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You are, in fact, part of the glorious oneness of the universe. Everything beautiful in the world is within you ~ Russell Brand

 

Do you feel like you live in a perpetual world of stress and anxiety? Do you do what you can to cope, including drinking coffee to wake you up, eating sugar to give yourself energy to keep going in the midst of overwhelm or simply retreating and spending most of your time hiding from the demands of life? Do you smoke? Drink excessively? Take recreational drugs?

If you find yourself nodding in agreement to any of the above behaviours, chances are, you are addicted to these coping mechanisms. While they momentarily help you through a stressful situation, they do nothing for you long-term.

Dependence, craving or habit is often used to describe the state of addiction. It can take many forms and can become so chronic that you barely notice when you are locked in. It can also be a very conscious pull that you cannot ignore. Either way, you are enslaved to the triggers and your dependencies when you are addicted. The temporary fixes just stand in the way of your ultimate happiness, peace and joy and can create far-reaching problems for your health and well-being.

 

Why does it start?

When stress and anxiety often begin with a sense of overwhelm in your life. If there is trauma involved no matter when it occurred, your sense of wellbeing is upended and you will tend to engage in defensive/repetitive strategies that help you manage the discomfort or fear you might be feeling.

 

Your addictive behaviours can source from the need to:

• Feel safe and in control of what feels out of control
• Diminish or eliminate your pain (even temporarily)
• Escape from the upset of unwanted memories or trauma you have suffered in life
• Cope with negative or unwanted (sometimes traumatic) past experiences or their longer term side effects
• Quiet deeper feelings of low self-esteem
• Feel strong and brave when you really feel weak and vulnerable.

 

Overall, addictive actions serve a useful, if momentary, purpose. They transform distress into short-term relief and make you feel better about life and yourself.

However, getting past the obsessive practices to reach true healing takes some self-compassion, patience and most of all, awareness. Breathwork is an elegant tool for the job.

 

How Breathwork Can Change the Addictive Patterns

Using the conscious connected breathing technique of Breathwork, the breath becomes a source of healing that moves into the memories, habits and beliefs that underscore the addictive habits that grip you. The cleansing and releasing power of the breath can:

• Resolve fear
• Release trauma or stored memories that drive the addictive actions
• Reduce anxiety
• Provide a solid protocol to manage feelings of being out of control
• Restore authentic inner calm

Under your addictive behaviour lies the golden resource of your most powerful and loving energy. When you understand that something needs to change to give you access to that sacred and beautiful part of you, your breath is the one direct, ‘jet-fuelled’ delivery system that can break through and deliver that change. ~ John Stamoulos

 

Recommended Reading :

This is an excellent article for a deeper exploration of addictive behaviors:  https://upliftconnect.com/using-connection-to-transform-addiction/

 

For more information about Breathwork, feel free to contact John Stamoulos at john@johnstamoulos.com