The Holidays- Tough Times For Many Addicts

As the winter holidays approach quickly, I want to remind everyone that this is not always a peaceful and joyous time for everyone. The holidays can be triggers that stir up emotions, needs, and memories, which can be the catalyst for an addict to relapse. Although my philosophy is not that of a hard core 12 stepper, I do like some of the tips they give, such as never get too hungry or too tired, and always have the name and phone number of a sponsor or friend to call in those times where you feel your resistance wearing down. I would like to mention Bach Flower Remedies because it is a healing modality that I have neglected, but has great value. Flower essences provide strong support to help you break addictions. Whether it be food, sugar, sex, drugs, tobacco or alcohol there are many Bach flower essences to help you end your addiction. Treating addiction with flower essences takes aim at the emotional and psychological roots of addiction giving great psychological support, important because of the strong emotional component addictions have. Aside from Bach flowers, there is a whole array of modalities that can be used to support recovery, including homeopathy, to paper doctor or Sai Sanjeevini prayer patterns (they both have one for addiction), to color and sound therapy, but there great uses, and discussion of such, can be found in many of my other articles. As for the Bach flower remedies, you can take any one of the following solo or in combination. 4 times a day is good, but take it more often if needed- can’t overdose or get aggravation from an abundance of remedy. Get to know these remedies and their uses- choose from the following list or dowse for the remedy/remedies that will most benefit you;

Agrimony: this flower essence is for emotional honesty; it treats the painful emotions that are often the root of addiction.

Cherry Plum: is for when you feel you are at a breaking point, experiencing great suffering and are about to lose control. You may also find you’re trying desperately to control feelings. Cherry plum is a light-filled essence that promotes growth and calmness while dealing with inner turmoil.

Chestnut Bud: this flower essence is for learning from mistakes. Often addiction is a repeated pattern, this essence helps to break the pattern by strengthening the mind to make a new choice.

Crab Apple: this flower essence is for Obsessive/Compulsive behavior and the feelings of shame and/or uncleanliness that can accompany addiction.

Honeysuckle: this flower essence supports living in the present. It supports us to leave the past behind and focus our emotional energy in the present. This flower essence gets you out of addictive patterning that is tied to the past. It helps you to accept life as it is.

Pine: this flower essence frees you from guilt and shame that can accompany addiction.

Rock Rose: this flower essence is for intense feelings that accompany the end of an addiction. This essence helps one to stay centered and remain grounded and deal with challenging circumstances.

Sweet Chestnut: this flower essence supports positive hopeful feelings when we feel we are stuck in the dark. Sweet chestnut offers spiritual support in times of struggle.

Walnut: this flower essence is a spell breaker, helping to ‘break the spell of the past.’ Addictive behavior can linger in the mind and walnut frees the psyche from past limiting influences. This helps you to make a healthy transition and give you the courage to follow your own path in life.

It is not only addicts that may suffer during these highly emotionally charged events called ‘the holidays’- consider the terminally ill, the war torn, the homeless, and the lonely. Tom’s Happiness Formula would surely perk them up, but really what these folks need is a lot of love and survival support. You can use the holidays as a time to bestow. Show your love and appreciation to your spouse, courageously reach out to a relative who dislikes you, bring a Thanksgiving plate down to the homeless man at the corner, take your Christmas gift fund money and buy a washing machine for a very hard working lady, or whatever you may choose to do, but do it for someone else.