Transcending Unhealthy Habits Support Thread

Imzadi · #1 22-03-2016, 04:41 PM

I like to create a thread that allows for us to support one another on our quests to live life to the happiest and healthiest potential. I have recently made the commitment to let go of alcohol consumption and smoking cigarettes from my life. The usage of those were not in alignment to my spiritual path and my highest good/potential. As of today I now have 28 days alcohol free and 12 days nicotine free.

I hope that on this thread we can help and inspire each other to continue living a joyful vibrant life free from the vices that hold us back from our authentic health and power. If you have any habits or vices you like to transcend, perhaps you can find love and support here.

Baile · #2 22-03-2016, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Imzadi

As of today I now have 28 days alcohol free and 12 days nicotine free.

Fantastic. Similar with me, I quit smoking and two weeks later gave up alcohol... I couldn't drink a beer without wanting a smoke. That was the early 1980's and my life and career took off after that. A definite correlation between eliminating bad habits = feeling much better about one's self = the world then opening up.

Moon_Glow · #3 22-03-2016, 07:08 PM

Awesome thread! I felt the same way! I quit about 5 years ago and basically had to give up alcohol and coffee too because they made me want to smoke.

Then we moved across the country near family that ALL smokes! My partner and I sneakily picked the habit back up - from going to family parties, having a few drinks and then sneaking the smokes began...

When I got pregnant I quit everything. He followed suit shortly thereafter... I feel like it was easier to give up alcohol and cigarettes together instead of just one....

Keep plugging along! Be proud of yourself! It's no walk in the park!

Somnia · #4 22-03-2016, 10:27 PM

Way to go guys!

You can do it!

I do not smoke...cigarettes..

However, I have drastically cut back on alcohol consumption the early part of this year and I've noticed a significant improvement in my health...I've also stopped emotional eating (work stress and boredom) and have taken up exercising on my elliptical again...It's been great because I feel so much better health wise, and I'm slowing getting back to a healthier weight....I am not focused on numbers but the overall feeling I have now...I have more energy, more stamina, I don't winded as much especially when walking up steep inclines, and my clothes are fitting looser...

I've taken to eating healthier foods as well...since my awakening I'm craving fresher foods like raw vegetables, nuts, fruits, etc....I still eat dairy products and I've noticed I've cut back on meat consumption...I still eat meat about one meal a day but that's something considering just about every meal/snack involved some source of meat product in it...

Baile · #5 23-03-2016, 12:26 PM

My experience, not saying it's for everyone, but maybe it will help in some way...

I've made some serious soul connections with higher self wisdom over the years. Up until my late 20's life was a black hole. Then I had an awakening to the reality of the eternal soul, reincarnation, and the higher self that journeys with me through my lifetimes. That was the turning point in my life; life exploded and opened up for me after that.

One particular way these spiritual beliefs of mine have manifested into actual, living experience over the years, has been through the activity of overcoming addictions and bad habits. It happens like this, every time: I identify an addiction or habit. I struggle with it for months. Then one day as I'm going about my business, something enters me, something penetrates as a higher presence in my body and my mind and my heart. From one moment to the next, everything changes in the blink of an eye, and I am shown my highest, ideal self. I'm not shown what I can become - and this always seems most important - I'm shown what I am already. I am no longer wanting to quit the addiction; rather, the addiction is no more.

And throughout all this, what I'm experiencing isn't me anymore. It is I or my Self, looking at somebody else who isn't me, doing something that is not what I AM. And I am already done and finished with it. And I can feel it, the desire is gone. Or more correctly, the desire has been replaced with absolute knowing that I am already on to something else and new. And the desire never comes back, it's like it was never there.

This is what happened to me when I quit smoking, when I quit drinking, when I quit drugs, when I made a number of significant changes to my diet, and when I needed to lose weight. It has also happened many other times, when addressing ego issues that I identify in my life as something I need to deal with.

Why does this happen for me? The one connection I've come to see is that releasing my fear of death from my younger years, via an understanding of the eternal soul and the wheel of life, has freed me and opened me up to those Eternal Sources that are always there to assist me in my self-growth and soul-evolution, throughout my lifetimes. I - my ideal self - is there in Spirit already. It's the me "down here" in the material that is always trying to get to where my ideal Self already is.

Somnia · #6 23-03-2016, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baile

Then one day as I'm going about my business, something enters me, something penetrates as a higher presence in my body and my mind and my heart. From one moment to the next, everything changes in the blink of an eye, and I am shown my highest, ideal self. I'm not shown what I can become - and this always seems most important - I'm shown what I am already. I am no longer wanting to quit the addiction; rather, the addiction is no more.

I think I can relate to this, very much...especially if you are meaning the experience to change bad habits happens very sudden and rapidly...sort of like quitting "cold turkey" but without feeling any withdrawals? If so, this has been my experience as well, after coming to terms with issues of past hurts and clearing/resolving a personal past karmic connection, I was able to drastically cut down my alcohol consumption and stress eating....these changes happened extremely rapidly and now it feels as if these bad habits never existed for me...

Baile · #7 23-03-2016, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Somnia

I think I can relate to this, very much...especially if you are meaning the experience to change bad habits happens very sudden and rapidly...sort of like quitting "cold turkey" but without feeling any withdrawals? If so, this has been my experience as well, after coming to terms with issues of past hurts and clearing/resolving a personal past karmic connection, I was able to drastically cut down my alcohol consumption and stress eating....these changes happened extremely rapidly and now it feels as if these bad habits never existed for me...

Yes exactly, gone and finished, even the cravings. Interesting you relate it to clearing hurts and past karma, this has played a role for me as well. Once life karma has been cleaned up and swept away, joy enters to fill the void. It's my joy of life now that helps me to always keep moving forward in a positive way, and doesn't allow me to ever get down on myself anymore.

Somnia · #8 23-03-2016, 02:29 PM

@ Baile - Yes, I can attest to the clearing of karma/past hurts being a true catalyst for healthier lifestyle changes...

A few years ago I tried changing my lifestyle by cutting back on alcohol, eating healthier, and working out, and I was doing alright until I began to lapse...I realized I was focusing primarily on the physical and was neglecting my spiritual and mental well being...I believe this is way I fell off the wagon because I was not in tune with all 3 aspects of my being...

Now that I'm working on my spirit, mind, and body, together as one, I don't feel the ego's resistance nor the desire/temptation to fall back to my old ways...

I still enjoy alcohol and junk foods, but it's so much more balanced and in moderation now...

Baile · #9 23-03-2016, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Somnia

I can attest to the clearing of karma/past hurts being a true catalyst for healthier lifestyle changes... I realized I was focusing primarily on the physical and was neglecting my spiritual and mental well being

This is good wisdom here!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Somnia

Now that I'm working on my spirit, mind, and body, together as one, I don't feel the ego's resistance nor the desire/temptation to fall back to my old ways...

Similar again to my own experience, it feels as if my life turned a corner years ago and I don't ever consider going back, I can't really remember what it was even like. Part of that though is practical, I haven't been to a pub in a couple decades now for example. But I have mostly attributed my certainty of direction to just getting older and wiser. But you are right and that's what I am seeing as I read your posts, clearing the pain and karma from my 20's and early 30's was instrumental in all this.

Imzadi · #10 23-03-2016, 04:07 PM

Wow, Somnia and Baile! Thank you both for sharing such beautiful insights. I can empathize deeply with what you said. For me, I had tried fighting my bad habits with ego. Trying to control it, trick it, bribe it, deprive it, etc. etc. However, by trying to improve by using the ego's limited power it always inevitably end up in failure.

I realize now that I had been doing it backwards. Instead of trying to fight the bad habits with my ego, I started to run towards wholeness, goodness, Spirit, God, the Universe... And when I began to cultivate the ability to be in Union with the Divine Presence, the unhealthy habits themselves naturally falls away on their own. It's truly miraculous and I am so humble and grateful for it all. :)