Love it or fear it, meditation is one of the most important things and addict can do to get better. I’ve learned so much about meditation over the past decade that I could write a book in it. But for this post I’m going to focus on the why and how. 

So why is meditation crucial for an alcoholic? I have a disease that starts and ends in my mind. Meditation is spiritual and the spiritual heals the mind. Just like I need to lift weights to have strong muscles, I need to meditate to have a strong mind. 

Before I got sober, I lived in a one dimensional world. I was consumed by what went on between my ears, which was a constant obsession over alcohol or my fear. I knew no other experience and therefore I had no hope of getting better or changing. What I thought was the be all and end all of my human experience. 

When I got sober, I learned that I had an unsound state of mind that needed to be healed in order to stay sober. So how was I supposed to do that? For me, it was a combination of things like a recovery program, therapy, medication and meditation. All work together in their own way. Meditation works by creative another dimension of thinking and therefore another dimension of living. It creates or awakens another voice or stream of consciousness in my head that allows me to do two very important things. First, to not be stuck in the negative situation I lived in for so long and second to observe the negative situation from afar. 

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, that’s ok. Imagine flying in the rain. When you take off it’s dark, wet and stormy. But eventually you get above the clouds and it’s sunny once again. If you look down, you can see the clouds and rain but you’re no longer in it. It’s all the same atmosphere, but they both coexist. That’s what meditation does. It pulls you out of the clouds and allows you to view them rather than be stuck in them. 

What’s so great about that? Well, the obvious. It’s less miserable. But – even better – is now you aren’t living from that negative place. When I was in that negative headspace all the time, I made every decision from that place. Every decision from what I ate to what I wore to my career and love life. My existence was tainted by fear and negative thoughts. 

Another great benefit of meditation is training your mind to stay present or return to the present moment. When I first got sober, I dreaded the present moment. My natural state is uncomfortable so I lived my life out of the present moment as much as I could.  When I think of escaping, I was escaping the moment and my discomfort. But I’ve learned over time that the present isn’t so bad. Combined with all the work, I’m much less uncomfortable than I was (and it continues to get better!). But I’m still hard wired to escape. Meditation re-wires my brain to return to the present moment. The present is where it all happens! 

The biggest complaint I hear about meditation is that your mind is too all over the place to meditate. Or when you try to meditate, your mind goes nuts. It’s supposed to! You do not need a quiet mind to meditate. Just the opposite is true. If your mind is a mess, like most people’s are, meditation is the perfect place to start. 

As I said earlier, I have a lot to say about meditation. But I want to talk about how to meditate. There are so many ways and the only thing that matters is finding a way that works for you. You can try guided meditation via an app or YouTube. Or take a meditation class for a specific form of meditation, like transcendental. If neither of those appeal to you, I simply sit and count to 250 and back down to zero. 

When I start counting, I’m alert and it’s easy to pay attention to the numbers. But, inevitably my mind wanders and I’m counting on auto pilot. As soon as I realize it, I pause, take a deep breath and resume counting. I just do that over and over again until I make it back to zero. I used to just listen to a local sound, like a fan or an air conditioner. I’d concentrate on the noise for as long as I could stay conscious. Same as with counting, I’d catch my mind wandering over and over again. I’d follow the same pattern on taking a deep breath and refocusing my attention on the sound. That refocusing strengthens your mental muscles! 

I started with 3 minutes a day and worked my way up to 15 minutes over the course of 3 months. Do what works for you, but just do it! The best part is there are no good or bad meditations. They are all fantastic because the only thing that matters is the act and commitment of doing it. 

I’ll leave you with an example of how meditation will changed my life. For me, it lowered my anxiety big time. Overall and in specific situations. I used to walk around and create a list of things to do based on what I’d see and hear. I’d see a sock on the ground and think to myself “oh, I need to pick up that sock. Add it to the list.” That “list” was filled with anxiety-provoking things I needed to accomplish in order to be ok. It could be a simple as picking up a sock or as serious as getting a mole checked at the dermatologist. In any event, that list would run through my head throughout the day, coming with it a pang of anxiety or dread. 

When I started meditating, something miraculous happened. Instead of thinking about picking up the sock, I simply picked it up the same moment I noticed it. No thought process and no list. I scheduled the dermatologist appointment rather than stressing over it for months. I started doing rather than thinking about doing. It may sound small or even stupid, but I assure you that eliminating the perpetual list in my head has eliminated a ton of anxiety. 

That’s my pitch for meditation. I hope it helps you get started on your own journey!