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“All is connected… no one thing can change by itself.”—Paul Hawken

When we embarked on recovery, we set sail with trusted companions in a large sturdy boat. We’d paddled our canoe solo against the flow for way too long. We were tired of slipping back—of frantic stroking, with just some churned foam to show for it. In fact, we finally ended up with the paddle ripped from our bleeding hands—the boom of the approaching rapids growing louder by the minute…

Really, we have been the fortunate ones, somehow rescued into recovery by the love of others. And we can congratulate ourselves on having taken advantage of that good fortune by accepting the rescue, making the connections and joining the crew.

Now we can plunge forward together through the waves of change. We can navigate the inevitable storms, the riptides, the reefs and—yes, also—the doldrums with the courage that comes from companionship. We realized we don’t have to be alone to face our addiction and our tribulations anymore. We can do this thing together—and are stronger for it.

Let’s take a moment today to reflect on all those who cared enough for us in our darkest days—and who helped us toward the salvation of recovery. We know that without our fellow “crew members” we would have continued to chart a destructive—if not terminal—passage through those troubled waters… We can best thank them, can we not, by staying connected, staying part of the team.

Now, let’s give some juice to that overworked fellow who connects our head to our body—the neck. There’s a ton of joints in our neck area that are often starved of healing synovial fluids, because of our tension and rigidity. Bring on those fluids!

The magic juice-stimulator—and it happens in a jiffy—is joint rotation. We agreed to be a crew member, so nodding our heads up and down in agreement seems appropriate: without moving your shoulders, incline your head up and back as far as it will go without discomfort. Now bring your chin to your chest as best you can. Repeat for a total of ten repetitions.

It can be disconcerting to discover how little range of motion we might have in our neck movements—particularly when we turn our head from side to side. Do ten repetitions of that movement also. See what we mean? That’s from too much tension. Frankly, we really can’t move our neck too much. It wouldn’t hurt at all to include neck rotations in your hygiene practice on a daily basis. But for now, we’ll stick with these two movements…

I appreciate those who connected with me and who invited me to join them in the journey of recovery.

“When the highest hear the Tao, they practice it with diligence. When the average hear the Tao, they question it. When the lowest hear the Tao, they scoff at it.”—Lao Tzu

When we were using, we shrouded our game in endless veils of secrecy. In fact, one definition of an addict could be a person who keeps secrets even when there is no need to be secret. Secrecy was our M.O. And there was so much we felt we needed to keep secret. Shame and fear kept us closed—until being closed became our second nature.

In recovery, we were encouraged to swing to the other end of the pendulum—and be open about everything. As the adage in the recovery community would have it: “we’re only as sick as our secrets.”

However, the delicate flower of our burgeoning new spirituality can be damaged when exposed to the harsh winds of judgement and prejudice. We work a spiritual program, but it’s a spiritual program that needs protection. There’s a reason for anonymity and confidentiality. There’s a reason to let trust grow at a natural, careful pace. There is a reason to be on guard against the predatory and abusive forces perhaps eager to destroy our newfound life.

What is sacred to us can be profane to others. What we esteem, others can ridicule. So, let’s be open in moderation—as in all things—and be ready to close like a flower at dusk, when the light begins to darken. Let’s choose to practice our recovery with quiet diligence. There’s plenty of time to shine. And plenty of time to rest unseen in the shadows, as we cultivate our serenity. Let this sensitivity be our strength.

Our natural state is a constant shifting from open to closed and back. We open our breath, we close. We expand our bodies, we contract. We reach out, we pull back. We gaze out, we look within.

So, let’s express these sentiments through a few minutes of spontaneous movement. Not so much vibrating and shaking, but rather flowing in a supple easy manner. Our constricted post-apocalyptic selves may feel self-conscious, initially, to move without any particular pattern or discernible order. Just let the body’s inner wisdom take over, with no mentally preconceived steps or forms. Healing will happen from this—if we let it…

I feel the freedom and joy of my body moving to its own inner music.

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Let’s Join The Crew

Open and Close, Open and Close, Open and Close…