Hello there. If you’re reading this, you’re probably on a journey of recovery, or perhaps you’re thinking about starting one. I know it can be tough—I’ve been there. The road to recovery from drug and alcohol addiction is not easy. Sometimes it feels like you’re walking uphill with a heavy load. There are days when everything feels overwhelming, and the urge to return to old habits seems almost impossible to resist. But I’m here to tell you that there are tools and techniques that can help lighten that load. Two powerful tools are Mindfulness and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT). Let’s explore how these practices can enhance your emotional well-being and support you on your recovery journey.
Mindfulness: Anchoring Yourself in the Present
You might have heard of mindfulness before and wondered what it means. At its core, mindfulness is about being fully present in the moment, without judgment. It’s about noticing what’s happening around you and within you—your thoughts, feelings, and sensations—without getting swept away by them. This might sound simple, but it can be incredibly powerful, especially when you’re dealing with addiction.
When you’re caught up in cravings or difficult emotions, it can feel like they control you, pushing you toward behaviours that don’t serve your well-being. Mindfulness helps create a space between your experiences and your reactions. By focusing on your breath, noticing your body sensations, or engaging fully in a simple daily activity, you can observe your thoughts and feelings with curiosity, not fear or judgment.
This practice can be particularly helpful when you’re facing cravings or emotional triggers. Instead of reacting impulsively, you learn to pause, breathe, and choose a response that aligns with your recovery goals. Over time, mindfulness can help reduce stress and anxiety, making it easier to stay grounded and make choices that support your long-term well-being.
ACT Therapy: Embracing Acceptance and Moving Forward
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) is another tool that can be incredibly helpful in recovery. ACT is about learning to accept life’s challenges—like uncomfortable emotions and difficult thoughts—without letting them dictate your actions. Instead of fighting against these experiences or trying to avoid them, ACT encourages you to embrace them as a natural part of life.
In recovery, this means acknowledging your cravings, sadness, anger, or any other difficult feelings without letting them lead you back to substance use. It means recognising that these feelings are part of your journey but don’t have to define you or control your actions. ACT teaches skills like cognitive defusion, which helps you create distance from unhelpful thoughts. It also involves values clarification, which is about identifying what’s truly important to you and committing to actions that align with those values.
By focusing on what truly matters to you—whether that’s your health, your family, or your passions—you can start to build a life that’s not just free from addiction, but full of meaning and purpose.
Why These Methods Work
Why do mindfulness and ACT work so well in addiction recovery? They address both the emotional and cognitive aspects of addiction. Mindfulness helps you stay grounded in the present, reducing the power of cravings and negative thought patterns. ACT provides a framework for understanding and accepting these experiences while guiding you toward purposeful, value-driven living.
By integrating these practices into your recovery journey, you can develop the skills needed to navigate your emotions, reduce stress, and build a life that aligns with your deepest values. This, ultimately, leads to sustainable recovery.
The Power of Self-Compassion
Self-compassion is another key element in your recovery journey. I can’t stress enough how important it is. Recovery is not a straight path—there are ups and downs, good days and bad days. It’s easy to be hard on yourself when things don’t go as planned. But self-compassion means treating yourself with the same kindness, understanding, and patience that you would offer a friend in need.
In our support group, we often explore what self-compassion means to each of us. We reflect on how we speak to ourselves during difficult moments, challenge self-critical thoughts, and practice self-forgiveness. By nurturing self-compassion, you can soften the harsh inner dialogue that often accompanies addiction. This allows you to move forward with greater resilience and a deeper sense of self-worth.
Remembering Your Power of Choice
I want to share a quote that has been incredibly meaningful to me on my journey:
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space lies our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Viktor E. Frankl
In recovery, this “stimulus” can represent anything—a craving, a stressful situation, or a difficult emotion. The “response” is how we react. There are times when it feels like there’s no space at all between the urge to use and the act of using. But mindfulness and ACT can help us recognise and expand that space. This allows us to choose a response that aligns with our recovery goals.
Each time you make a conscious choice that aligns with your values and long-term goals, you reclaim a bit more of your life from addiction. It’s not about being perfect; it’s about making those choices, moment by moment, and growing from each one.
Conclusion: Finding Your Path to Freedom
Recovery is about more than just abstaining from substances. It’s about reclaiming your life, discovering your strengths, and building a future that’s rich with meaning and purpose. Mindfulness, ACT, and self-compassion are powerful tools that can help you on this journey. Remember, you are not alone. We are here to support you every step of the way.
If you ever feel overwhelmed or need a listening ear, please reach out to our support group at Aspire Recovery Connection. Together, we can navigate the challenges, celebrate the victories, and continue building a life free from addiction.
Stay strong, and remember: in every moment, you have the power to choose. Choose recovery. Choose life. Choose you.
Aspire Recovery Connection is here to support you on your recovery and well-being journey. Contact us today to learn more about our programs and support groups.
Addiction is not a moral failing; it’s a complex and deeply misunderstood experience that many individuals grapple with, often in silence. For years, societal attitudes have been shaped by campaigns like “Just Say No,” which, while well-intentioned, failed to address the nuanced psychological, emotional, and physiological factors that drive addiction. The result? A pervasive sense of shame among those affected, with many hiding their struggles behind a facade of normalcy.
At Aspire Recovery Connection, we understand that addiction is not just about substances or behaviours—it’s about an attempt to self-regulate the nervous system, often driven by a deep need for safety and stability. This perspective, rooted in compassion and understanding, forms the foundation of our new Drug & Alcohol (AOD) support group, starting Thursday, 29th August.
Moving Beyond Tradition: A Holistic Approach to Recovery
Traditional recovery models, while helpful for some, often emphasise rigid steps and strict abstinence, which can feel disconnected from an individual’s personal journey. Our new support group, led by Dan, our Peer Mentor Team Leader, and counsellor Jay, aims to break away from these conventions. We focus on innovative, compassionate methods that address the whole person—not just their addiction.
Authentic Conversations: Building Connection and Support
Central to our support group are the authentic conversations that take place in a relaxed, welcoming environment. These sessions provide a space for participants to share their stories, challenges, and victories over a cup of tea, fostering genuine connections. This sense of community is vital, as it reinforces the idea that recovery is a collaborative journey, not a solitary one.
Mindfulness: Anchoring in the Present
Mindfulness is another cornerstone of our program. Through practices like breathing methods, guided imagery, and other techniques, participants will enhance their awareness of the present moment, reducing stress and improving emotional regulation. By focusing on the here and now, individuals can better manage distressing thoughts and feelings, leading to a more balanced recovery process.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Embracing Emotions
Our support group also incorporates Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), an action-oriented approach that encourages participants to embrace their emotions rather than avoiding them. By accepting these feelings as natural responses to certain situations, participants can prevent emotions from obstructing progress and instead use them as a guide for meaningful action aligned with their personal values.
Rediscovering Your True Self
Recovery is not about becoming someone new; it’s about rediscovering and embracing who you were always meant to be, free from the chains of addiction. At Aspire Recovery Connection, we are here to support you in this profound journey of self-discovery and healing.
Join us at the Mile End office starting Thursday, 29th August, from 1-2pm, and take the first step towards reclaiming your true self. For more information or to book a spot, please reach out to us. We look forward to welcoming you to a recovery experience that honours and supports your unique path.
Where can you find your slow moments in-between your out-breath and in-breath?
What would happen if we lived our lives at a slower pace, that felt more connected to ourselves and our surroundings? What would this look like?
Slowing down and prioritising our well-being can be an unfamiliar concept to many of us – including myself but if we occasionally paused for thought, created space for moments of stillness and prioritized ourselves and self-care – what would that look like for you? How would life be/feel different for you?
Our mind, body, breath, and thoughts will either deplete or nourish our overall sense of wellbeing.
Breath is the cord that ties the soul to the body
– Brother Ramananda
Beginning the Journey
Where can we start to nourish our wellbeing? A great place would be booking a counselling session because this is a good opportunity for you to reconnect to yourself and your breathing while having the support of a professional by your side every step of the way. Sometimes it helps to have someone listen and help you decipher your emotions to gain clarity and relief, especially if you’re feeling overwhelmed, unhappy, or unsure of things. For today, let’s start with bringing our awareness to our thoughts and breath using the below practice as this mindfulness practice nourishes me even when I am met with resistance from my own thoughts in-between breaths.
Awareness exercise ~ to find a quiet moment in-between your breaths:
When you first wake, spend a few minutes focusing on your thoughts. Be open and curious about what goes on in your mind. This awareness allows you to become aware of your unfolding thoughts throughout the day.
Welcome your thoughts – whether they are negative, neutral, or positive. Sit with them and be open to learning about your thoughts.
Stay with your first thought. Avoid the tendency to increase negative thinking by adding other thoughts about how bad you are for thinking negatively. It’s okay! 😊
Bring acceptance to your thoughts, to the fact that negative thinking is a normal part of life. Everyone does it! We can adopt a softer approach, where you may even like to use a little humour to help you change your relationship with habitual negative thinking.
It’s okay to take a break from thinking! While it’s useful to be curious about your thoughts, it can be exhausting over thinking about what you’re thinking.
Then bring your awareness to your breathing. Observe the natural rise and fall of your chest and belly, as you breathe in and out.
You may like to breathe in for four counts, then breathe out for four counts. Then stay with this for a few minutes.
Then take your awareness into the space between the out-breath and in-breath. And just be with what you find in this space. Welcome the thoughts and feelings as they arise – negative, neutral, and positive. Then allow the breathing cycle to naturally take you to the next in-breath, out-breath, and then rest your awareness in the space in-between the next breath. Just be curious, open and kind to what you find in this space.
Reflecting on a Slower Pace
A reflection to sit with as you’re resting in-between breaths:
In this space between the outbreath and inbreath; quietly ask yourself “what would happen if I lived at a slower pace in my life?”
Take a moment to sit with: “what would a slower pace look like, feel like in my life?”
Trust what comes to you, and you may like to write down what inner guidance, thoughts or inspiration came through for you. Or if you prefer expressing your thoughts and feeling through creativity like journaling, drawing or painting – do that!
This is a practice you can do at the beginning of the day, anytime you’re feeling overwhelmed with your thoughts, or if you’re simply wanting to create some “me time” and tune in with you.
If you feel you need more support and would like to have a session with me, please get in touch, I am also available for outreach, coming to you in your own home where you feel comfortable and safe. Counselling provides you with a space where you can relax and learn simple effective ways in which to help you on your healing journey.
Enjoy creating the space to find moments of calm during your day between your breaths and perhaps consider what your slow moments are – whether that is going for a walk, learning to mediate, bringing more mindful moments into your day, discovering a new hobby that brings joy and spaciousness into your day, reading a book, or simply taking a long breath during those moments of overwhelm or busyness to bring you back to that place between your breaths.
Seeking slow moments between our breaths provide simple ways for you to slow down, just be and reconnect with yourself and surroundings.
If this practice or the concept around mindfulness has resonated for you, you may like to visit a couple of these websites:
While mindfulness is widely considered to be a method of stress relief, Thich Nhat Hanh has long taught that mindfulness is not a tool but a way of life.
We would love to hear how you have experienced the awareness and reflection practice.
With warmth,
Kate X
Author
Kate’s role at Aspire Recovery Connection encompasses a variety of services. In addition to being a counsellor, she offers outreach services and facilitates the Wise Minds group and Mindful Chair Yoga. Counselling is a powerful tool for uncovering your inner strengths and abilities to cope with emotional and mental distress. Kate values building a human-to-human relationship and takes an individualised approach to connect with you and discover what works best for you, recognising that you are the expert in your own life. With Kate’s help, you can develop a deeper understanding of yourself, learn new skills, and reconnect with your inner strengths, qualities, and resources. Our counselling space is safe, confidential, and provides an opportunity for you to share your story, be genuinely heard, and receive compassionate assistance in making sense of your experiences and overcoming challenges together. Kate collaborates with you, bringing her counselling skills with integrity and professionalism, while also valuing the lived experience and drawing upon her own at times to support you.
Counselling helps with distress associated with:
Trauma Anxiety & depression
Visions & voices
Suicidal thoughts
Dissociation & shame
To find out more about our Wise Minds groups or to book a counselling session with Kate please give us a call.
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