Author Topic: 12 Step Programs for Compulsive/Addictive Conduct  (Read 5107 times)

k123

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12 Step Programs for Compulsive/Addictive Conduct
« Reply #15 on: November 07, 2012, 05:11:48 AM »
It is great to see a post on the twelve steps, which have been a big part of my life for some time now. Yogani speaks about using them for any addiction, and they are used by many organisations and fellowships. The traditional way to do them is to be guided through them by a sponsor, or someone who is further along the path in the steps.  This system works well, then new people sponsor others who are newer and so it continues.

Each step has a spiritual principle associated with it, such as honesty, openess, wilingness and humulity, and some steps call for action such as writing, as in step 4 and step 8. Some call for sharing with another person, such as step 5. All of the steps are about a spiritual journey and step 12 speaks about a spiritual awakening and living one's life by spiritual principles.

There is an emphasis on self-responsibility in the steps, which I love, and in step 4, resentments and issues are written out in columns. The last columns focus on what part of oneself feels threatened, and looking at one's own part in any interaction that may have caused pain and anger.

The steps are a whole system and deal with changing attitudes within the individual. There are also 12 traditions, which are more about AA (or any other community) itself and set out suggestions about how it should conduct itself as a group, such as valuing anonymity, putting the good of the group first, not seeking publicity etc. This  works very well and groups will remind themselves when there is any conflict, of the tradition that states that their primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

When it is remembered that there are many people in AA groups all over the world, but that there is no top-down organisation, and that AA is made up entirely of alcoholics in AA meetings, it is possible to see a genuine fellowship.  Of course people are human and ego and power struggles happen, but there is also a genuine emphasis on growth and change.




Bodhi Tree

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12 Step Programs for Compulsive/Addictive Conduct
« Reply #16 on: November 07, 2012, 01:44:36 PM »
Just to springboard off k123's post, I, too, have benefitted from the 12-step program. What's quite remarkable about AA is that you can literally visit just about any town in the U.S. that has a population of over 10,000 (maybe even smaller [;)]) and drop into a meeting--with no membership fee, no prior notice, no reserved seat, nothing. Anyone can walk through the door, share their story, seek help, and work the steps with like-minded folks that offer guidance.

I certainly have issues with some of the psychology and inner culture of AA (the co-dependency that can result from too much reliance on a sponsor, for instance), but those trivialities are far outweighed by the benevolent scope of this solid organization, which is very akin to AYP in the sense that you get back what you put in. It's not a cult, not a stringent, dogmatic approach (though some extremists may try to spin it that way). It's a toolshed and a reservoir of free resources for spiritual devolpment. Plain and simple.

The founders of AA said: "New things are constantly being revealed to us all the time." The 12 steps are suggestions...a baseline of practices, in AYP terms. So I have learned to find my own groove and use what works for me in my recovery and service to others.

One day I believe we'll live on an Earth where the only addiction is to divine unfoldment, naturally-cultivated ecstatic bliss, and an evolutionary genius founded upon infinite stillness. Why not? [8D]

emc

  • Posts: 2055
12 Step Programs for Compulsive/Addictive Conduct
« Reply #17 on: February 15, 2013, 08:43:00 AM »
Thanks for your posts, k123 and Bodhi Tree.

Beautiful to hear! Yes, I'm beginning to understand much more now how the steps work, and the brilliant order in which everything unfolds naturally if you work them honestly.

That's the biggest difference now, I think, my new level of radical honesty! Particularly towards myself, but also resulting in honesty towards others. It's like going to school and learning a totally new way of living - letting the stillness be a companion in everyday life. Not a kick, not an accomplishment. Friend.

It's truly not a sect or cult. It's a tremendously open and respectful environment to join. I am so grateful.

NJL

  • Posts: 31
12 Step Programs for Compulsive/Addictive Conduct
« Reply #18 on: February 15, 2013, 11:31:21 AM »
Thanks for posting this Yogani.

I enjoy cigarettes, drinking to excess at appropriate times, coffee, as well as some illegal drugs occasionally. I eat meat, I live in a big city where I'm exposed to countless chemicals from the air and the water supply. I would also consider myself to be a relatively advanced yoga practitioner, if I were forced to comment on the matter.

I believe it's a good thing to examine these habits and choices on a regular basis. But I don't believe that doing any of these things necessarily means that we are not where we are supposed to be with our practices. For me, eating meat is a necessity. I would not have the energy to keep my body fit without it, and I can barely maintain my weight as is. I eat incredible amounts of food just to stay at a healthy weight. Good coffee is a wonderful pleasure, like good food, and a cup of espresso can be exactly what you need to excel in your work, or simply to enjoy an afternoon shopping with friends. Drinking with friends is a bonding experience, and it's a fun way to relieve stress. When the time is right, going out and having a few beers can make you feel like a million bucks in the morning, despite conventional wisdom. And while I certainly can recognize the harmful effects of over indulgence in cannabis or psylocybin, I would never have gotten to where I am today in my yoga practices without these substances.

As always, there is a balance between enjoying things like this and overdoing things like this. I like having a few beers with friends. It's part of my social life, and there aren't any people in my social circle that abstain.

I will take a closer look at the 12 steps and see if I can apply them to my life and my choices in order to find a better balance.

emc

  • Posts: 2055
12 Step Programs for Compulsive/Addictive Conduct
« Reply #19 on: February 16, 2013, 07:33:55 PM »
NJL, thanks for sharing.

Just want to make an input, that 12-step programs are made for addicts. Addiction is when it's a non-voluntary, compulsory behaviour that you want to stop, but can't. When the addiction has taken over your life, and causes far too many consequences for you to bare, then you might want to consider a 12-step program.

All substances and behaviours that you get addicted to are normal occurences. Normal people use these for enjoyment and can avoid them if they want to. Addicts ready to recover misuse them and do not enjoy them anylonger.

The 12-step program is only for those who needs and wants it.

NJL

  • Posts: 31
12 Step Programs for Compulsive/Addictive Conduct
« Reply #20 on: February 17, 2013, 02:26:30 AM »
quote:
Originally posted by emc

NJL, thanks for sharing.

Just want to make an input, that 12-step programs are made for addicts. Addiction is when it's a non-voluntary, compulsory behaviour that you want to stop, but can't. When the addiction has taken over your life, and causes far too many consequences for you to bare, then you might want to consider a 12-step program.

All substances and behaviours that you get addicted to are normal occurences. Normal people use these for enjoyment and can avoid them if they want to. Addicts ready to recover misuse them and do not enjoy them anylonger.

The 12-step program is only for those who needs and wants it.



Thanks emc. I understand that there is a difference between addictive behavior and normal behavior, but I thought I understood the theme of the thread to be that the 12 step program could be useful in the sense of clearing out behavior that might not be classified as addictive, but might still be representative of underlying blockages.

Bodhi Tree

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12 Step Programs for Compulsive/Addictive Conduct
« Reply #21 on: February 17, 2013, 09:13:01 AM »
Hi NJL,

I think that the steps can be applied to other "non-addictive" behaviors as well. Really, the steps operate in a samyama-like way. Identify defects/obstructions/blockages, and ask God to remove them. Stillness in action. The presence of pure bliss consciousness begins to eradicate negative karmic tendencies so that a more evolved being can come forth.

Also, as an addict, it's important for me to direct that compulsive, addictive energy to a higher ideal (ishta). This methodology has worked tremendously in my favor in the last couple years--and "my favor" means an abiding posture of surrender to divine flow, not of selfish or egotistical aggrandizement.

Also, having experienced some deep shades of ecstatic bliss, I now know it's possible to transcend, surpass, and leave chemically-induced states in the dust. Once you verify through direct experience that divine intoxication blows alcohol/drugs out of the water, then there's no more doubt. The only question that remains is: how do I get more of THAT (divine love, ecstatic bliss, a propulsion to be of natural service)?. And once you discover that a pure and clean nervous system is what's required, all habits, behavior, and efforts will fall in line with achieving that condition (with no ceiling in sight).

Raise the roof, raise the roof, raise it high. [8D]

emc

  • Posts: 2055
12 Step Programs for Compulsive/Addictive Conduct
« Reply #22 on: February 17, 2013, 06:59:19 PM »
[:)]

The first time I used 12-steps was actually on my inability to keep my house kleen. The mess had control over me, I could not on a regular basis keep tidy. I did all steps thoroughly. Made amends to my mom who had been doing my dishes more than once, to my friends who had to find dirty laundry on the chairs when they came to visit, etc. It worked in a magical way! My flat was so clean for about 6 months, when I actively used this method. (And this was before my spiritual awakening). Then I relaxed a bit about it, but it still created a new mindset about cleaning in me, that sticks.

robfrommi

  • Posts: 34
12 Step Programs for Compulsive/Addictive Conduct
« Reply #23 on: March 20, 2013, 01:16:52 AM »
I just wanted to chime in and say the 12 steps worked for me. Before I was into yoga, lets just say I got lost in hallucinogenics, and alcohol for a good 10 years I got to a point of complete powerlessness with my addictions, I lived in make believe worlds and at one point thought alcohol was a shamanistic elixir and my medicine.  I ended up in trouble with the courts and was forced to face my addictions head on. Through the 12 steps, lots of 90 meetings in 90 days, two half way houses and many many relapses I was finally able to stop poisoning myself (just for today) and I do believe the steps saved my life.

matangi

  • Posts: 49
12 Step Programs for Compulsive/Addictive Conduct
« Reply #24 on: November 17, 2013, 12:41:45 PM »
Thank you all (Yogani special thanks} from this soul. Will breathe air soon. As I'm sure some have felt. Thank you and thank you again for this site!

seagreen

  • Posts: 1
12 Step Programs for Compulsive/Addictive Conduct
« Reply #25 on: October 19, 2014, 01:56:58 PM »
I found the book, "When Society Becomes an Addict" by Anne Wilson Schaef (1988) very helpful, to take blame and dispair with ourselves and see our attachments/addictions in new light, on many levels, taught, conditioned and supported by institutions and other people in positions of authority in our culture.

AYPadmin

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Re: 12 Step Programs for Compulsive/Addictive Conduct
« Reply #26 on: April 16, 2020, 12:51:56 PM »
jackholder
USA
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The objective of any 12 step program is to give away out of habit, yet in addition to assisting the person with building a decent life in recovery. It is a spiritual way that expects individuals to have confidence in a higher power, although they are allowed to characterize this as they see fit. Projects dependent on these steps are currently accessible to treat pretty much every kind of issue. The 12 steps are the reason for the best network-based self-improvement program ever. This kind of answer for enslavement doesn't appear to work for everybody, except it very well may be exceptionally viable.