Not the talking cure. Non-verbal activities that aid recovery.

[Dickon]

When it comes to recovery, there is much made of counseling, 12 step fellowships, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and 1001 other verbal treatments/therapies/call them what you will.

It is uncontroversial to say that the verbal does not constitute the whole picture of recovery, but what I'd like to do is construct a list of non-verbal "things" (for want of a better word) what various members found helpful in recovery. Things that come to mind are meditation, sport, yoga, martial arts, dancing, weight training, but I'm sure there are many things I've not considered. I'd like to get as much detailed information as possible, so this can thread can become a resource for people seeking to get clean, or who have got clean. Here is a list of questions that might prove useful to think about:

a) What is it [be as specific as possible]?
b) Why did you get into it?
c) Did you find it useful? If so, how? If not, why not?
d) Was it especially useful for recovery from a/some particular drug/s?
e) Was it useful at a particular time in recovery, or do you think it is equally useful however far along you are?
f) Would you recommend it? If so, would you recommend it to everyone, or just to a certain subclass of people. Who?

Let me begin:

Meditation

This is a huge subject, and I hope people with more experience than I will talk about more formal meditative methods. For me this took the form of sitting cross-legged, or kneeling, often lighting a candle, and sitting still trying to allow my mind to come to stillness. I'd often concentrate on breath and I used to count breaths up to 10, and then begin at one again, although now I just try and let my mind empty. I discovered this for myself when I was in treatment, and although I've done a few Zen meditation sessions (these are much more formal sittings, and I shall report back on this later should I stick with it a bit more), I've mostly done it alone.

I first meditated about 11 years ago when I was in treatment. I found I had a huge ball of anxiety in my stomach that it got me in touch with (this was when my cat had quit benzos, alcohol and above all opiates). I had no clue at first, and tried to meditate through the pain of tight hips and knees (a big mistake), and very much "forced it". I think I did find it useful, although in the end it seemed to make me go very strange. It seemed to open the door to a lot of strange "co-incidences", which I shall not bore people with. The calm and centring effects seemed to come later, and now although I don't meditate regularly (I'd like to), I find it helpful to bring me back to myself. I also tidy up more when I meditate!

I've never found it of any use when my cat was trying to stop using drugs, but it does seem now a good way to tune into and listen to myself and the universe. I'm really not sure how good it is as a recovery tool; I'd recommend it, with the caveat that Zen practice for instance is not recommended for those of unstable mental dispositions. My cat has had a lot of experience with LSD, and knows that he's quite good at getting back to himself, even if he goes a bit "out there" for a while. It might exacerbate problems in very early recovery, so I'd advocate caution. That said I'm a complete dilettante and would appreciate views from more experienced meditators.

Overall: a good thing; I'd not say it was good or bad for any particular class of drugs in particular, and aside from the early recovery caveat, useful at all times.

5 Rhythms Dancing

Something I was introduced whilst in rehab, I found this brilliant. For those of you who have not heard of it, 5 Rhythms dancing is free-form movement that goes through a "wave" of 5 different rhythms, flowing, staccato, chaos, lyrical and stillness. It's usually done barefoot, and I've found it very powerful in creating a feeling of well-being. It is sufficiently powerful as to even affect my visual perception of the people I'm dancing with; it feels like a curtain is removed at times, and I am seeing something closer to the naked souls of the other dancers. This doesn't always happen for me, but is something I'd probably laugh at if I hadn't experienced it first hand.

It really seems to help remove blocks and loosen up my way of being. Yep, this is vague, and I've no idea how or why this works. When I first began dancing, I loved the chaos rhythm, and found that the most "me", but now I'm much more into flowing, lyrical and stillness. It's great because one is often dancing with a partner or in groups, and there is a whole communication to be learnt and explored.

I often go in feeling a bit apprehensive (I am not considered shy, and when I used to go to clubs etc. I was often the first on the dance floor. I did this without drinking and using drugs, as I just love to dance), unsure of myself, and stern-faced, but would usually come out with a contented grin on my face.

I'd caution against this if the idea of free-form movement is too scary. In rehab there were some people who just couldn't get into it at all, and just found the whole thing painful and embarrassing. I'd avoid it if that's you.

It's great fun, and I don't think it matters how far along in recovery you are. It certainly helped me as a cat-owner of a cat using downers and opiates, but I'd think it would help with stimulant use too. It's a great place to meet people, especially those of the opposite sex!

It's almost too much fun to be good for you, if you ask me. One of my absolute top favourites non-verbal recovery tools.

More to follow (I'll probably just edit this post and add things later)...

Reputation Comments on this post:

good thread