Detox Your Thoughts by Andrea Bonior PhD

Author:Andrea Bonior, PhD [Andrea Bonior]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC
Published: 2020-05-04T16:00:00+00:00

Surfing Your Urges

Sometimes the urge to escape an uncomfortable emotion is so strong that it uses all its might to direct you toward one specific behavior: I’m talking about cravings. If you are in recovery from substance abuse addiction, or are trying to curtail binge-eating, smoking, self-harm, chewing your nails, or a porn habit, your body and mind may together conspire to turn all your focus to how desperate you are to engage in that behavior.

But a craving, no matter how strong or biologically driven, can be ridden out the same way an uncomfortable emotion can: It will pass. Many people believe that they must go to war with their cravings in order not to give in; they confuse rising above an urge with fighting it. But remember, fighting an urge only gives it more attention and power. Your goal should not be to talk yourself out of it. A much better practice is to label a craving and observe it, as if it were a passing wave that you will ride. This is “urge-surfing,” a technique originated by the late addiction treatment pioneer Alan Marlatt. It goes like this:

1. Acknowledge the craving.

2. Feel it in your body, and be a gentle, nonjudgmental observer of it.

3. Let it pass through you, which it will do, even if it eventually comes back again (and when it does, you can employ the same techniques).

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