Freedom from Addiction
The Chopra Center Method for Overcoming Destructive Habits
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
Millions of people have embarked on a Twelve-Step Program, whether it’s Alcoholics Anonymous, Nicotine Anonymous, or Alateen. However, there are millions of others who are unable or unwilling to accept these programs because of religious overtones or a rigid approach to recovery.
Deepak Chopra and David Simon contend that Twelve-Step methods don’t work for everyone because they emphasize personal powerlessness; it’s this admission of powerlessness that keeps many people from ever truly healing. In Freedom from Addiction, Chopra and Simon offer a new way—a proven method based on the program at the renowned Chopra Center in Carlsbad, California. Combining the best of eastern and western medicine, they teach readers how to cleanse their bodies and minds through nutrition, supplements, and meditations, and they walk readers through their 7-Step Framework:
1. Commit to transformation
2. Commit to ending repeat mistakes
3. Face the harsh reality of the past
4. See the infinite possibilities available in the present moment
5. Envision where you want to be
6. Ask yourself what choices need to be made to actualize vision
7. Create an action plan
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
With the Chopra imprimatur, this is likely to find an eager audience. Holistic medicine star Chopra and Simon (cofounder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing, in California) are nonjudgmental and compassionate toward those struggling with cravings. They begin with the premise that the core needs of people with addictions are no different from those of other people and that addicts are on a spiritual quest, even if they are not aware of it. In the authors' holistic view, The challenge addiction presents is finding nourishing substitutions to fulfill your deep underlying needs for love, self-esteem, safety, and meaning in your life. Yet their method, which involves a purifying Ayurvedic diet, yoga asanas, twice-daily meditation and clearing of past emotional hurts, might be too challenging for people suffering from the chaos of addiction to manage on their own. This isn't helped by character profiles that are vague about what happened to these people in the recovery process. It would have been useful for readers to know exactly how effective the Chopra Center's methods are, compared with traditional rehab or 12-step programs. Nonetheless, the Ayurvedic flavor is an interesting twist on Western methods, which rely so heavily on group therapy.
