There have been so many practices, habits, techniques that have helped me along the way with my recovery – far too many to put into one post.

Therefore, today I will be focusing on just three, which created huge transformation within at the beginning of my sobriety journey. Through suffering, hard work, studying, and so many mistakes along the way, I have gained knowledge on life that will be beneficial to those on all walks of life.

I’ve spoken about my story in a previous post, but I’m going to touch on the beginning of my recovery in more detail before moving onto the practices etc.

What Helped Me? – 3 Practices for Alcohol Recovery!

Could have my life been different?

It was around 2016/2017 (my memory is bit sketchy before being admitted to hospital in 2019) when I was in real bad way mentally, and an old friend mentioned practicing mediation. Now, bear in mind, at the time I was living a very unconscious life. I completely dismissed meditation as “hippy shit”.

When I look back, I was ignorant and arrogant. I was lost in a complete illusion of suffering. But I would often think to myself in 2020, If I had pushed myself to meditate every day, would my life have played out the way it did? It’s all ifs and buts, but I don’t think it would of. I don’t ponder on such thoughts anymore, as I understand we’re all where we’re meant to be in life.

The beginning of my recovery

As mentioned in my previous post, I had a spiritual awakening a few weeks after being discharged from hospital. It was mind-blowing experience, where a lifetime of belief systems, mental conditioning and barriers came crashing down. I was confused, but felt free for the first time in my life.

I had an instant recognition, one where I knew the thoughts which had been causing me so much pain all my life, where not mine, but in fact, illusions of the mind. What a relief! for the first time in my life, I could feel there was a deeper meaning to all this, I felt deeply at One with life.

The journey begins

Following my awakening, my first three practices began immediately. I had an urge to meditate and live in the Now. I took a qualification as a Mindfulness Practitioner and began to study Mediation through books.

At a later date, I discovered that these three practices intertwine, and worked perfectly in conjunction with each other. If someone is new to their personal growth/spiritual journey, I always recommend these three practices to begin with.

Meditation, Mindfulness, and Gratitude paved the way for me, and opened so many doors to a life beyond the senses. The journey within is Eternal, and If you use these three practices as a start point, other practices and wisdom will surely follow.

Meditation

There are many different forms of meditation, and I will be creating separate posts for the ones I have utilised since 2019. As my confidence has grown over the years, and I gained my Meditation Teachers qualification, I began to create many Meditation practices of my own.

These practices have helped me heal from mental/physical trauma, elevated my Consciousness and transformed my life – practices such as Shadow Work, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Vision, Self-Enquiry and many more.

Meditation is such a powerful practice; I cannot recommend it enough. If you believe you don’t have time, make sacrifices to your daily schedule and place it as a priority. There is nothing more important than your mental wellbeing.

By placing Meditation as a priority, you will not only elevate yourself on many levels, you will also be calmer, more compassionate, a more patient person towards those around you.

If you’re not comfortable with sitting in silence, try a guided mediation from YouTube, here is one my favourite channels for such practices.

Although, I do recommend sitting in silence every day, even if it’s only for a few minutes. When you sit in silence regularly, a wonderful sense of solitude will consume you. The whole cosmos will come together to wrap around you like a blanket, it’s pure serenity.

Meditation practice for beginners

Here is a meditation practice for beginners, I would recommend five minutes to begin, and build it up over time. If you feel capable of doing more, then please do so.

Now let’s begin…

Close your eyes in silence, sit or lie in a comfortable position, and place your hands where ever they feel natural.

Take three slow, deep breaths through the nose and out through the mouth. In-between the inhale and the exhale, hold your breath for a few seconds.

Now breathe naturally…

Begin to scan your body, and focus your attention on relaxing different areas such as your shoulders, arms, legs etc.

Pay attention to the sensations that occur within your body.

If thoughts arise, don’t judge, don’t wish them away, just let them be. See them as clouds passing by, on a bright blue sky.

YOU are the bright blue sky…

Pay attention to your chest and stomach rising naturally while breathing.

If sounds appear external to you, just allow them to happen without judgement.

Now, allow yourself to just BE…

As you relax into your natural state, you will notice a stillness expand within you.

Stay here for as long as you want…

In this state of awareness, you merge with God/Consciousness/Source/Creator/Universe (or whatever term you use) and your true nature shines through beyond the mind.

When you feel like ending the meditation, practice Gratitude, by saying thanks to God for the healing that occurred today.

Mindfulness

As your Meditation practice develops, you will come to the understanding, that the goal of meditation is to stay in a half-mediative state at all times. Let me explain this in more detail – by half-mediative, I mean, living in the Now at all times, by being present at all times.

When guiding you through the Meditation above, I mentioned about a stillness expanding within. When our Meditation practice advances, the stillness will not only appear in Mediation, but also in our everyday life. Stillness is the feeling of Oneness with all life, and what a beautiful, serene, feeling it is.

Mindfulness is a technique you can learn which involves noticing what’s happening in the present moment, without judgement.  (Mind).

Mindfulness is practice that can utilised in any experience during everyday life. To keep it simple, being mindful means remaining present. Despite the hectic nature of our modern-day world, practicing mindfulness encourages self-awareness, acceptance, and taking in the moment. It allows you to truly focus on what you’re doing right now.

Mindfulness stems from ancient Buddhist meditation teachings, but Jon Kabat-Zinn adapted the concept in 1979. Over the last few years, mindfulness has gained a lot of popularity.

This may be due to more mainstream coverage, publications like Mindful, and the power of social media. After doing some research, I also found that mindfulness is often used in therapy. This is because it helps with anxiety and stress.

Here some ways to practice Mindfulness throughout the day:

• Awareness of breathing
• Awareness of thoughts, but don’t judge or react to them
• Awareness of bodily sensations
• Awareness of feeling/emotions
• Awareness of touch
• Awareness of hearing
• Awareness of Smell
• Awareness of taste

As mentioned earlier, Mindfulness can literally be practiced anywhere at any time. I often practice Mindfulness while taking a shower, or going for a walk, and so on.

Mindfulness, is essentially Mediation but practiced in every day experience. As your awareness develops, Meditation and Mindfulness will merge into one.

As these practices merge, the Stillness within will further expand, and Oneness of life will emerge. A silent calm will then begin to penetrate your mind, and you will begin to rest in your true essential nature at any given moment.

Mindfulness, combined with Meditation, is a powerful tool to develop inner peace.

Gratitude

Gratitude, again is a practice that can be implemented at anywhere, at any time. I often combine Meditation, Mindfulness and Gratitude. For example:

Meditation/Gratitude

When you are in mediative state and stillness is expanding within you, thank all in your life from the natural state of awareness. Send Gratitude to those in your life, the experiences (good and bad), it can be anything you like.

As you practice Gratitude, you are stating to the Universe “give me more of this.” The Universe responds to the frequency you are putting out. Vision the Universe as an echo, and what you express through words, actions, thoughts, feelings and experiences will return. Always be conscious of your thoughts, words and actions.

Practicing Gratitude while in a Mediation is a personal favourite of mind, and a wonderful way to establish a mindset of Gratitude.

Mindfulness/Gratitude

This is very similar to the above practice. The only different is, while being mindful and in the present moment, you observe deeply for Gratitude in every day experiences.

Here’s a few examples: being thankful for the kind old lady you spoke to while shopping, for taking your children to school who are growing up fast, for your dog who brings a smile to your face when feeling down, for the birds singing in the garden, for the food you eat, for the water you drink. The list is endless, and you soon realise how much you do have to be grateful for.

Gratitude practices

Gratitude is the highest frequency you can transmit to the Universe, and once you begin practicing regularly, you will rapidly witness experiences of similar nature return into your reality of everyday life.

We are more powerful than we are led to believe. We are Eternal Beings, who have walked this path many times, and whether you’re unconscious or conscious of the fact, you are a manifestation of the One Infinite Creator, and you are co-creating every single moment.

There are many ways to practice Gratitude, here are some of my favourites:

• Celebrate tiny achievements
• Write in journal every day
• Make a gratitude list
• Give back, compliment, be kind
• Gratitude jar
• Tell others that you are thankful
• Share your gratitude for loved ones
• Spread gratitude on social media
• Be grateful for the littles things

As soon as you open your eyes first thing, spend 5 minutes raising your energy by being thankful for the day ahead. This will set you up perfectly for the day ahead. First thing, is also the perfect time for a Gratitude Meditation practice.

Practice Gratitude daily and your life will transform. It’s all about building a Gratitude mindset, as the world outside us is a reflection of how we feel within. If we feed our mind seeds of Gratitude, Love and positivity, we will view the world through those eyes.

What Helped Me? Final thoughts

Whether you’re a beginner to personal/spiritual growth or not – practicing Meditation, Mindfulness and Gratitude will transform your life dramatically. When combined, these practices will take you to a whole new level of mastering the mind, and inner peace will begin to establish within. Like with any practice though, the key is to practice consistently and persistently to see the best results.

If you resonate with this post, then don’t hesitate to comment below or send me a message via adam@adam-lawrence.org. I’m truly grateful for you reading my content.

Adam

Hello! My name is Adam and welcome to my space on the internet. Here you can find me writing about subjects such as spiritual growth, self-discovery, wellbeing, addiction recovery and mental health. Please connect with me on my journey and join the community!