"Ok, I hear people talk about meditation in meetings. I see that it is one of the 12 steps. But, I never really hear about "how" to meditate" in meetings." Other questions I had were:
Where do I go to learn meditation?
What type of meditation should I try?
What does meditation have to do with staying sober?
How is sitting still for 15 to 20 minutes a day going to change my life?
Can I meditate if I am not sure about my higher power?
This is what was going through my mind when I finally decided to not take the first drink, to stay sober and to actually work the program.
My journey to learn meditation and to have it become one of the cornerstones of my sobriety has led me to feel strongly about "why we should meditate in recovery."
Here are a few of the reasons that I have discovered and it is my wish that you may discover these and more as you start your inner journey:
- While I meditate I am practicing and working the first 3 Steps every time.
- I realize that my thoughts and emotions are unmanageable and that I can use meditation techniques to detach myself from them.
- While meditating I practice connecting to a power greater than myself and begin to sense that I am not alone anymore and no longer need to be afraid – which is the root of my insanity.
- Just by taking time to sit, detach from my thoughts and connect to my higher power I am working Step 3 – I have decided to turn my will and life for 20 minutes over to God, as I understand him.
- I do not need to wait until I get to Step 11 in working the Steps before I begin to learn and practice meditation. Meditation helped me to work all of the steps.
- People around me could see the fruits of my meditation before I could:
- I was more calm, more often
- I did not hang onto resentments as long
- I had an new desire to be of service to others
- I was not ruled by my character defects as much
- An old timer that meditates told me that "meditation was long term sobriety stuff" and I wanted that!