Hi,
Today we're going to be talking about cravings.
These pesky,
Pesky feelings that come up for us when we are trying to quit drinking.
Or when we are trying to quit using.
Or when we are trying to quit whatever it is that has kept us stuck.
Toxic relationships.
You know,
The urge to do that thing that shreds our integrity,
That betrays ourselves and take us back to the day one that we are hoping to avoid.
Today,
We're going to unpack it.
We're going to understand what is a craving,
How to navigate it,
And why it's such a beautiful process to get started with the rest of the path ahead.
So let's talk a little bit first about the actual process of addiction.
Addiction basically is a process.
Of doing something that you said you weren't going to do because it's bringing consequences.
And you try.
And you find that you can't.
The word is so heavy.
So many people are so.
Oof,
It's so hard for them too.
Embrace.
That a process of addiction is happening in them.
It's very simple.
And one of the reasons why.
The craving takes us back there is because this addiction pattern is in fact a pattern that is also scientific.
There is a neurobiology to addiction.
There is an actual pattern underneath what we are just trying to do with our head that makes the choice with our head become impossible,
Right?
Addiction.
Is really about tagging a behavior.
In your brain as something that works.
Right?
If I drink.
And all of a sudden I can relax.
Or I enjoy time with my friends,
Or I feel lighter,
Or I can breathe,
Or what have you.
My brain says,
Ooh.
This is good.
And it tags it.
It tags it as a process that is good and that works and that we're going to go and chase.
When we need to.
And for many of us,
Well,
We need it often for a lot of things.
And so now my brain has tagged this action as something good,
Something to chase,
Something to do,
Which works.
Every time.
Most times,
And it works quickly.
Here's the problem.
Because of the actual chemistry.
Of something like an external drug,
Call it alcohol or hard drugs or any kind of drug.
Our brain isn't designed.
To have that amount of dopamine.
Dopamine is that motivation,
The go get it,
Right?
And when we go get it and it works so much and so big,
There is a lot of dopamine and our brains are not designed to have that.
And so yes,
We tag it,
But we also tag it in a way that is very loud.
How do you start feeling when you decide to not drink or not use?
And then a few days into it,
For some it stays,
Right?
For some it may be hours.
You start to get Really antsy.
You start to get,
You know,
And that's the craving.
The craving arrives almost like a dragon roar.
I call it the dopamine dragon because that dopamine that has been created in such a high level,
The kind that,
Like I said,
We're not designed to really have in our brain.
Has now fallen and it doesn't fall to normal levels it falls beneath normal levels and now In basal line,
We feel normal.
Here,
We feel very,
Very good.
We're supposed to be here,
But we're here.
And now it plummets and all of a sudden we feel very,
Very bad.
And our brain wants to come back.
To stasis.
Our brain wants to come back to this place where we feel okay.
Ideally,
Where we feel better than okay.
And so what it does,
Our brain says.
Ouch,
I'm lacking this.
I am lacking this chemistry that gets me to feel good.
And so now your brain down here starts to what?
Scream.
For the thing that makes it go back rapidly.
And so that is why a craving presents itself as a really violent impulse to go and do the thing that we said we weren't gonna do.
Because our brain screams for it.
When it shows up,
Many of us.
Feel like we don't have an option but to go and do the thing.
And our brain will tell us it's a great idea,
Right?
It presents.
This action of chasing the drink or the drug as a choice.
And the truth is we're not choosing.
Because when this whole process is happening,
When this dopamine dragon is roaring,
When our neurochemistry is so out of balance that we are screaming through this big craving,
The truth is we don't have the capacity to choose.
In fact,
The part of our brain which is the frontal lobe,
The executive center,
Which is In fact,
The part of the brain that chooses what's good and what's bad for you has gone offline.
When this process of addiction is happening.
It's so much louder than our capacity to choose rationally.
The reward system is lit up.
The dopamine dragon is roaring.
The craving screams.
And what do we do?
Well,
Normally we run to get the thing.
Just one last time.
Just one.
But it never is.
And so what do we do when we have a craving?
When we have this urge.
We learn.
To navigate.
We learn to surf it.
It is something that will begin.
We'll rise.
And it is done.
If you've ever sat with a craving,
That is exactly what it is,
But most of us don't ever get to this side because we can't.
And so what I want you to take from this is the following,
A craving is not a command.
There is a biology that is driving it.
But if you learn,
If you learn through your breath.
Through mantras.
Through movement.
Through meditation.
Through getting your head away from this obsession and plugging into something else.
Then all of a sudden you go through this urge and you're on the other side.
And that is a beautiful space that is created for you to do the deeper work.
I invite you to take the course that I have here on Insight Timer called The Craving Crusher.
In it,
I teach you 12 tools to navigate this craving.
Craving is not a command.
You can learn to get through it.
And when you get to the other side.
Everything changes.
Till the next time.
That you feel.
The craving.
And your brain is screaming,
And you feel like you're changing your mind,
Pause.
We center yourself.
And remember.
You can get through it.
Go take the course.
Go learn the tools.
This is not a command.
This is you learning to stay.
Thank you for being here.
Let's continue talking.
About sobriety,
About identity,
And about life redesigned.
