Our Sponsors are an important foundation of our online community. Please visit their websites.
Our Associate Sponsors provide valuable support to our community and help build 'The Wall'.
Our partners help move the Wired In agenda forward.
Join our community, create your own profile page, and communicate about what matters to you.
Wired In envisions a community that enables individuals to access the tools they need to support their own Recovery and the Recovery of others. Wired In envisions a safe and welcoming environment where knowledge and experience, celebration and loss, lessons learned and mistakes made can be shared openly.
First of all Happy New Year to you all! I’ve spent three weeks with my children here in Perth, who came over from Dubai where they live with their mother and step-father. It was wonderful – well most of time!
As most of you know, I have now stepped back from running the community, handing over to Michaela and Sarah. They’ve been doing an excellent job. We’ll soon start talking about and planning the future for the community.
I’ll be playing a very much more minor role in running the community, although I am not lost to the recovery field. I am planning to write a book and make a film on recovery. As there is lots to learn, read and research, I’m going to be quiet for some time whilst I move forward on these challenging ventures.
I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you about the links to content about mindfulness on Daily Dose yesterday.
The Mental Health Foundation (MHF) have launched a new website called Be Mindful, which contains content on the experience of mindfulness and the evidence showing that it can help people deal with a variety of physical and psychological problems.
A Surgery Toolkit can be purchased for a small sum (£20) which is of use to health professionals and Primary Care Trusts, and others. I provided a link to the Executive Summary of a report on the effectiveness of mindfulness. You can purchase the report.
I have also provided links to two key books on mindfulness and depression, one self-help guide (with accompanying CD) and the other a guide for professionals. These books are not just relevant to depression, but to all aspects of life.
There is no doubt in my mind that mindfulness is a powerful tool in helping people find recovery from addiction. I have written a past blog on mindfulness and I will be talking more about the topic in the future.
That’s all for now. Be back soon.
Have had a look at the website and it is a brilliant resource. I will be promoting it with uchooseit and services across Tameside. At last – something that is ‘user’ friendly.
Mindfulness is certainly a valuable new approach within the context of substance use treatment. Alan Marlatt is using it in all his new relapse prevention work, including Vipassana. Moving away from percieving it is a ‘hippy’ approach and looking at the evidence – it is going to have a huge impact on the field as will ACT and DBT.
There was a great little saying by Jack Kornfield about mindfulness that I can relate to about recovery as well. It says “ Sit your ass on a pillow, breathe and take what comes!”
Great resources thanks Dave. Will be having a read!
Always loved the mindfullness stuff served me very well in the early years and now on difficult days….. a min at time. Thanks David good to see you blogging x
I cursed the day i heard the word ‘mindfulness’ !!!!!!!
My counselor told me about it… and from then on it has followed me through these past 8 months like a chain round my neck…
Totally took the effectiveness out of me using my escaping techniques…
The first time i tried using a slot machine after i heard that dreaded word… i put my money in the machine… just wanting abit of escapism from myself and the outside world… and what happens… bang… this voice in my head pops up saying…
What you doin?
You know this want help…
What are you running away from?
Now you know louis this is just an escaping behaviour.. and the problem will still be there when you lose that money…
Blah
Blah
Blah
So… my escaping behaviours stopped working… i still try them every now and then… but over the months the voice has got stronger…
Now i am alittle more accepting of it… and the voice is there before i even get into the bookies… the first sign of me thinking of escaping from life in any way… and its there… trying to talk me out of it… well… not so much tryng to talk me out of it… but trying to reason with me over what i am about to do… sometimes i fight it… even tried listening to music on my head phones to try and drown it out… but its always there…
Sorry this has been alittle negative… but in all honesty i think you can tell i am alittle bitter towards this technique :o)
But if i have to give it a positive… grumble grumble
It does work :o(
Good to read your writings again David. Being present, aware and mindful is such a challenge to those of us who’ve spent a lifetime escaping. Like Louis says, it can be uncomfortable.
I like the emphasis on mindfulness in recovery and for me it fulfils spirtitual needs that other approaches don’t quite reach.
I don’t really know about mindfull stuff but going to try and learn.thanks for your message and you are so lucky to have that lovely hot weather. take care.x
Hope you enjoy you’re film-making course, i’m sure it will be amazing as will you’re film and book!
All the best
Danny
