Last night, I found myself lying in an industrial estate-turned wellness studio in a trendy part of town, swaddled in blankets and clutching a crystal. ‘Ask the crystal its name’ invited the impossibly beautiful ‘modern Shaman’ leading the ceremony. I had to stifle a tut/snort hybrid, but before long, I was tuning into the ‘vibrations’ of the crystal and entering a deep meditation under the light of the full moon.
One of the unexpected and glorious side effects of stopping drinking is that it’s opened me up to a whole new world of crazy ways to anchor my sobriety. If you’d said to me 12 months ago I’d be stuffing crystals in my bra and keeping them by my bedside, I’d think you were mad. But somewhere in the last 12 months, my sober interests have become a bit more openminded and frankly more ‘out there’ than I’d previously ever have imagined. I reserve a large dose of skepticism for many of these hippy tools, as I’m yet to see any scientific evidence of the benefits of crystals or sage smudging or any of the other new practices I’ve become open to, but in these new rituals, I find an incredible sense of connection and comfort. When drinking, the blurred lines of reality, the pain, the anguish and numbness all contributed to me being completely out of tune with my body and mind. I remember saying to friends over and over, ‘I can’t trust myself’ and ‘I don’t know what I think and feel.’ My intuition was literally and metaphorically buried. But in sobriety, my intuition has become a really finely honed instrument. I can trust my gut, I can tune into it, and I’m constantly seeking out ways to try and know it more intimately. It started with meetings and meditation, and has progressed to more… ‘experimental’ types of self exploration.
The first time I held a crystal, I felt a sense of deep connection to the earth. I weighed it in my hand and felt a vibration so subtle it was almost intangible, but I felt something there. In the early days, sobriety was about grounding into myself, learning to sit with my emotions, the feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach and my swirling head. As I progress through sobriety, a fierce desire has developed in me to give myself the space to ground myself to the earth, to the community around me and to the natural rhythms of life. Sitting last night in the crystal/full moon ritual, I caught myself laughing at what a privileged, slightly ridiculous act it was to spend £30 on an evening like this, but I came out with a sense of connection and clarity I haven’t had in months.
As we lay, swaddled, we explored the unique qualities of the smoky quartz stone we held in our hands. Mine had a beautiful layer of white crystal, surrounded by the depths of dark shades. The stone felt like a beautiful metaphor for my current experiences of sobriety: the light and the dark can exist simultaneously, and I don’t need to try and stamp out the dark within, for it has a beautiful quality in itself. My darker side, which once manifested itself in alcoholism, will always exist, and is also the origin of some of my better qualities: my sensitivity, my deep well of emotion and my capacity for self-reflection. The dark and the light exist simultaneously, side by side, and that is ok.
Last night I remembered an important lesson: sobriety is about finding my soul’s medicine, over and over again, daily. And when I neglect to administer that medicine, I find myself in the deep anguish I’ve been experiencing of late. I used to resent the fact that sobriety is a constant work in progress, but I’m starting to open myself up to the notion that it’s an opportunity for never ending discovery.
Happy Thursday x
Yeah. In the last year and a half, only partly related to quitting drinking but probably definitely related to quitting drinking, I’ve also explored a less “scientific” approach to life, doing things, like you, that I would have rolled my eyes at in years past. (Reading Journey of Souls helped crack that stuff open for me.) I now happily have different buckets in my brain that don’t hardly overlap, and that’s okay for now. Or forever. Great post!
I completely agree! I disregard logic and reason in these areas and just go with the magical flow…
I love how woo woo and open minded sobriety can be. The engineer in me never expected to find inner peace in yoga, meditation or crystals. Or to talk to myself in the mirror.
But here I am…
I love how you scoffed at the start of the night and then decided to go with it. That’s the magic. Being willing to just see what happens.
I wish I lived near you…that sounds lovely.
Anne
I’m very lucky to live in a place now where these kinds of gatherings are abundant. I might not be here forever, so starting to make the most of it
3 crystals nestling in a bowl within reach to me here FFF 😉 xx
Hhaha, it’s contagious 🙂
I must say that meditation practice sounds like complete and utter bliss… glad you are finding new (‘woo’?!) ways of being! Xxx
Woo! Thank you lovely. It was blissful indeed, if a little crazy.
Ahh lisa, always a joy to see a comment from you pop up my wise sober angel 🙂
I’ve slipped again since I last left you a comment. But 30 days sober today and I attended my first after work mixer and I drank sparkling water… if I would have indulged, I would have stopped on the way home for a bottle and right now I would be spending alone-time with Jack Daniels.
Thanks for sharing your struggles. You gave me the strength to keep trying. I really think I can do it this time.
Hi Jim, sending you love and support and light x x x x