The Global Conversation

Tag: auriculotherapy

  • Collateral Damage

    During a recent recovery training class I attended the teacher asked the following question:  Who is the person that all addiction professionals have the hardest time helping? The answers were coming fast, and all were wrong according to him.  Some said “meth-heads,” others said “methadone addicts,” and other answers consisted of bulimics, anorexics, over-eaters, cigarette-smokers, etc.  The professor just kept shaking his head no.  Finally someone gave the answer he was looking for:  co-dependents. There was a collective sigh of agreement from the room when the answer was given.

    The human ego is our outward expression of who we think we are.  Ego is what we show to the world.  A Course in Miracles defines ego as “nothing more than a part of your belief about yourself.”  Of course, for the most part, our belief about our self is almost always very limited and oftentimes incorrect. Nonetheless, it is a critical part of who we are and how we experience life here. 

    So one of the most difficult things to get across to someone who has been affected by the behaviors of their loved ones is that they have been negatively impacted much in the same way that their loved ones are.  When the topic of co-dependency comes up with a family member of an addict or abuser, the answer we get is almost always the same: “I am not the one with the problem; they are!”

    It sure is easy to see it that way, too.  The alcoholic/drug addict has clear and definitive symptoms. Their lying, stealing, scrapes with the law, loss of jobs and relationships directly relate to addiction.  Yeah, addicts are pretty much out in the open with their disease, but guess what?  They don’t see it themselves.  And the same is true for co-dependents.  They do not see the destructive nature of their behavior but, most people around them do.

    For the outsiders, co-dependent behavior is baffling.  Many say, why won’t she just leave him? Or how many chances will he give her?  Or I can’t believe they put up with that kind of behavior.  Rational people cannot grasp what keeps the co-dependent repeating self-destructive behaviors.

    My heart goes out to the sufferers of co-dependency.  The longing for love lost is heartbreaking to witness.

    When an addict takes his first drink or drug, they have no idea they are going to become enslaved and addicted to it.  At some level, however, we understand that what we are doing could have some serious consequences. When a person falls in love with an addict or an abuser or a person with a narcissistic personality, they are much more unaware that they have become collateral damage to the disease of addiction.

    To some degree, addiction is contagious.

    How can a person’s thinking not be affected by the unpredictable behavior of their loved ones?  Our ego, in many cases, attaches ownership to our significant others.  We feel responsible for their behavior and their public image.  Soon we begin to lie to cover for them.  Not to protect them.  Usually by that point we don’t care much about them anymore.  No, we do it to protect us.  We don’t want anyone to see that we don’t have it all together.

    This is the point our ego becomes the obstacle we must overcome.  And sadly, many do not.  If only we in the helping community could get the point across that when we have one finger pointing at someone else, there are always 3 pointing right back at us.  Try it and see.  No, the thumb doesn’t count!

    What I would like to get across here in this blog and in my life’s work is that recovery from anything is really our human quest.  Staying the same, remaining unchanged, attempting to uphold an image of perfection goes against what the human experience is all about.  We are here to grow and experience all there is and as much of it as possible.

    Sadly, what happens to all too many of us is that we end up experiencing the same things over and over again.  After 50, 60, 70 years of that, many are so done with it they just wish life would end. I don’t feel it needs to be this way.  I have met countless people now in my 26 years of recovery; and for the most part, these people are living and enjoying life again.

    Being in a place of actively welcoming change into your life is a magical place. Breaking down the walls of ego and being transparent with your life is a gift from the soul.  We can’t learn anything if we are always right. We can’t receive compassion from others if we hide our pain and sorrow.  We can’t experience love others until we learn to love ourselves.

    Co-dependency, like addiction, is not a derogatory identity to have. It is merely the path we have chosen to take on this particular journey through the physical.  We have been here before; and undoubtedly, we will be here again.

    If this article has struck a chord with you please feel free — no, feel inspired to comment below.  Be the one who starts the conversation.  Be the source of recovery from the destructive thought patterns that limit our experience here in the physical realm. This is your invitation.

    (Kevin McCormack, C.A.d ,is a certified addictions professional and auriculotherapist.  He is a recovering addict with 26 years of sobriety. Kevin is a practicing auriculotherapist, life coach, and interventionist specializing in individual and family recovery and also co-facilitates spiritual recovery retreats for the CWG foundation.  You can visit his website Life After Addicton for more information. To connect with Kevin, please email him at Kevin@TheGlobalConversation.com)

  • The healing power of auriculotherapy

    Many of you are aware of the amazing health and wellness benefits of acupuncture.  I have a close friend who is a master acupuncturist and she has traveled all over the world to master her craft.  She has treated me for various things over the years, and I am a big fan.  Auriculotherapy is similar to acupuncture, but is only treated on the surface of the ear and there are no needles used in this type of treatment.  Much like acupuncture, there are only a couple of contraindications.  For safety reasons, auriculotherapy should not be performed on those who are pregnant or anyone who has a pacemaker.  Auriculotherapy is completely safe on all others.

    I am bringing you this article today because not very many people have heard about auriculotherapy.  One of the most beneficial aspects of the treatment is the sedation effect.  When we become stressed with our day to day living, our mind tends to go into what is called fight-or-flight syndrome.  The symptoms of fight-or-flight syndrome are shallow breathing, increased heart rate, and our awareness is heightened.  Our adrenal glands go into high gear and adrenalin is pumped into the blood stream to prepare us for battle.  During this state of heightened awareness, we live our lives through the lens of fear.  We are constantly on the defensive and looking for our enemies.  Our ability to be creative is diminished, and rational, cognitive thinking is impaired.

    After long periods of fight-or-flight syndrome, our body begins to break down.  The negative thinking becomes firmly entrenched behavior, creating a vicious circle of stress-inducing thought.  Chronic illness such as irritable bowel syndrome, indigestion, high blood pressure, chronic fatigue, and addiction are common companions of fight or flight.  Many seek treatment for the visible symptoms and are then prescribed drugs that simply mask the body’s attempts to show us there is something that needs our attention.  By treating the apparent symptoms and not addressing the chronic state of being we have developed, the other symptoms begin to get worse.  This is the never-ending cycle that so many people are now caught up in.  We have become a society that has medicine cabinets full of drugs to “fix” things that can be easily corrected with a lifestyle change.

    Many people fear that reducing their stress means less productivity. Our culture has us believing that our health and well-being is secondary to our financial security.  Yet with the rising cost of health care, soon, if not already, it will be far more costly to neglect our health than continue a lifestyle that requires us to overwork and overproduce. Having a healthy stress management ritual helps us to be more productive in our work, emotionally available for our friends and family, and open to hearing our higher self and the soft hints of our intuitive nature.

    Holistic wellness methods such as acupuncture, auriculotherapy, chiropractic, naturopathy, yoga, and meditation, to name just a few, are surefire ways to stop the fight-or-flight syndrome in its tracks.  Stress can never be eliminated; in fact, we need stress in our lives to provide a contextual field and propel us to our natural state, which is self-improvement.  Our society has all but given up on the natural path to wellness in favor of the quick fix in the forms of pills and surgeries.  While I do understand that there are situations that call for the medical community to step in and help, I am of the belief that if we practice healthier, holistic lifestyles, the need for traditional medicine would be minimal.  Stopping chronic illness starts at arresting our fight-or-flight response and finding a state of relaxation.

    The first point treated in auriculotherapy is called the Shen Men.  The Chinese have had awareness of this point for over 5,000 years. When the Shen Men is stimulated using the micro-current tool used in auriculotherapy, the mind becomes sedated, allowing for a greater connection to our soul voice. When the mind is “out of the way,” the body’s ability to heal is unlimited. Furthermore, the panic mode brought on by our fight-or-flight mechanism is virtually eliminated, easing us into a normalized state of being. Sometimes simply being reminded of what it feels like to not be worried or anxious is all it takes for a person to understand just how stressed out they really are.

    There are over 350 reflex points in the ear referring to every system, organ, and limb of the body. The procedure is quick and painless, although some would describe it as mildly uncomfortable. The results are immediate and undeniable.  For a quick and relatively painless session, relaxation is induced and fight or flight is arrested for the time being.  If the person receiving treatment has any mild aches or pains, the therapist can locate and stimulate corresponding points and ease the discomfort.

    Used in many treatment facilities, auriculotherapy has shown remarkable results in patient retention.  On average, patients attending 28-day treatment facilities typically only stay around 10 days.  Studies show that facilities who offer advanced relaxation therapies like yoga and auriculotherapy have almost 100 percent retention.

    For those wishing to quit smoking, auriculotherapy offers an easy way out. The hardest part of quitting smoking is the discomfort of withdrawal. By stimulating the correct points we can trick the brain into releasing endorphins, the exact same feeling we get when we are smoking, without the nicotine to produce it.  After just a few treatments, the body normalizes its production of endorphins and the withdrawal stage has passed.

    If you are looking for a stress management protocol, try looking into auriculotherapy and see for yourself.  Typically, you will find this treatment being offered in chiropractic offices and holistic wellness centers.  The average treatment takes about 20 minutes to ½ hour.

    I am bringing you this article today for two reasons:  The first is as an informational piece.  I feel this is a valuable tool to have in your holistic health toolbox.  The second reason is to tell you that at our Path to Peace recovery retreats, we offer this service for no additional charge daily. For someone wishing to quit smoking, who plans on attending the retreat, this could be a great way to kick it off.

    Our next P2P retreat is coming up quickly.  This one will be held in San Jose, California, from September 19 – 22nd.  After that, we will be taking to the east coast in Orlando, Florida, from October 24 – 27th. Click here for more information and registration for these retreats.

    (Kevin McCormack, C.A.d ,is a certified addictions professional. He is a recovering addict with 26 years of sobriety. Kevin is a practicing auriculotherapist, life coach, and interventionist specializing in individual and family recovery and also co-facilitates spiritual recovery retreats for the CWG foundation with JR Westen. You can visit his website here for more information. To connect with Kevin, please email him at Kevin@TheGlobalConversation.com)

  • a QWERTY kind of life

    Change is difficult.  Unwanted change can be painful and challenging.  Recovery from addictions, hard or soft, is no exception.  Anyone who has consciously made the effort to rid their lives of a behavior they deem destructive or no longer useful can attest to this.  So why is it that when we come to the realization that we desire change it then becomes difficult to follow through?

    Personally, I have chosen recently to stop drinking coffee or any other caffeinated beverages.  It has been 18 days of complete abstinence for me, yet I know this territory very well.  I have quit before for longer periods of time.  The difference this time is, I have been seeking the support of others and remaining aware of my tendencies.

    Thoughts create our urges and cravings.  Sometimes the triggers are subtle, other times they are very predictable.  I have just about every Starbucks in the greater Orlando area mapped out in my head.  When I am driving, occasionally I will have the thought “hey, there is a Starbucks right around the corner.”  This is the moment of choice.  Do I react or do I create?  Do I give in and damage my self-esteem or do I acknowledge my own power and move on?   I have found the best way to choose the latter is to enroll others in my journey.

    The frontal lobe of the brain is the cognitive center, and its function is to separate out thoughts and filter them in the way we direct.  The midbrain is the impulsive, reactive center in the brain.  The midbrain sends its messages 7 times faster than the cognitive brain operates.  This is because the midbrain’s function is to preserve life.  When we practice cognitive behavior, we are much better prepared to handle the impulsiveness of the midbrain.  Increasing our awareness is a slow process that takes practice and willingness.

    So how do we direct the frontal lobe to make choices that support us in where we say we want to go?  This is the great challenge all of us face in life.  What are the voices in my head? How many of them are there? And which ones do I listen to?

    Life can be a lot like typing.  We can hunt and peck our way through, hoping we create a document worth reading before we die.  Or we can blindly stroke keys and end up with a mess of letters on a page that do not form any meaning at all.  Or, lastly, we can train ourselves to memorize where the keys are and which fingers to use to hit the keys and really create a work of art in a much shorter period of time, allowing for greater amounts of creation during our lifetime.

    The “qwerty” way of living life takes a little more upfront  work in the form of practicing healthy patterns of living so that we can start to direct our life with more focus and determination.  Have you noticed that the things in life you pay most attention to are the things that manifest in your reality?  Positive and negative, this is how life works.  God provides us with exactly what we place the majority of our intention on.

    This is why it is so important to make sure you are sending out the message that you want to experience and not place your energy on what you do not wish to experience.  Many of us tend to fall prey to the thinking that life is not on our side and that we are somehow at a disadvantage to others.  So long as we play out that belief, it will appear true.

    “The Universe is like a big Xerox machine.
    It simply produces multiple copies of your thoughts”
    Conversations with God, Book  1

    When we decide to make a change in our life, circumstances will present in the form of “are you sure?”  I have had many “are you sure” moments over the last 18 days of abstinence from caffeine.  From the wonderful smell of the coffee tray coming down the aisle of the airplane I was on and mercilessly stopping right next to me for what seemed like 5 minutes.  God, it smelled good!  But I had support, people who knew what I had called forth in my life.  And whether or not I didn’t take the coffee because I would have been embarrassed to admit I didn’t succeed or I simply chose not to, doesn’t matter.  I remained resolved in my quest.  One day at a time.  One craving at a time.  One “are you sure?” moment after the other.

    The moments when a craving hits or an opportunity presents itself to relapse into past behaviors and we choose to rise above and recreate ourselves in a new way, we reinforce our new pattern.  After doing this repeatedly, the new pattern becomes the norm and the “are you sure?” moments become less frequent.

    So I choose to embrace these “are you sure?” moments and recognize them for what they are.  They are the spiritual barbells of the universe, making us more powerful in our ability to create our lives in a more conscious way.

    What are your experiences with “are you sure?” moments?

    (Kevin McCormack, C.A.d ,is a certified addictions professional. He is a recovering addict with 26 years of sobriety. Kevin is a practicing auriculotherapist, life coach, and interventionist specializing in individual and family recovery and also co-facilitates spiritual recovery retreats for the CWG foundation with JR Westen.  The next retreat will be September 19 – 22nd in San Jose, California.  More information on retreats can be found here. You can visit his website for more information at www.Kevin-Spiritualmentor.com  To connect with Kevin, please email him at Kevin@TheGlobalConversation.com)