Relapsed... i wanna try the spiritual route this time, any tips?

Im here to tell you guys and girls that gonzo relapsed again :cry:
I was 76 days clean but yesterday i fucked up, really bad. Left home and ended up doing a 12hr cocaine binge. My family was looking for me till this morning and thought i had died.
Honestly im starting to think that this will never stop, the relapses. I can manage it for months, almost a year last year but it always happens again.
So i was watching a video today from russel brand (i dont like his videos very much, seems bs) and he said the only way he got out of addiction was via the spiritual route. I wanna try that because its the only thing i havent tried so far.
However, im not religious or spiritual, so is it even possible for me to try thatthing? I dont believe in higher power or all that stuff but theres a lot of people that mention the god/spiritual thing.
Does anyone here uses this spirituality thing? Can you guys and girls share some tips?
One thing i did today was to sign up for volunteer service in an hindu temple here in the mountains :blush: maybe thats a good start, spending weekends in nature helping others far from the craziness of our lives. :blush:

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I go to meetings and witwork a 12 step program. Works pretty well for me and Iā€™m now 16+ months sober.

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@Mephistopheles has some good stuff for you on how he looks at spirituality. Iā€™ll tag you in a few other threads that might help. There will be a lot of different views in those threads. I suggest you take what you need from them and leave what ya donā€™t.

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Try Buddhism. The mindfulness and meditation part of Buddhism. Read Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn. I also do AA/NA. Being in the present moment is very spiritual in of itself. Explore and have fun with it.

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You may find this book helpful in your journeyā€¦

No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering

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Donā€™t fret the spiritual route. Listen to what makes you happy. I grew up going to church and hated it until recently. I have found the god of my misunderstanding is definitely not the God of my understanding these days. Your decision to volunteer is great but remember spirituality can come from anything! If you enjoy the mountains time alone with nature can help a person find peace. Also the 12 step of AA/NA is a very good start. Your god doesnā€™t have to be my God. Your journey through sober living will only happen when your at peace. This will happen through fellowship like this blog and also in the doors of meetings. There is nothing to fear. I used to feel as if I were the only person who understood my situation as a alcoholic/drug addict until I realized that addiction is more than just drugs and alcohol. It can be the shame, guilt and fear that a person carries around for years. Any less than nurturing experience in a persons life can make them hold onto resentments and letting go of those things are tough. It wasnā€™t until I found my higher power in work in my life daily, that I realized what he had given to me instead of being ashamed for who I was becoming. My past year was great not drinking but the anger I carried inside made me miserable and ultimately led to relapse along with other poor decisions. Be strong my friend!

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Thereā€™s s load of stuff on here regarding what you are asking.
Try searching it up.
Iā€™m not religious, donā€™t believe in a god as we are taught by the Christian faith.
But believe that there is a power greater than me.
There has to be because Iā€™m not the centre of the universe.
The way Iā€™ve seen it is there is a voice, a power or strength deep within us all that can be considered to be connected to this great power.
Through meditation, prayer or just letting myself be open to this thought has given me the power to be sober for 15 months.
I donā€™t work the steps, donā€™t spend hours in meditation, but I am aware of the overall goodness of this force.
The spiritual change can also be seen as a change within ourselves. A fundamental change, often in how we perceive ourselves within the world.

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I tried meditation and still try. I can manage to get my mind clean from all thoughts for a while. But it just doesnt do anything for me. :neutral_face:

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Thank you, i will try that :+1::blush:

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Thank you and @Riv for the ideas. I thinnk what you said is powerful and can definitely help me: let myself be open to the thought of a power greater than me. I also believe in that.

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Where do you go to these meetings online? I might wanna try that.
Also, can we get an sponsor online?

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Thanks, i will check it out! :+1::blush:

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If spiritual is hard, maybe go the humanist route? Doing volunteer work, etc, has a lot of the being part of a group, helping others, without the pesky God part.

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Thats what i was thinking too. Its great to help other people. I will try to get my kids to join.

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Love this suggestion!!

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I am a Christian and have been struggling with alcohol for a while, living a double life I guessā€¦ until I gave in and gave it all to God. I went to a revival service, got baptized and recieved the Holy Spiritā€¦ after having an encounter with God and feeling his light shine through my soul, I am completely changed. It was the most peaceful thing Iā€™ve ever experienced, and Iā€™m so thankful. I have been going to a different church for over a year and never really felt his presence until I went to a church full of The Holy Spirit!!! Focusing on The Father, The Son Jesus Christ, and you canā€™t forget The Holy Spirit. He is real, just give it to God. He had to literally re-wire my brain to stop being dependent on alcohol to solve my problems. Now I have peace ā€¦ never thought this would be me, but it is!! And he saved me from myself, and can save you too! God Bless

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Could you describe how the encounter with god was? A near death experience? Something specific? And how do you feel his light shinning your soul? I know my questions are kind of stupid but these experiences sometimes feel too abstract to me.

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Not stupid questions at all. I didnā€™t think it was real beforeā€¦ but recieving the Holy Spirit is AS REAL AS IT GETS. so the church had revival service every Sunday at 6 and they do water baptism until early hours in the morning. Long story short they have a prayer team, pretty much people anoited by God to pray and help heal others. This older guy prayed for me, placed anoiting oil on my forehead while praying and asked God to let me ā€œrecieveā€ his holy presence and I felt my hand shaking from Godā€™s power, and then a white light came in through my eyes and as I fell back they layed me on the ground and I layed there with my eyes closed for about 30 seconds with this white/ pink bright light flowing though meā€¦ (I couldnā€™t open my eyes while this was going on) but it was such a feeling of true peace, like everything is going to be okay. Wasnā€™t planning on that happening at all, but it did. I literally drank jack Daniels that morningā€¦ and Jesus met me, and with his presence I am freeā€¦ And Iā€™m still in aweā€¦ the church is a non denominational but I think they lean towards pentacostal, without praying in touges throughout the service.

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Thats a very interesting story. Id love to experience something like that. Maybe god can shine his light on people that doesnt believe in him.

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I didnā€™t believe in God for a long time, but God never stopped believing in me. When I got out of rehab I got down on my knees and begged God to help me. I begged for him to remove the obsession and compulsion to drink. My higher power has been with me ever since.

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