Hello,
My name is Brian Hyman.
Welcome to this meditation for working with triggers in addiction recovery.
Today we will focus on what happens when we notice a trigger and what we can do about it.
Let's find a comfortable position.
Find a posture that is comfortable for you.
You can sit cross-legged,
On a chair,
On a couch,
On the floor.
Find a way to bring comfort to your body.
Find a way to relax your body.
And perhaps place your hands in your lap or on your knees.
Close your eyes and begin to settle in.
Let's take an inhale together.
And exhale,
Release the breath.
Relax your shoulders.
Relax your jaw.
Relax the muscles around the eyes.
Again,
Deep inhale.
And exhale,
Let it go.
Feel where you are.
The floor beneath you,
Or the chair,
Or the couch.
Feel the space around you.
Last time,
Deep inhale.
And exhale,
Let it go.
Continue to breathe consciously.
Breathe with awareness.
And continue to soften the body.
Relax the body.
Become aware of any sensations,
Or feelings,
Emotions,
Or thoughts that come up throughout this meditation.
To become aware of these types of things is to direct our attention.
Without judgment or discrimination,
Simply observe any fluctuations within the mind,
Any comfort or discomfort in the body.
As best as you can,
Simply be.
Be with what comes up mentally,
Emotionally,
Physically,
And spiritually.
Without feeling a need to change anything,
Or modify anything.
As best as you can,
Just be with things as they come up.
Begin to bring awareness into your feet.
Bring awareness into your hands.
Begin to direct your mind to these specific areas of the body.
Bring awareness to the space around your heart.
Begin to bring awareness to the top of the head.
Let's take an inhale together.
And exhale,
Let it go.
Again,
Deep inhale,
Breathing with awareness.
And exhale,
Release the breath.
Last time,
Inhale together.
And exhale,
Let it go.
Begin to open the eyes.
Take in what you see around you.
Forms,
Colors.
What we worked on today was to just be with things as they are.
So the next time we feel triggered,
Either externally by people,
Places or events or experiences,
Or internally from our feelings or thoughts or emotions or memories,
We can use the practice from today,
The act of simply being with things as they are,
As a coping skill.
The next time we get irritated,
For example,
We can notice the anger,
Notice how it feels in the body,
And breathe.
The next time we notice jealousy or judgment,
Rage,
Fear,
We can name these things.
We can say hello to these things.
We can befriend these feelings and emotions,
And we can breathe with them.
This is one of many practices that we can do instead of reaching for unhealthy or unwholesome behaviors,
Instead of reaching for drugs or alcohol or other things.
This is courageous work to just be with things as they are.
But it's powerful,
And it's transformative.
Thank you for practicing today.
Wishing you well on your journey.
