Keys For Recovery From Addiction -

Written By: Scott Compton

Addictions are often of “a lack” filling a deeper void, and usually require reflective self-work to figure out and identify where in a person the addiction is coming from not just the physical addiction that can take 16 to 21 days to ween off, but the mental/emotional patterning and behaviors that promote the cycle, which are deeper are in the subconscious. Think chocolate/coffee or sugar addiction first before tobacco.

For the biochemicals to hormone-shift like ghrelin, leptin and insulin, pancreatic and liver adjustments take time, often 21+ days to adjust to a lower sugar or caffeine environment in the body. Sun exposure, hydration, electrolyte status, quality of sleep, glycogen reserves and other factors play into it as well, but many of us are not considering the timeline in which a weening period may entail emotional stresses and mental fatigue when attempted.

The best way I’ve personally found over the years to deal with my own addictions is to be brutally honest internally, and once the cause is known, look into strategies that can ‘replace the lack’ with another activity or food thing. If the conscious mind understands why the subconscious is doing it, when the replacement activity occurs, it can help fill the void deeper for a greater chance of success.

Fortitude and willpower are needed, but often people tend to give up a few days or weeks into the process and can create walls against what the physical body is capable of. Take fasting for a moment… often the person at Time X cannot fast for more than 12 hours without a lot of struggles, but the person who has practiced fasting over the years often comes to find out the details about the specifics that lead to the past-failures… maybe not enough potassium or salts during a fast, maybe not enough sustaining foods before the fast to quench reserves that were lacking, maybe not enough exposure to nature, and probably, not doing the fast during less emotionally, mentally or physically-stressed times.

Want the key, then here it is: Having a stronger INTENTION to _visualize success_ what’s on the other side of weening off an addiction or accomplishing a goal that *feels daunting* helps to prepare the subconscious for the ride, rather than a sudden moment of stress. Visualization and intention strategies are, by far, great ways to cope with a near-future-weening of some suffering that gets the person across the finish line. If a person _expects_ moments of hunger, moments of being more tired than normal, moments of turmoil that could happen and so forth, then we can have strategies on all fronts (mental, physical, emotional and spiritual) at the ready to deal with this “temporary period of time” to get through it.

Like running a marathon, about every 3 miles, there are food and water stands along the way: someone prepared these break-stands in advance for running the full 26 miles. The marathon is not permanent, but a 26.2 moment in life, and a struggling marathon runner knows at Mile 21 there are only 5 miles left and visualizes crossing the finish line in the very near future. Imagine if society as a whole did this with something like sugar addiction, knowing that the reduction of sugar, corn syrups, agave nectars, etc. from the diet could be easily achieved after just 21 days of running that sugar marathon. The food industry may be forced to offer more products with far less sugar if society called out their game by refusing to buy products loaded with so much addiction.

Granted, the original guy who ran the Marathon died and didn’t have access to these replenishing stands. We need to figure out how to construct our own ‘nourishing stands’ during our self-work to get to the other side, and also not have such a rigid outlook about what it takes to complete our goals. It’s usually a matter of figuring out strategies that work for us as individuals and being flexible with the timelines we have created to continue our self-work during the process without giving up.

I can give you the knowledge needed to fuel your discipline and willpower, set up a session with me so that you can get through your marathon to reach your health goals!