate their own spiritual practices to help students determine the right direction to move in. College administrators should realize that spiritual growth is essential for every person and therefore help students stimulate it.

In order to make the process of students’ spiritual development hassle-free, college administration should:

1. Support the promotion of spirituality and assist in establishing its place in the area of higher education.
2. Undertake extensive research on the modern flows of spirituality of college students.
3. Provide a detailed explanation of the notion “spirituality.” Basically, spirituality means “metamorphosis,” “excellence,” “evolution,” etc. The mentioned terms represent the essence of the grandiose nature of spirituality and stress that any issues that have a deep meaning may relate to spiritual experience. It should be admitted that “spirituality” can be a tricky item to deal with unless its definition is differentiated from religion.
4. Provide trainings encouraging experts to develop students’ spirituality and confidence.
5. Incorporate spirituality into modern theories and studies. The theoretical dogmas that control our mind stating how learners should study and grow mentally do not pay enough attention to spirituality. Such a state of things results in student unawareness of spirituality and its specifics.
6. Spare enough place for prayer and meditation on campus.
7. Provide students, especially freshmen, with information about the activities and resources concerning spirituality available on campus. Inform students about the speeches, meetings, or any other events focused on spirituality.
8. Put a great emphasis on the positive impact of spirituality on students’ health and well-being. This is a crucial aspect since, currently, many students are engaged in such activities as yoga, meditation, etc.
9. Highlight the importance of spirituality for the development of students’ leadership skills. The purpose of higher education is to identify intelligent, goal-oriented and spiritually developed leaders. Some of the methods used for exercising leadership are closely connected with spirituality.
10. Introduce spirituality into the programs undertaken on campus. According to studies, students are interested in the subjects relating to religion, spirituality, and different spiritual practices.
11. Work with colleagues with the purpose of launching staff-student consultancy programs.
12. Promote cooperation between local clergy and campus administration to provide students with opportunities to participate in the activities devoted to religious issues.
13. Make spirituality an indispensable element of staff trainings. The staff dealing with student affairs should be able to frame their own spiritual vision and explain both students and their colleagues the principles they follow. At present, the organizations managing student affairs offer their members a great number of programs and data sources concentrated on spirituality. The college staff should realize that spirituality is a major factor determining student welfare to some extent.

Being involved in the process of exploring their inner world and inner “selves” though meditation, prayer, or any other related activities, students demonstrate significant spiritual growth.

What is more, students show intense interest in different spirituality-related issues if their college professors stimulate them to investigate those issues meaning provide them with respective resources, material etc. It should be also noted that professors’ support means a lot in this case.

One of the factors which also contributes to student spiritual development is the charity activities learners undertake. Here, it goes about help given to their classmates, money donated to charity, etc.

Being able to control one’s emotions in some unpleasant or nervous situations helps students concentrate their attention when taking exams, making speeches at the conferences, etc. what results in an excellent academic performance.

Realizing that being caring is one of the superior qualities people may have makes students decide to take up postgraduate studies and enhance understanding of racial issues.

It is necessary to admit that educational trends and practices focused on promoting spiritual growth have powerful effect on students.

By Johny Kershaws

A lot of people take alcohol to feel alive and relieve themselves of stress. And usually, it is taken during either physically or emotionally stressful state, like a bad breakup, getting fired from a job, and so on. People get to indulge more in it because it makes them feel better for the moment, and they get to sleep while taking their minds off the stress. While alcohol itself is not harmful, constantly indulging in it could lead to abuse and addiction, which will then be harmful.

There is a strong link between alcohol and depression, as a lot of depressed people hide under the guise of taking alcohol to heal. Meanwhile, it never works that way; it is usually a quick fix to the problem and doesn’t take the problem away. Once you are sober, you are back to where you left off. On the flip side, too much alcohol could also make you depressed. You are more likely to make rash decisions when you have taken alcohol in excess and as a result, do something you might regret later on that could make you depressed. This would lead to more alcohol, which only worsens the case.

Colorado sober living is constantly being improved to ensure that every alcohol addict looking to break free does so in the best way. With the sober living homes around, there is just enough professional care to go round.

Moreover, contrary to the opinion that alcohol helps your depression, breaking up with it could help you heal from depression. Here is how it helped me heal from depression:

1. I Started to Live My Life.

Long-term drinking of alcohol could make you rely on it and ignore other important aspects of your life. Breaking up with it has made me more present in my life than ever, being aware of my environment and how best I can benefit from the people and things around me. Alcohol affected the brain and altered how I lived my life and now is the time to change that and live my life just as I should and not under the influence of alcohol. Also, considering that alcohol has been linked to many health conditions like heart and liver disease, lung problems and possibly, cancer, breaking free means I am increasing my lifespan and have a lesser risk of having these conditions.

2. I Started Looking Fresh and Younger.

Alcohol contains toxins that detoxify the body, and heavy drinking would mean heavy detoxification. This could make you look dehydrated and older. In addition, is the health conditions that come with it and could make you closer to your death bed. However, since I stopped drinking, I noticed I was looking less dehydrated and younger. My skin was no longer looking worn but rather, supple, and now, I am confident in my skin and can boast of a fresh and young look.

3. I Have Lost Weight.

Heavy drinking of alcohol has been linked to weight gain, as it not only gives you extra calories but also increases your appetite to eat more. Since I stopped drinking, I noticed I had lost weight and that’s enough to keep me happy and positive.

4. My Relationship and Communication Were Improved.

Rather than relying on alcohol to keep me alive and happy, I now focus on building relationships with other people to fill the vacuum. I have noticed that it helped build my relationship and communication with others. Now, rather than indulge in heavy drinking to deal with depression momentarily, I talk it out with people around me.

5. My Mental Health Was Improved.

Alcohol affects the body in many ways, including the physical, mental, and social state. In the long run, excessive drinking could cause damage to mental health. Breaking free from alcohol has helped me feel better mentally, as it now has no control over my thoughts, feelings, and actions.

6. I Had Fewer Mood Swings.

When you take alcohol, the synapses in your brain slows down and your serotonin levels, which are your mood hormones, are affected. So, you would realize that your mood is being tampered with and you could switch from a high to a low state in split seconds. Since I stopped taking alcohol, there was literally no reason to have quick switches in my mood.

7. Of Course, I Have Saved a Lot of Money.

Apart from the fact that I don’t get to spend on buying more alcoholic drinks, I now have lesser risks of alcohol-related medical conditions, which means lesser medical expenses. Putting all these together, I have actually saved a lot.

If you rely on alcohol to live, to be happy and to be free, then you need to break free from it as soon as possible. This will help you heal and change your life, just like mine.

By Kate Adermann

I tried to stop drinking countless times. I would promise myself that I would only drink on the weekends, then find myself looking at the bottom of a bottle at 3:00 in the afternoon on a Tuesday. I would promise myself that I would only drink one, then find myself at the liquor store for the second time that day because one small bottle wasn’t enough. I wanted to stop drinking more than anything – but I simply couldn’t do it.

I remember the day when I came to terms with the fact that I would live and die an alcoholic. I was so defeated that I didn’t think sobriety was possible. Nobody in my family suffered from alcoholism, my friends thought I was crazy because I couldn’t stop, I thought I was different from everybody else. I reconciled the idea of being miserable and drunk until the day I die.

I lived like this for four years, until one day life as I knew it shattered around me. I lost the job I was holding onto by a thread and my family cut me off. My home was foreclosed on and I had nowhere to go. I was unemployable, untrustworthy, and homeless. I thought about my childhood and all of the dreams and aspirations I had once had for my life. I was going to be a chemist, a mother, and a wife. I was going to be happy.

I stumbled into a hospital and miraculously got into a detox, where I spent a week on a valium taper as the poison I was drowning in left my body. I was given two options, to go to a 90 day inpatient treatment center or to enroll in outpatient therapy. My past experience had shown that if I was on my own, I would drink. I needed residential treatment – no question about it.

I was scholarshiped into a rehab for alcohol where they stressed the idea of spirituality in recovery. I met this idea with judgement because I wasn’t religious, I had an analytical mind and I thought religion wasn’t for me. My therapist handed me this poster one day and it read “religion is for people who are afraid of hell, spirituality is for people who have already been there.” This was an idea I could get behind, after all, I lived in hell for years.

I began to do yoga, prayer, and meditation. I didn’t know how to do these things, but I took suggestions from others and did them anyway. Yoga have me the ability to get my mind off of the racing thoughts in my head. It allowed me to get healthy again and regain the strength that my body had lost. Prayer was a way for me to express the way I was feeling and let go of my problems. If I am struggling with something, I can give it up to a higher power of my own understanding, and know that I am not in control of life or other people around me. Meditation became a way to me to connect with the energy in my body, calm my mind, and experience a type of consciousness that I now believe is the essence of spirituality.

The foundation I built a belief upon a higher power on is the idea that I put myself in so many dangerous situations while drinking that should have killed me. I broke laws and committed crimes and I should be in jail. The very fact that I am still alive and am given the ability to walk this earth a free woman is nothing short of a blessing from something more powerful than me. I believe that my existence is a gift and that my higher power kept me alive so that I could do something good for the world. Whether it is volunteer work or helping another alcoholic get sober, I do have a purpose. My life is not a waste. Having this faith in a power greater than myself and being of service to others eventually relieved my obsession to drink.

Today I’m not a chemist. I work in the treatment industry helping others and I am an aspiring writer. I don’t have kids, but I’m still young. Instead I am an aunt – an aunt who’s niece never has to see her drunk. I’m not married. Instead I have an outstanding support group full of women who pick up the phone when I call. They show up to my house if I need them. I have yet to reach the original dreams and goals I set for myself as a child. However, I am happy today, and I have achieved more and have a more fulfilling life today than I could have ever dreamed of.

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Kate is an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic. She loves hiking with her dog, Jake, and spending time outdoors. Her passion is helping other alcoholics stay sober.

By Laurie Larson

Yoga is based on spiritual principles and, when practiced regularly, can provide countless health benefits. The practice of yoga offers relaxation and calmness of mind as well as rejuvenation of mind, body, and spirit. Through breath control, meditation, and specific postures, yoga practice can improve your overall health, both mentally and physically. By applying these five basic principles, you can enrich your life far beyond just the time spent in your yoga sessions.

Proper Exercise

Practicing yoga involves exercise that is less strenuous than, say, an hour-long cardio workout. However, it is just as intense in terms of its benefits. Yoga practice consists of postures, or asanas, that stretch the entire body. These postures will tone your muscles and provide support for the health of your spine and skeletal system. Not only do these poses support physical health, maintaining them during a yoga session will also exercise your mind. They support increased concentration, contentment and calmness, among others. Practicing yoga is excellent exercise for both mind and body.

Proper Breathing

In day-to-day life, as you face distractions and stressors, it is easy to lose awareness of your breath. The next time you are feeling off-track mentally or physically, notice your breathing. More often than not, you will become aware that you are not breathing deeply and may even notice that you are hardly breathing at all! Making it a habit to be aware of your breathing will make it easier to stay focused since deep breathing provides needed oxygen to your brain and all the cells in your body. Control of the breath, or pranayama, can be practiced when you are feeling stressed, but you can also practice it throughout your day, as an overall stress management tool.

Proper Relaxation

The stressors of modern life can really do a number on your ability to relax.  By applying the yoga principle of relaxation,  or savasana, you allow yourself to relax every muscle in your body. By doing this, you rejuvenate your nervous system, giving a sense of inner peace. Yoga teaches you the importance of getting quality rest and sleep. To ensure that you get the restorative sleep you need, make sure you have a system to wind down before bed, that you are eating properly, and that your bed is a comfortable place to sleep. If you are having trouble getting comfortable at night due to back pain or other chronic pain, you may consider replacing your mattress. Yoga practice, combined with quality sleep, can go a long way in terms of your overall health. 

Proper Diet

Another way to bring awareness to your overall health is to be mindful of what foods you put into your body. Eating fewer carbohydrates and eating more proteins, along with nutrient-packed fruits and vegetables such as kale and blueberries will maximize the power of your food intake and give you more energy, both physically and mentally. It is also important to only eat until you are full. You can do this by simply listening to your body, but if you are finding it hard to regulate the amount of food you eat, you might want to invest in a food scale to monitor your portions. If you are choosing the proper foods, however, you will notice that you naturally become more aware of when you have eaten enough.

Positive Thinking and Meditation

The combination of the principles of positive thinking (vedanta) and meditation (dhyana) in yoga practice are a powerful tool for changing the way you look at and feel about life. They are what allows you to be content with what is and make it easier for you to find gratitude for what you have. This enlightening combo is really the basis for all the other principles, in that it holds the power to find happiness in every moment. By practicing daily meditation and habitually recognizing that every situation holds something positive, life becomes less of a burden and more of a joyous adventure.

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Laurie Larson writes on health, lifestyle, and home topics to help others live healthier and happier lives.