Step Eleven: Coming Home To Yourself, A Recovery Meditation

A guided meditation for anyone in recovery, centered on Step Eleven, prayer, meditation, and improving conscious contact with a Higher Power (however you understand it). Through breath awareness and body relaxation, it creates space for prayer as “talking” and meditation as “listening,” inviting reflection on resentments, fears, or gratitude.

Affirmations (“I am willing… I don’t have to do this alone… I can trust the next right step”) reinforce surrender and connection, easing the isolation common in addiction and reminding listeners recovery is about returning, not perfection.

Helps with: recovery support, spiritual connection, surrender, self-forgiveness, resentment release, daily Step Eleven practice

Practice type: guided meditation, prayer/meditation hybrid, mindfulness, breath awareness, 12-step spiritual practice

Transcript

Welcome, Guys. Welcome, Friends. We are doing a five minute guided meditation. Step 11, Coming home to yourself. Let's take these next five minutes as a gift to your recovery. This is an opportunity to slow down. Become present and reconnect with yourself. Mindfulness invites us to gently notice this moment without judgment. We don't have to change our thoughts. Solve our problems, Or have all the answers right now. We simply practice being here. Whether today feels peaceful, Overwhelming, Hopeful, Uncertain, Or somewhere in between, All of you, Every part of you, Is welcome. So as we spend this time together, You're invited to practice meditation in whatever way feels meaningful to you. There is no one right way to meditate, Just as there is no one right way to experience recovery. You may want to focus on your breath. Sit quietly in stillness. Repeat a prayer or affirmation. Listen to guidance from your higher power. Or simply notice what arises with curiosity. And compassion. If it feels comfortable, Gently close your eyes or soften your gaze and take a slow breath in. In the long. Again, Breathing in. And breathing out. And one more time, Breathing in. And breathing out. Shoulders to soften. Relax your jaw. And maybe get curious. Notice the places in your body that have been working so hard to carry you through today. And see if they can soften. Even just a little. In this meditation, We're reflecting on step 11. Salt through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God. Praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out. One simple way to think about it is prayer is talking to God and meditation is listening. And what I love about this is God can mean many things. Perhaps it's the God, The understanding of your religious tradition. Perhaps your higher powers, Love itself? Or maybe it's the quiet wisdom found in nature. The wind moving through the trees on a warm summer evening. The steady pull between the moon and the tides. The remarkable patterns of science. Or even good orderly direction, Grace, A group of drunks who understand your journey, Or simply whatever reminds you that you don't have to do it alone. There is no wrong place to begin, And recovery teaches us that we don't have to have all the answers before we start. In fact, Trying to practice Step 11 is Practicing step 11. Now let's bring your awareness back to your breathing. Notice the inhale. And notice the exhale. As thoughts arise, You don't have to chase them away. Many of us substances became a way to leave ourselves and step 11 is one of the ways we find our way home again home to our breath our values our hearts to ourselves and we don't have to rush so allow yourself a few quiet minutes now and if you wish silently offer a prayer to your higher power and i'll pause here Now spend a few minutes simply listening, Not searching, Striving, Just listening. If thoughts come, Let them drift by like clouds. If an answer comes, Welcome it gently. If only silence comes, Let's just let that be enough. So I'm gonna pause here again. If words are arising naturally, Wonderful. If not, You have the option of repeating one of these affirmations silently to yourself. I am. You don't have to do this alone. I can trust the next step. I am learning to come home to myself. Is available to me today. I am exactly where I need to be in my recovery today. So let's simply rest in silence and repeat whatever affirmation connected with you or your own prayer or affirmation. So I'll pause here again. Just welcoming you back. I want to take a moment here. To remind you to thank yourself for showing up today. Because showing up is practicing and every time you make space for prayer and meditation. You strengthen your recovery and your relationship with your higher power. So let's take one final breath in. And slowly let it go. Notice how you feel right now without judging it. Whatever is here is welcome. So I wish that when you leave this meditation, You may have a little more peace, A little more courage, And a little more trust in yourself and your higher power. Ready, Gently bring your awareness back into the room. Taking one more easy breath. And carry this sense of presence with you into the rest of your day. Welcome back and well.