Spirit of Recovery

The Twelve Steps are a wisdom path that holds principles in common with numerous spiritual philosophies, including New Thought. They appeal to a wide variety of people, many of whom would never practice a religion. Fully embraced, the Twelve Steps lead to a life well-lived. Guest Fred Holmquist, director of The Lodge Program at the Hazelden Renewal Center, has worked in addiction services for 32 years and has a gift for translating recovery principles into practical everyday living. He is a student of New Thought history and philosophy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Living with energy and creativity demands that we see with clear eyes. It isn’t always easy to face what we find inside us and around us. Singer/songwriter David Roth has a gift for grasping the plain truth and showing it to us with courage, love and grace. David shares why he writes about gratitude, transformation, societal justice, diversity, relationships and peace and what it all has to do with claiming your authentic life. Hear David's music at www.davidrothmusic.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daily contact with our Higher Power is necessary for high-quality living. It opens us to deeper understanding of ourselves and the strength to grow from challenges. Guest Paul Tyman is a seasoned leader of silent meditation retreats for recovering people. He discusses how 60 years of conscious contact continues to expand his life and shares practical tips on developing a daily prayer practice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recovery means finding the authentic self that has been buried for far too long. Psychodrama and other experiential approaches offer creative ways to get unstuck. These powerful methods help recovering people release blocks and go forward to develop healthy lifestyles and productive relationships. Guest Julie Patrick, a psychotherapist experienced in addictions recovery and a nationally certified psychodrama practitioner, shares how facing the past can make a constructive present and future. Read more about Julie at www.twodramaqueens.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Trust, boundaries and respect are key aspects of recovery. With a little help from a horse, people can learn these important life lessons. Guest Lynn Moore, addiction counselor, certified equine therapist, and founder of Acres for Life, shares how the wisdom of the horse helps people heal. Read more about Lynn at www.acresforlife.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Addiction wreaks havoc with family relationships. Trust, security and hope fly out the window. However, families can find a way out of the chaos by working their own program of spiritual recovery. Guest Ellie Hyatt, director of Family and Spiritual Recovery at The Retreat in Wayzata, Minnesota, shares what it takes for families to heal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spirituality is the foundation of solid recovery—but it can seem so abstract. What does spirituality really mean? How do you know if you’ve got it? Are there specific things you can do to live more spiritually? Guest Val Roney, veteran addictions counselor and facilitator of the Spirituality Group in a women’s residential treatment center, gives practical tips on growing your spiritual life in recovery. Read more about Val at www.valroneycounseling.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The depths of the heart can only be found through healing the soul. Special guest Rev. Allen Liles shares how spiritual honesty opens the door to profound love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Current research shows that our brain has a lot to do with how we experience our spirituality. No wonder active addiction, a disease of brain chemistry, makes it nearly impossible to feel connected to Spirit and spiritual values. Ongoing brain healing is a big part of recovery. Unity minister Steve Maynard, author of the weekly Transformative Living Center e-series, "Your Evolving Brain," offers a surprisingly positive perspective. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recovery brings us face-to-face with what matters most—the gift of life and our connections to other people. Musician, songwriter, author and speaker Dennis Warner touches the lives of adults and young people with messages of self-acceptance and unity. His Beads on One String Project, an anti-bullying program, has reached more than 100,000 children. Dennis shares his music and tells us what motivates him to help people focus on what matters most. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest Nic K., recovering person and addictions counselor, talked with us from Assisi, Italy, on October 5, 2010, about his pilgrimage to the sacred sites of Europe and the Middle East. He went on a profound inner journey as he met himself through people, places and new situations. Nic is back in the United States and will talk about how his pilgrimage has touched him and transformed his recovery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When posttraumatic stress and addiction both impact a person, full recovery means addressing both. Dennis S., recovering person and Unity minister, shares how he engages the healing power of Spirit to create deep recovery and an engaged, joyful life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest Bob Dicken shares how he builds trust and connections between treatment professionals, recovering people and the world of religion and spirituality. When these three communities come together in their common spiritual bond, recovering people receive powerful support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spiritual growth takes focus, perseverance and willingness to keep opening the heart. Listening to one’s Higher Power and taking action on guidance is essential. Being of service is a given. Standing still is not an option. Recovering person Paul A. shares how he combines recovery and Unity principles to keep growing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Were the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous metaphysicians, evangelical Christians, both, or neither? Desperate for freedom from a terrible disease, they forged a spirituality that defies description—but who cares? It works. Mark S., licensed chemical dependency counselor, dual diagnosis treatment specialist, and student of New Thought, shares the healing power of living the 12 Steps from a metaphysical perspective. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feeling as if he were trapped in a dark tunnel in which both ends were sealed off, with a sign on the door that read "No Exit," is how guest Douglas Bloch describes his experience with debilitating depression. Determined to find a way through, he combined spirituality, the love of friends, nutrition and therapy. Douglas, author of 10 books, including Listening to Your Inner Voice, shares the gifts he’s gotten from the dark and his program of recovery from depression. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dance puts the pieces of ourselves into motion, so those pieces can reform and we can heal. It stirs up the energy that connects us to life. Dance is a powerful recovery practice that moves us to fully embody who we are. Guest Liz T., student and teacher of dance as a spiritual and physical practice, shares how she dances with Spirit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is no such thing as a wasted life—even when that life ends tragically. Kathleen Wilson, author of Child of Mine: Spiritual Healing From My Child’s Drug Addiction, shares how she walked through profound pain to find love and meaning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When family members of those with the disease of addiction seek spiritual growth, their lives improve whether or not their loved one is in recovery. Serenity replaces worry, compassion replaces condemnation, and joy returns. Guest Magdalena E. tells how living spiritually has graced her life with peace and amazing opportunities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spiritual growth really takes off when deep healing is the focus. Working two recovery programs and living Unity principles opens doors to a rich and full life. Guest Jeffrey D. shares why he chooses to be a triple winner and how he walks that path. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How wonderful it is to spend a few days free from the daily routine to concentrate on life-sustaining spiritual resources. The Renewal Center of the South (RCS) is a nonprofit retreat center for members of any 12-Step Fellowship that provides just such an opportunity. RCS director Jesse Sell tells how following spiritual principles built this wonderful place and how it enriches lives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years scientists have been studying what makes programs like AA work. Currently they are focusing on how spirituality fosters recovery. Researcher Dr. Val Slaymaker shares why scientists are so interested in spirituality, how they study it, and the surprising things they are finding out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Being in recovery doesn’t mean we live happily ever after—it means we have the resources to meet life as it comes. Wisdom is embracing the hard times as well as the good. And we find that love is accepting people exactly as they are. Guest Jenny L., longtime recovering family member, shares how she learns to love it all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Addiction is a disease of separation. Yoga is an ancient practice that unites what has been pulled apart— mentally, physically, relationally and spiritually. Yoga teacher Julie Wright integrates yoga and the 12 Steps of Recovery, creating a powerful tool that brings balance and an added dimension of well-being to people recovering from all types of addiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recovery is a wisdom path that leads us deep into our spiritual selves. Desperation unexpectedly opens the door to natural mysticism. Doe A. has plumbed the depths of self, both psychologically and spiritually. In this episode, she shares the rich truths she has discovered in her own mystic heart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Recovery Church is a unique community that draws from two powerful spiritual traditions—the 12-step program and Christianity—seeking to embody the spirit of God without creating boundaries for its expression. Rev. Dr. Jo Campe shares how this ministry provides nurturing spiritual community for people in search of growth, healing and recovery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The circumstances of our lives hold us down until we find the spiritual power within us. Guest Paul Wedding, author of If You Only Knew What You Already Know was homeless, jobless, and powerless over the disease of addiction. Eight years ago on April 19, 2003, he had a profound spiritual experience that set him on a path of recovery, service and fulfillment of his soul purpose. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Families affected by addiction can break the chain of pain and choose to create a legacy of love. Janet L. tells how life can be different when multiple family members enter recovery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recovery means learning to love again—or maybe for the first time. Healing the past, learning to respect self and others, having the courage to give and receive—these are the tools that build good relationships. Guest Richard C., recovering person and blogger, shares his quest to reset to love. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spirituality is a powerful change agent. Treatment program director Tony Krall believes it is the key component in recovery. Only spirituality creates a lasting positive shift in relationships—all the way from family dynamics to productive political involvement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does being in recovery mean that you have to forever define yourself as "sick?" What does well-being look like? Guest Kevin F. explores the paradoxes of being a recovering person. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Special guest Billye, author, speaker and spiritual teacher, shares the wisdom of 40 years of family recovery. By putting her serenity first, she was able to detach with love during the active alcoholism in her family. Now with many years of living with family sobriety, she generously speaks about how the tools of recovery keep transforming her life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Improving conscious contact with spiritual power as we understand it is the foundation of recovery. But how do we do it? There are as many ways as there are people. Guest Charles G. shares his deep commitment to and enthusiasm for his relationship to God. He tells us why that connection is so important, what it means to his recovery, how he gets through the dark nights of the soul, and how he keeps that spiritual relationship growing in the midst of a very busy life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Women in recovery have a unique kind of courage. In this episode, guest Sandra M. talks about those special challenges and the rich rewards that come from facing them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The disease of addiction shuts the door to full living, while the genuine welcoming love found in recovery opens the door to all the good we can hold. For Unity minister and recovering person Joe S., life is rich today. Join us as Joe shares how love brought him into recovery and keeps guiding him with the wisdom of the heart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To recover means to get back something previously lost, to reclaim what is useful, to find the essence of who we are, and connect that with life around us. Bishop John Shelby Spong is a visionary thinker who articulates a spirituality of wholeness—one that engages life in ways that express integrity, love and equality. He opens doors to powerful new ways of understanding and relating with Spirit’s presence—ways that deepen and broaden recovery. Bishop Spong, whose books have sold more than a million copies, was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years before his retirement in 2001. He is a visiting lecturer at universities and churches and has made extensive media appearances. Bishop Spong also writes the weekly e-column “A New Christianity for a New World.“ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recovery is all about finding and expressing your talents, love, and creativity—being of service by being you. Guest Gracie Vandiver shares how she does just that. In addition to conversation, we’ll hear music from Gracie’s Trail of Light CD. Gracie is a songwriter, singer, founder of Sunlight of the Spirit Music, host of SoberCafe Podcast, and winner of a New Thought Music Posi Award and two Entertainment Industries Council PRISM awards for supporting recovery through media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Addiction creates the dead end of fear and “no choice.” Recovery creates the opening to love and constructive options. What’s the catalyst for this transformation? Putting spiritual principles into practical action—every day. Guest Chad W., professional addictions counselor and a person in long-term recovery, knows what it takes and tells it like it is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How we view God matters! My guest Lee L., a recovering family member, is a gutsy lady who has never been content with a secondhand God. A forward thinker who dares to let her spirituality keep evolving, Lee has lots to say about looking for and finding a Higher Power. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recovery is a launching pad to life—not a place to hide out. The disease of addiction isolates us. Recovery gives us the courage to connect. My guest Richard Curtis believes the true purpose of the 12 Steps is the fulfillment of our spiritual potential—which includes paying it forward in love and service. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Families—you gotta love ‘em! Or do you? Better yet—how do you, especially at the holidays! Spirit of Recovery guest Dr. Fran Williams, clinician and educator, knows a thing or two about love—what it is and what it isn’t. She helps recovering people create healthier, more authentic and caring family relationships. Fran’s wisdom, delivered with warmth and humor, opens the doors of the heart. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recovery changes everything—or does it? Jeff K. is a busy guy. He was that way before recovery, and he’s still that way today. Some of his many roles are consultant to nonprofits, vocal artist, actor, artistic director of a musical theater company, music director, auctioneer extraordinaire, businessman and politician. And in the midst of all that, he puts recovery first—including being of service. Tune in this week to find out how he does it—and discover what does and doesn’t change with recovery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Good happens when we put Spirit into action—or when Spirit puts us into action! Guest Mark Burchell’s focus was getting his business back on track, but God had other plans. In 2003, Mark opened his first transitional home, where people could live and share recovery in a sober environment. This was the beginning of “The Doorway to Recovery,” a program that supports recovering people rebuilding their lives. Join us as we discuss how Spirit moves us to do the things that make a real difference. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The philosophy of recovery for today’s guest, Jody K., is “If you work it, it’s work. If you live it, it’s life.” Living recovery means a dynamic family life based in communication, accountability, respect and love. Living recovery means knowing that “pain healed becomes the power and grace to help others.” Join me for a lively conversation with Jody K.—a joyful spirit with 27 years of living recovery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What if human self-centeredness is not “bad” but rather an earlier stage of development? What if humans are now evolving into our next stage—oneness, the ability to live Divine Love? Can the12 Steps, traditionally associated with addiction recovery, be used by anyone as an evolutionary path to love? Join me and my guest Barry Vennard, Unity minister and author of Stepping Through the Narrow Gate: Personal Transformation Through Evolutionary Spirituality as we discuss the possibilities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does recovery from addiction include taking good care of your brain? Today’s scientific research validates what founders of the modern recovery movement knew through observation—the disease of addiction has a strong physical component. My guest Dr. Suka Chapel, director of ARISE Treatment Center, combines nutritional therapy, energy work, and lifestyle changes with traditional 12-step and psychological counseling for a holistic treatment approach. Join us for a stimulating discussion of how supporting brain health facilitates spiritual growth and behavioral change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone who cares about a person with the disease of addiction is affected by it. Addiction impacts the person’s family, friends, workplace and yes—even their spiritual community. It is a disease of relationships where chaos reigns and conscious contact with Spirit is squeezed out. Join me and special guest Unity minister Peggy K., who for the past 34 years has worked her own powerful program of recovery as a family member. She’ll tell us her story of choosing serenity over turmoil and share her wisdom about what makes a positive difference for our loved ones who have addiction—whether they are in recovery or not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recovery is so much more than sobriety alone or coping with a loved one’s addictive disease. That’s where it begins—but ultimately recovery is about learning to live! My guest today is Mel B., a recovering alcoholic with over 60 years of sobriety and a lifelong student of metaphysics and spirituality. Mel wrote the meditation book Walk in Dry Places to help recovering people learn to live life on life’s terms—in other words to actually become happy, joyous and free. The recovery life is a life worth living—well! Join me and Mel B. as we explore how to make it through life’s challenges into positive, high-quality living. You can learn more about Mel’s book at www.walkindryplaces.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A spiritual awakening that leads to continuing spiritual growth is the purpose of the 12 Steps. Integrating 12-Step principles with a personal spiritual path can increase our ability “to practice these principles in all our affairs.” My guest Albert W., longtime recovering person and Unity minister, will discuss how metaphysical spiritual principles deepen his recovery and his ministry. He’ll also share with us the challenges and triumphs he has met along the way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most people enter recovery out of sheer desperation—ready to try something, anything, to stop their downhill slide. Few realize in the beginning that they are opening their lives to so much more than putting the brakes on destruction. Coming into recovery is setting feet, heart, mind and soul on the path of pilgrimage—a journey to a holy place within one’s own life. Anna’s guest Nic K., addictions counselor, recovering person, and lover of life, will be talking with us from Assisi, Italy. He is on a very special inner and outer pilgrimage, traveling to sacred places in Europe and the Middle East. Nic will be sharing with us the fascinating people he has met, the heart-deepening service he has been able to give, and the new depths of spiritual growth he is discovering. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices