One Breath at a Time

Hello Everyone,

This week we read up to pg 195, Wherever Possible. We had a very involved and vulnerable discussion around forgiveness and the difference between forgiving others and forgiving ourselves.

I mentioned seeing those you need to forgive with a big bandage on their foreheads to remember that they are hurt people too and hurt people hurt people.

Who in your life wears the biggest bandaid? Could it possibly be yourself? I know that for a lot of people in recovery, self-forgiveness is often the hardest practice. Still, it is at the very core of forgiveness because if you can't forgive yourself, it's difficult to truly forgive others.

Who in your life deserves your forgiveness more than yourself?

I know that for me, this was a foreign idea when I came into recovery. I thought that I was such a fuck up that I didn't deserve anyone's love o…

Hello Everyone,

This week we read to page 192 Forgiveness and Compassion. We spoke about the willingness to make our lists and about "becoming a person who..." from doing stepwork. We discussed how we weren't so unique and then how much we've changed from the people we used to be, who did those harms on our lists.

So this week's discussion question is just who are you becoming as you continue on this journey of recovery? Is it who you want to become? Do you recognize yourself as someone who has changed or do you see yourself as someone who is still changing?

I know for me that I am becoming a person who realizes that I am always "becoming" as I am always growing and changing.; My perspective about life has become one of curiosity and embracing what's next, rather than fearing anything different. I now have an attitud…

Hello Everyone,

This week, we finished discussing pain and started Step Eight! We read up to the exercise:The LIst on pg 187 so we'll begin there next week.

This week's discussion question concerns staying in the moment. When it comes to step Eight, Kevin says, "Wait...Step Eight has a hidden value that is only revealed if you follow instructions and stay in the moment>" p186

For me, it seems to apply to a lot of things in life, not just Step Eight. I can think of lots of times that following instructions and not getting ahead of myself was what was necessary, even though it wasn't always easy. My boyfriend used to drive me crazy reading all the instructions before doing something that I thought was simple and I just wanted to jump ahead and do it, whether it was something we were putting together, measuring to hang something o…

Hello everyone,

This week we read up to page178 THe Dangers of Working with Pain so we'll begin there next week. We talked about the dharmas of pain-suffering, impermanence, and not self. We talked about clinging to our pain and also about our aversion to pain versus relaxing into it and knowing it is impermanent. (We were not talking about chronic pain here) We talked about being curous of the qualities of the "pain" in terms of the 4 elements.

This week's discussion question is about clinging - which he defines as the cause of suffering (p175)

What have you been clinging to that causes you suffering or what have you been able to let go of (even if only to some degree) that has helped to reduce your suffering?

I know that the whole idea of my ego/identity as being me is something that has caused me a lot…