Introduction to Mindfulness - Dean Amory

Participant 2
How was the course helpful to you in your recovery?
It was very helpful because it confronted one of the many things you
run from as an adult – the mind-body connection, and the spiritual
element that’s there by default. It confronted it in a gentle way as
well. It was very compatible with the 12 steps; it didn’t clash in any
way with the ideology of the 12 steps.
It would have been a problem if it did… thought, prayers, meditation,
conscious contact with yourself… the Mindfulness course did all of
that..
[Speaking about the mind-body disconnection that occurs in
addiction]
I walked around for 2 years with a shoulder that was out when I was
addicted…. I did register the pain, got migraines etc., I felt it severely,
but I was still running from it, wouldn’t confront it.
The notion of the moment: walking in the moment, brushing your
teeth… I feel like I’m doing it as supposed to projecting into the next
thing where I’m supposed to be doing, doing what I should be doing.
Because usually I’ve done something before I even start tackling it,
my head’s gone on to the next problem.
I confronted the notion of slowing down in the moment, confronted
as supposed to spoke about it. There’s kind of nowhere to go with it
– it’s confronted in a practical rather than an academic way. He
(Tony) spoke of meditation, and the next thing he hits the gongs and
you’re doing it. Because it can seem very fluffy and intangible
otherwise. Learning through doing makes it more challenging in every
way.
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