Alcoholics anonymous twelve steps are an arrangement of spiritual principles. It is a camaraderie of individuals who solve their drinking problems. Sincerely practicing these principles in real-life empowers individuals to expel their drinking obsession while enabling them to recover from alcoholism. Regardless of age, gender, or education, anyone can participate in the A.A. meetings where their fundamental focus is to achieve sobriety. The only prerequisite to joining an alcoholics anonymous is the desire to quit alcohol abuse. 

Following are the twelve steps that are covered in any alcoholic anonymous program:

Step 1: Admitting powerlessness over alcohol

The first and foremost step of alcoholics anonymous is admitting that you have a drinking problem. Acceptance can be difficult for some individuals, yet it is the solid foundation for positive changes. Therefore, individuals must understand the disease model of addiction.

Step 2: Believing that the higher power can help in restoring the sanity

The second step of Alcoholics Anonymous states that a power greater than ourselves can enable individuals to regain their sanity. Here, the individuals struggling with alcohol abuse are taught how to connect with their inner conscience and higher power to seek help, enabling them to find inspiration that can help them remain sober. 

Step 3: Giving up on personal will and believing in the empower of Almighty

During the early stage of recovery, self-reliance can take you to relapse. Some alcoholics may have a hard time undergoing this step because of conflicting feelings. However, this step is meant to assist alcoholics in relying on more robust support that can help them cease their drinking habits. 

Step 4: Self-reflection

Another critical step of Alcoholics Anonymous is to stay faithful to themselves during the entire treatment program.You may learn about your true beliefs, personal character, and weaknesses that contributed to alcoholism during self-discovery. This step works as a foundation for future efforts by making you aware of your weaknesses and helping you to focus on your points of improvement that need support. 

Step 5: Honest acceptance of wrongdoings and effective communication

Besides admitting the exact nature of your misdeeds, step 5 requires you to embark on honest self-assessment for your faults. This step helps individuals mitigate their egoism and allows them to minimize their fear. Therefore, equipping you to work on your confessions with honesty, courage, and openness to the Almighty and other human beings.

Step 6: Willingness to be cured by God

Another significant step of Alcoholics Anonymous is to become willing to recover and make the most out of their addiction recovery program. Hence, the sixth step focuses on willingness to let go of your inner fears, weaknesses, and other shortcomings. Furthermore, it helps you focus on the desire to transform your old behaviors into the path to sobriety. 

Step 7: Praying to the Almighty to eliminate the shortcomings

This step is the continuation of the sixth step. Once individuals become willing to transform their negative thoughts and behavioral patterns, they can connect with their inner self and seek support from the Almighty for helping them to remove their shortcomings. Hence, individuals learn to adopt new, healthy practices that help them prevent relapse and combat cravings. 

Step 8: Being honest about your wrongdoings

As individuals approach the eighth step of Alcoholics Anonymous, they need to acknowledge the enormous progress they have made so far. This also helps you work through resentments that could potentially trigger a relapse. However, the fundamental root of this step is to truly understand the impact of your actions on others. 

Step 9: Making one-on-one amendments 

This step is for people to make amends in person by expressing their apologies calmly and rationally. This step and the journey so far allows individuals to communicate effectively and make amends willingly regardless of the personal consequences. Hence, the spiritual aspect of the mandate enables you to develop the strength to do the right thing by following the right path to a sober lifestyle.

Step 10: Focusing on continuing to take personal inventory 

The purpose of this step is to show yourself that you can make the right decisions without falling into the vicious cycle of relapse. This enables you to take responsibility for your actions and practice different coping ways to deal with anger or stress. Therefore, you choose a sober and better life rather than hurling abuse. 

Step 11: Practicing prayer and meditation

Prayer and mindful meditation are the critical components of the holistic portion of the comprehensive recovery program. Hence, this step encourages the bolstering of spiritual connection. This further helps in relapse prevention and emotional regulation.

Step 12: Practicing spiritual awakening

All of the steps mentioned above help individuals attain spiritual awakening amongst themselves. With the forever support of the A.A. fellowship, you become capable of accomplishing this treatment program. Moreover, it proves your ability to lead a healthy, sober life.

About‌ ‌us‌ ‌

If‌ ‌you‌ ‌are looking for an effective alternative to a rehabilitation treatment facility to free yourself or your loved ones from‌ the shackles of ‌substance addiction,‌ ‌we‌ ‌are here to help you.‌ ‌

At Taylor Made Retreat, we provide an ideal environment to individuals struggling with substance abuse issues to help them achieve life-long sobriety, inner peace, and confidence. For detailed information about ‌our‌ ‌program,‌ ‌reach us‌ ‌at‌ ‌503-457-3366‌ ‌or‌ ‌email‌ ‌us‌ ‌at‌ ‌‌info@taylormaderetreat.org‌.‌

Witnessing someone battling with addiction is distressing and emotionally draining. It can take a heavy toll on your mental and emotional well-being. It brings a huge pile of stress while constantly testing your patience, straining your bank balance, and leaving you racked by feelings of regret, guilt, sadness, anger, and so on. One of the critical challenges with addiction is that apart from the addict, many others get impacted by this disease. Friends, family, and colleagues often face difficulties with the addict’s behavior in terms of financial or legal problems while facing the constant struggle of supporting their loved ones. 

However, it is crucial to understand that this support is not about catching them when they fall, rather giving them a hand to hold while they get up on their own. 

Here’s how you can support your loved ones with an addiction:

Take care of yourself first

Encountering problems associated with substance abuse is a chronic illness. Besides the addict, it also affects every individual who’s close to them. Placing the need of your loved one above yours often results in increased illness, lack of self-care, depression, and anxiety. 

However, taking appropriate care of your own emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual needs leaves you in a better position to help your loved one through the journey.

Treat them as humans, not monsters

Substance abuse addiction is a disease that leads to a dysfunctional value system, shifting towards supporting ongoing substance use. It is natural to feel frustrated, angry, or irritated with your loved ones or limit your contact with them. 

But, try abstaining from treating them like an outcast or a disgrace to the family since this can shame your loved one and hinder them from reaching out to you for support. Once they start taking the recovery sessions, communicate with them and try to understand how substance misuse became a part of their lifestyle. 

Gain adequate knowledge about substance abuse

Feelings of worry, fear, and anger are normal and inevitable. Like other chronic illnesses, gaining better knowledge will help you provide better care to your loved one. Therefore, educating yourself about substance abuse disorder, interventions, treatment methods, and recovery programs will help enable you to help them and yourself in the best way possible. 

Determine ways to offer recovery support without enabling the addictions

Intense substance use disorder often leads to various problematic scenarios such as making people financially drained or invites legal troubles. In such cases, friends and family support often end up laying unintended effects of making the addiction worse. However, it is important to let your loved one in early recovery understand how you will only be supporting their recovery efforts and nothing more. 

Give them time to learn from their mistakes

During the recovery treatment, you should allow the patient to learn how to gracefully reject the cravings by themselves. Grant them the time to develop the ability to talk about their problems regarding their substance abuse. Your role during the whole treatment is to support them if they slip, along with constant love and encouragement.

About‌ ‌us‌ ‌

If‌ ‌you‌ ‌are looking for an effective alternative recovery treatment program to help yourself or your loved one heal‌ from‌ ‌substance‌ ‌abuse,‌ ‌we‌ ‌are here to ‌help.‌ ‌We’re‌ ‌a‌ ‌non-profit‌ organization‌ ‌providing ‌complete ‌healing‌ ‌for‌ ‌those‌ ‌aiming for ‌recovery‌ ‌and‌ ‌sobriety‌ ‌in‌ ‌their‌ ‌lives.‌ ‌We ‌offer ‌an‌ ‌ideal‌ ‌environment‌ ‌to‌ ‌achieve‌ ‌lasting‌ ‌sobriety‌ ‌without‌ ‌facing‌ ‌another‌ ‌relapse‌ ‌ever.‌ ‌To know more about ‌the‌ ‌details ‌of‌ ‌our‌ ‌program or substance use disorder treatment,‌ ‌contact‌ ‌us‌ ‌at‌ ‌503-457-3366‌ ‌or‌ ‌email‌ ‌us‌ ‌at‌ ‌‌info@taylormaderetreat.org‌.‌

Recovery from addiction and substance abuse is challenging. Depending on the type and seriousness of addiction, the process and time of recovery may differ for each individual. Among the various forms of treatments, what may help one may not prove beneficial for others. However, walking on the path of spirituality by taking the assistance of yoga and mindful meditation is one of the practical and long-term assets to recover from substance abuse. Yoga encourages a healthy mind and body and, therefore, is a fruitful way to focus your energy on the path of sobriety. 

Here’s how yoga is advantageous during the recovery from addiction:

Eliminates the withdrawal symptoms

Depending upon a substance for comfort is easy, but quitting it for good is difficult. When undergoing the recovery program, the addicts often feel intense discomfort, pain, and other issues. They often fall into the relapse cycle by addressing their cravings due to a lack of control over themselves. However, integrating yoga in the recovery program helps in mitigating the majority of withdrawal symptoms. Yoga helps ease the mind and body while relieving the stressful hormones during your addiction recovery program.

Empowers you to connect with your inner self

Individuals using substances become entirely dependent on their addictions and ultimately detaches themselves from their inner self and outer surroundings. However, practicing yoga helps you achieve an elevated consciousness and contentment that is similar but healthier than harmful substances. Yoga empowers you to explore outside the confines of your mind and enables you to achieve a stronger euphoric sense of spiritual tranquility. It calms your mind and gives you the freedom to connect with your inner self. 

Improves concentration and focus

Individuals often use chemical dependency- the hazardous way as a medium to escape from reality and life worries. However, initiating yoga in your addiction recovery program trains you to focus and invest your energy into your thoughts and emotions. It prepares you to focus and accept your current state of being, ultimately helping you gain the perspective you need to transform your life for the better. 

Helps in coping with emotions

For some people, recovery from drug abuse is arduous and involves a series of emotional turmoil. As a result, people often adopt unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with their feelings of hopelessness, loneliness, helplessness, anxiety, and depression during the treatment. However, coming face-to-face with your fears is a crucial step in a recovery program. Here, yoga acts as a perfect escort to the recovery treatment. It teaches you to control your negative thoughts by holding hands with inner peace and spiritual self. 

Helps in gaining better self-control

Self-control is a significant factor during the recovery program. Maintaining self-control and staying true to the sobriety treatment and self is a demanding task. Having healthier alternatives like yoga and meditation in hand is one of the practical ways of ceasing drug dependency. Practicing yoga to fight compulsive cravings is a successful way to avoid relapse and gain self-control.

About‌ ‌us‌ ‌

If‌ ‌you‌ ‌want‌ ‌to‌ ‌help your loved ones or yourself heal‌ from‌ ‌an‌ ‌obsession‌ ‌or‌ ‌substance‌ ‌abuse,‌ ‌we‌ ‌can‌ ‌help.‌ ‌We are known for providing the best alternative substance use disorder treatment in Portland, Oregon. We’re‌ ‌a‌ ‌non-profit‌ organization‌ ‌that‌ ‌offers‌ ‌holistic‌ ‌healing‌ ‌for‌ ‌those‌ ‌seeking‌ ‌recovery‌ ‌and‌ ‌sobriety‌ ‌in‌ ‌their‌ ‌lives.‌ ‌Our‌ retreat‌ ‌provides‌ ‌an‌ ‌ideal‌ ‌environment‌ ‌and‌ ‌tools‌ ‌necessary‌ ‌to‌ ‌achieve‌ ‌lasting‌ ‌sobriety‌ ‌without‌ ‌facing‌ ‌another‌ ‌relapse‌ ‌ever.‌ ‌To know more about ‌the‌ ‌details ‌of‌ ‌our‌ ‌program,‌ ‌contact‌ ‌us‌ ‌at‌ ‌503-457-3366‌ ‌or‌ ‌email‌ ‌us‌ ‌at‌ ‌‌info@taylormaderetreat.org‌.‌

Meditation is a practice that intends to heighten the state of self-awareness and attentiveness. Since ancient times, it has grown extensively in form and popularity. It is a technique to enhance an individual’s spiritual connection and enlightenment. From spiritual discovery to health and recovery, practicing meditation brings several physical and mental health benefits. It is an effective solution to overcome any addiction naturally and bring about lasting sobriety.

Here are the top five benefits drug addicts can derive from meditation: 

Meditation makes you immune to stress

Going through early recovery is stressful for an individual who’s abusing drugs and alcohol for years. They’re constantly fighting against the addictive cravings and coping with new challenges coming forth. Such battles often create emotional turmoil. However, practicing meditation during addiction recovery allows people to become less reactive to stress. It effectively melts down your emotional distress, leaving you immune to addictions.

Meditation improves physical and mental well-being.

Years of substance misuse damages the physical and mental well-being of addicts. People struggling to live a life without substance use often experience common withdrawal symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and irritability. Luckily, mindful meditation comes to rescuing mental health disorders. Studies suggest that meditation successfully improves heart health, reduces blood pressure and cell aging, and boosts the immune system of an individual.

Meditation manages pain and boosts self-control.

Over-consumption of alcohol and drugs causes the brain to depend upon chemicals provided by substance abuse. Many people struggle with chronic pain while quitting drugs and alcohol. However, practicing meditation reduces pain intensity and induces self-control by increasing your power to accept the present moment. It helps you to acknowledge the process of letting go and creates willpower to fight against the addictions. 

Meditation is more effective than medications.

In the medicinal world, substance use disorder is a complicated disease that often involves treatment on an outpatient basis. In some cases, it becomes challenging and dangerous to stop or even skip the medications. However, exercising meditation has no harmful consequences. It can help you beat any addiction healthily and naturally. Therefore, becoming a more productive solution to addiction recovery.

Meditation creates a path to spirituality.

For most people, the root cause of addiction is unhappiness, discontentment, and lack of self-control in life. Addiction recovery through meditation helps people to become mindfully aware of their thoughts and actions. For some people, mindfulness creates the ability to connect with their spirituality. While self-awareness enables you to combat your addictions, spirituality brings back the long-lasting harmony in life.

About us

If you seek a natural and comprehensive solution to drug and alcohol addiction treatment in Portland, Oregon, Taylor Made Retreat is a one-stop destination for you. We offer a 12-step immersion program that gives a long-lasting spiritual awakening solution to substance use disorders in a caring, positive environment. The success rate of our spiritual awakening mechanism reflects the key of our addiction rehabilitation care program. To know more about substance use disorder treatment, book an appointment by calling 503-457-3366 or write to us at info@taylormaderetreat.org.

Growing up in a small town in Oregon, I promised myself I’d never touch alcohol because people forget to come home when they drink that awful stuff. At a party, I saw my friend’s father kissing a woman I didn’t know in our front hall closet, and I thought, “Jeepers, alcohol even makes you forget who you’re married to.”

I completely changed my mind when I was 18 years old and found the champagne fountain at my sister’s wedding. My relatively short drinking career of 13 years ended in Athens, Greece. I called myself an “International Beatnik” but I was actually a wino suffering from liver damage, DTs, Convulsions, Insanity, a broken spirit, and a padlocked heart. I awakened from a 5 day coma during my 3rd visit to the psycho ward to see my Dad sitting on the side of my bed and a Greek policeman stationed at the door. The police found drugs in my flat and I was deported. I was 31 years old.

Dad escorted me to Palm Springs, CA, where he and Mom were spending the winter. I had a lot of trouble walking and talking. Here I was with a MA in Speech Pathology and I couldn’t even string a sentence together. Miraculously, I ended up in a 12 step fellowship soon after our airplane landed and I haven’t had any alcohol or any sort of drug since January 12, 1969. It’s been a wonderful 50-year journey from darkness into light. The Twelve Steps saved my life and my sanity, and for that, I’ll be eternally grateful. My special interest has been practicing the various methods of meditation. I’ve studied with some very enlightened beings.

There were no treatment programs for alcoholics when I was new to the 12 steps. We had sponsors who guided us through the 12 Steps, and we had each other. If anyone went back to drinking, all of us cried together because so few people ever made it back to the 12 steps. This year I’ve been fortunate to spend time at Taylor Made Retreat, leading a meditation class. It’s a wonderful way to give back what I’ve been given. And it’s really fun to see the 12 step program working on all sorts of people from all kinds of backgrounds and experiences. As the Big Book of AA says, “The alcoholic is like a tornado, roaring his way through the lives of others.” Taylor Made Retreat teaches the way of patience, tolerance, kindness, and love.

Taylor Made Retreat’s founder, Lowell MacGregor, his staff, and volunteers do an outstanding job of using the 12 Steps as a design for living. The newcomer is truly reborn in body, mind, and spirit. Old ways of experiencing life fall away. A man I met the day he left prison for TMR is a different person now. He and the other clients are busy working their way through the 12 Steps and helping others by setting up chairs for the community AA meetings and making visitors feel welcome and appreciated.

If you visit Taylor Made Retreat, you may feel the consciousness of love and peace like I do every time I walk through the door or explore the beautiful grounds. Taylor Made Retreat is a sanctuary in the middle of our fast-paced world. I feel so fortunate that it’s only a few minutes away from my home in downtown Portland.

Patty L. ♥️