What does Conscious Recovery mean?
For someone who is trying to get sober and stay sober through traditional recovery systems, coming to Conscious Recovery is a completely different way of life, a dramatically different shift in mindset that can change the trajectory of their life. For some, it could mean going from a belief that they are broken and need to fix themselves, to the Conscious Recovery paradigm that every person is born into this world whole and perfect, who may have then later started to believe a lie about themselves and separated themselves from their true nature. Conscious Recovery takes each individual on a journey of rediscovering their true nature, and also unlearning everything that they may have picked up that may not be serving them any longer.
In a way, Conscious Recovery is a journey back to the innocent child self, when they were pure, honest and authentic. It is a kind of a spiritual practice to be able to learn how to feel one’s feelings, to be present, to be authentic, and to be able to connect to others in an authentic way. That is who we really are, but most of us have forgotten that way of being. Conscious Recovery is about tapping into our essence, our child self, being completely present with what is going on at the moment, and bringing it out into our communications with others.
Most treatments and support groups focus on what can be seen, the out-picturing. However, with Conscious Recovery, most of the deeper work is really in the unconscious. When a client experienced trauma in the past, that may lead them to develop precognitive beliefs about themselves.
At the root of addiction is a desire to not be present in the moment, because it is too painful for them to be present, especially in early recovery. And so many people unconsciously build their structures of control around themselves. Once they realize how powerful they are in being able to choose their own reality, they can start to shift to create their reality from a conscious level. They realize how limitless and abundant they are, as human beings.
