I do love reading fiction. I do. But I also can’t resist opening the pages of a nonfiction book that promises to teach me something that just may change my life. And wow, this book by Guy Du Plessis did not disappoint. An Integral Guide to Recovery.
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First of all, having a habit of drinking a bottle of vodka daily is not a prerequisite for reading this book. Even if your “addiction” is a dysfunctional thinking pattern or a codependent relationship, I believe the wisdom found within the pages of this read can be trans-formative. It teaches you how to design and execute your own personalized recovery program, with suggestions for “feeding” your physical, psychological, intellectual, existential, social, and environmental aspects of your life. Sounds heavy, I know. But what I took away from it is that recovery from any addictive problem requires more than just the known 12-step approach. It requires nourishing all these different areas of your life to comprise a truly holistic lifestyle treatment approach.
Think of it like this. If you want a kick-ass body, would you do nothing but go to the gym every day? No. The answer is no. You’d also work on your nutrition. You might even read a few books on physical fitness and body building. And what about rest? Would you start aiming for quality sleep each night? It’s the same with recovery. Guy Du Plessis suggests we need to focus on 6 areas: physical (nutrition, health, exercise), psychological (understand our motives, our weaknesses), intellectual (hey, read more books), existential (meditation, anyone?), social (branch out, join a club, make a friend), and environmental (clean your house, maybe? throw out the junk food?). Well, you get the idea.
Here’s my take. This book (An Integral Guide to Recovery) truly changed my way of thinking about self care and self improvement. After reading it, I realized there are definitely areas in my life that need more nourishment. I also realized that we should never stay stagnant or complacent with ourselves. Life is about learning, growing, and sometimes even changing.
