Healing Addiction

Bring compassionate awareness to the part of you that is stuck in an addictive pattern. Using the 3 steps of Move Toward(TM) (notice, know, need) which is shorthand for the cutting-edge Internal Family Systems (IFS) approach, Jenna gently guides you to an entirely new way to heal the addictive role a part of you has been stuck in.

Transcript

Welcome to Move Toward with Jenna.

In today's guided meditation,

We're going to move toward and get to know a part of you that is trying to help you by acting out in some addictive way.

And we're going to get to know this part of you by the three simple steps of Move Toward,

Which are notice,

Know,

And need.

So when you feel ready,

Gently begin to settle into your body and take one or two slow,

Deep cleansing breaths in through the nose and out through your mouth.

And gently draw your awareness to the part of you that is engaged in acting out addictively.

If this part of you doesn't come to mind right away,

That's okay.

Just gently allow your attention to float backward until you can remember the last time that this part of you was really activated.

You might get an image of this part of you or a sense of it in your body,

Mind,

Or emotion.

And so now you're ready to take the first step,

Which is simply to notice it with an open heart.

So as you become aware of this part,

Can you simply notice how it's showing up in or around your body?

You may experience it in some physiological sensations or perhaps some emotions or thoughts,

Maybe an image in your mind's eye.

However you're noticing it is exactly right for you.

Once you have a sense of this part of you,

I'd like to invite you to try something that you may have never done before.

Welcome this part of you.

Now there may be other parts of you that don't like the part that's trying to help you by acting out addictively.

Let those parts of you know that their feelings and their thoughts about it are really valid and they matter.

And if they'd be willing to give you just a little bit of space just for a few minutes to be with the addicted part open heartedly,

That you might be able to help it not have to do what it's doing.

And so with that appreciation to the parts of you that may not like the part that's acting out,

See if you can gently allow your attention to be with the acting out part,

Welcoming it with no effort to shift it or change it in any way.

Knowing that this is a good part of you,

Meaning it's a part that's trying to help you avoid some kind of pain.

It's just gotten stuck in a bad role.

If you'd like to,

You can even place your hand on the part of your body where you're noticing this part,

Almost in a,

Just a gesture of welcome.

Let it know that for the next few minutes it's very welcome here and you'd like to get to know it.

And so if you're beginning to have a sense of open heartedness,

Maybe some curiosity or compassion for this part of you that's gotten stuck in this addictive role,

Then you're ready to move on to step two,

Which is simply know.

You can ask this part of you what it wants you to know about why it gets activated and takes you over to make you act out.

You may want to ask this part of you what it's afraid would happen if you didn't act out in that moment.

You may want to ask this part of you where it first learned how to try to help you avoid that negative outcome in this way.

And with these questions,

Don't worry about trying to figure out the right answer.

Just wait and see if something comes to mind.

And if an earlier memory in your life comes up when you ask this part where it first learned how to try to help you in this way,

Just know that this part has probably been doing the job that it's been doing ever since that period of time in your life.

See if you can extend some appreciation and gratitude towards it.

And when this part of you has had an opportunity to share with you whatever it wants you to know about how it got stuck in this role of acting out or what it's afraid would happen if it didn't make you act out,

Then you can simply move on to step three,

Which is need.

Ask this part of you what it needs from you to feel just a little more comforted and a little less activated when it gets triggered.

And again,

You don't need to figure it out.

Just wait and see if anything comes to mind.

What do you need from me to feel a little more comfortable,

A little less panicked,

A little less activated?

And if something comes to mind that this part needs in your inner world,

It might just really appreciate being welcomed and not shunned and hated.

It might want a metaphorical hug or just a break.

It might need to sit down in a chair and have a rest.

If anything of that nature comes to mind for you,

It's your own internal imaginal experience.

So go ahead and create whatever it would like internally and then notice how this part of you feels.

Or you may notice that this part of you is giving you a sense that it needs you to do something in your external world so that it doesn't have to take you over so often.

It might need you to manage your stress more effectively or set a boundary or make an amends and tell the truth or be vulnerable and honest and ask for relationship or connection.

It might need you to use your voice or to ask for help.

And if anything of that nature came to mind for you,

Go ahead and just see if it would be something that you feel like you could actually take a step towards doing.

And if so,

Set an intention with this part of you that you will take a step in that direction so that it doesn't have to take you over quite so often.

And notice how this part of you feels now.

Notice how different this is than moving against this part of you and trying to force it to stop.

But when we move toward these well-intentioned parts of us that are good parts that have gotten stuck in bad roles,

We can understand how they're trying to help and we can help them much more effectively so that they can be released from the difficult jobs that they hold inside of us.

So when you feel ready,

Thanking this part of you for showing up and communicating with you today and maybe taking one or two deep cleansing breaths and returning your attention to the room outside of you and opening your eyes again if they've been closed.

And as always,

I'd invite you to take a moment or two just to journal what may have come up for you during this meditation.

You may notice that in about 30 minutes to an hour,

This work will become a little fuzzy for you and that's normal.

It's just because we've switched the parts of the brain that we're speaking to and journaling is a helpful way to remember what this part shared with you today.

So thank you,

My friends,

For joining me in moving toward the part of you that's trying to help you by acting out addictively.

If this has interested you,

You're welcome to come to movetoward.

Com and check out more of my free resources.

Until next time,

This is Jenna.

Thanks for joining me.

Reviews

An incredibly helpful meditation exercise. Guiding me to move towards and accept with loving kindness those parts of me which I have been judging unfavorably for so long. Thank you Jenna 🙏 I look forward to continuing with this invaluable work 💫✨

Thank you for your kind and supportive words, great inner reflection with this meditation

Thank you! I was feeling so triggered by myself. But now I feel calm. Was surprised about what came to mind. I was not expecting it. 🙏🌻💓

It helped me see another side of me and helped me in the end, pretty good! 👌

Sweet and short focused session using IFS parts to address addiction

I would say that I am hooked...
This is a really good way to help heal.

Thank you!

Thank you. I’m going to try to befriend this part of myself who is only trying to love me through an addictive behavior. 🧡

Absolutely wonderful. I'm in early recovery and this has done so much for my perspective.

I could picture the me that is trying to help. This was powerful.

This was so interesting Jenna, thank you. I’ll explore more of your work 💞🙏🏻💞

Lovely thank you x

Amazing thank you

Thank you 🙏🏼

Phenomenal🙏

Amazing

Really helpful way of looking at addictive behaviour. Reminded me of Mary Oliver's poem 'Love Sorrow'
Thank you

Thank you

Excellent with some insightful questions to ask your inner addict.

Thank you for this positive perspective towards an area of struggle. I never thought to look at it in such a way and actually welcome it and give it space.

Very helpful. I hadn’t thought of it that way before