Last week, we announced a new set of online meditation programs as part of our efforts to reinvigorate our spiritual growth. This week, we commence our first weekend workshop focused on using meditation effectively to overcome undesirable habits and addictions.

In this workshop, we look at how the world has shifted in its definition of addiction and, more importantly, how we may already be addicted to many things without being aware of it.

In the last part of this article, we covered in detail how the subtle energy system within us is impacted when dealing with Addiction and how to use meditation strategies. If you missed it, you can read it here.

In this part, we deal with additional strategies that supplement Sahaja meditation in dealing with addiction.

A very recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in August this year provides a quantitative measure of the serious problem facing us from addiction:

• 46% of Americans have a family member or close friend who is addicted to drugs or has been in the past;
• Opioids account for more than 60% of drug overdose deaths;
• Since 1999, drug overdose-related deaths have tripled in number.

We have dealt with addiction in a lot of detail on our website. Sahaja meditation works in multiple ways to help with addiction, primarily by:

• Reducing stress and stress-induced cravings;
• Making the practitioner more self-aware and mindful of thoughts and emotions, especially in the area of any addictions he or she might be dealing with;
• Releasing negative thoughts and feelings through self-forgiveness that might otherwise lead to rumination;
• Positively impacting neurotransmitters and neurohormones which regulate health and well-being;
  Increasing resilience and better coping skills by re-wiring the neural circuitry.