Step 4 - Meditation For Addiction Recovery

Meditation Step 4. This the fourth step in a series of 12 for addiction recovery. Find a place where you're comfortable. Close your eyes and stay with smooth, rhythmic breathing. Whenever the mind begins to wander always come back to the sound of your own breath. Namaste!

Transcript

Guided Meditation.

I make a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself.

In this meditation,

You'll have the opportunity to explore what it means to come to terms with your personal shortcomings,

Face the truth about yourself,

And thrive as a result.

Guided Meditation.

Make yourself comfortable and close your eyes.

Take a slow,

Deep breath and let go of any tension in your body as you feel yourself sinking into the surface you're resting on,

Becoming still more comfortable and relaxed.

Take another slow,

Deep breath and feel a sense of calm and peace begin to fill you as you relax further.

And take another slow,

Deep breath and let your thinking begin to wind down and smooth out as you become still,

Comfortable,

And relaxed.

Imagine you've been sleeping a deep,

Sound sleep for many hours and you're just beginning to stir awake.

Then the first thing you notice is that you're waking up on a soft bed of pine needles on the ground surrounded by ancient fir trees.

It's just before dawn and the air is quite cool.

The light is dim and there's a foggy mist in the air.

You can smell the scent of pine and the damp coolness of the earth.

It's quiet and any sound is blanketed by the mist.

Everything is a palette of soft greens,

Browns,

And grays.

Waking up you begin to walk along the path through the trees and you can feel the spongy ground beneath your feet.

Perhaps you still feel a bit foggy from your sleep,

But soon you come to a little spring,

Cup your hands to get a drink,

And splash some of the cool,

Clear water on your face.

Now you're beginning to wake up a bit and see the trees and plants that surround you more clearly.

Take another look at the spring and you'll notice the pool of water form just below it,

Clear and bright.

As you look into the pool you see your face reflected back.

Look more closely at your reflection and you may notice a mask you often wear,

One that pretends that all is well and you're not bothered by how your life has been going.

This mask helps you hide from others how you truly feel,

So you won't have to see true feelings reflected back to you in their eyes.

As you continue to look at your reflection something disturbs the water and your mask disappears.

Your face changes and you watch as a whole series of emotions pass over it,

Fear,

Sadness,

Anger,

Resentment,

Shame,

Jealousy.

Not things you enjoy being aware of,

But then the time has come in your journey for you to finally uncover the truth,

So you have the opportunity to change.

It's time to get real and you're ready to do that now.

Walking along further you come to the natural amphitheater you discovered not so long ago.

A small stage formed by rocks surrounded by trees with places to sit and watch the stage,

Rest and contemplate.

Find a place to sit and make yourself comfortable.

Nature has prepared this place just for you,

So settle in and feel the peace and tranquility that seems to embrace you here.

A hologram begins to form on the stage and soon you see it's a scene from your life in which you were in conflict with one or more other people.

Watch this scene unfold as clearly and as completely as you possibly can.

Take a few moments to do this.

They say that no two people experience the same event in the same way,

So now watch that same scene and this time see it unfold as if it were entirely from the other's point of view,

From their experience.

Pay particular care to how they felt about you and how they may have felt you were responsible for the conflict.

Take a few moments with this.

Now the scene fades and you disappear from the stage,

But the others who were involved turn and face you in the audience.

If they were angry or upset before,

You can see that now they have softened and are looking at you with neutrality or even with love and compassion.

They have no ill will toward you at this point and simply want to help you in any way they can.

Allow them to speak to you now with kindness,

But also with total honesty and tell you the truth about yourself.

Let them say the things you may have known,

But have been afraid to really hear.

Take a few moments to listen carefully to what they have to say and simply let it in.

As you continue to sit in the amphitheater,

You begin to notice that you're not alone in the audience.

Other people are sitting with you as they silently materialize around you one by one.

Before long,

There are so many people in the audience they overflow beyond the amphitheater and soon stretch out as far as the eye can see.

The reason there seem to be so many is that the whole human race is in the same position you're in.

Every one of us is flawed.

Every one of us is imperfect.

And all of us have made mistakes and will continue to do so.

And sooner or later we all have to face the truth in order to change for the better.

To err is to be human.

It's time to know your imperfections,

Accept them,

And move on.

Take another look at the stage and you'll see another hologram of yourself.

In this image you are sitting at a desk,

Perhaps with pen and paper or at a computer screen typing.

Can you listen deeply within,

Know the truth about yourself,

And survive?

With less to hide,

With fewer masks to wear,

It's much easier to live.

A dark and heavy cloud surrounds you as you write a list of your own shortcomings.

But as you continue and come to the end of your list,

The cloud begins to lift.

Watch yourself on stage as you learn and know your truth,

Face it,

And come out of the experience lighter,

Simpler,

And freer.

Take some time to watch this scene unfold.

It's almost time to bring this inner journey to a close.

So gather together anything you have learned that you would like to bring with you.

Gradually bring your awareness back into your body and your physical surroundings.

Take a slow,

Deep breath,

And on the exhalation let go of any tension and worries.

Breathe until gently wiggle your fingertips,

Bringing new life and energy back into your body.

Take your time,

And when you're ready,

Gently open your eyes and feel awake,

Alert,

And refreshed.

Pick up your pen and paper and write about your experience now while it's still fresh in your mind.

Later on,

Revisit this meditation and learn more.

Reviews

As I start work on Step 4 I found this an enlightening and motivational meditation. The imagery of the ampitheatre and being an observer will, hopefully, get me past my “writers block”. Thank you.

Interesting process. Thank you for your help. I'm not sure I can visualize people I have hurt being compassionate towards me right now, but I might try it again later and see if things have shifted. Thank you for this meditation.

An amazing expierence 💞