Book Review - "Mindful Recovery: Spiritual Path To Healing From Addiction" by Thomas Bien and Beverly Bien

The authors Thomas and Beverly Bien come from personal backgrounds of addictions; they work as professional therapists, and at the same time practice deep spirituality. And, similar to a growing population of seekers and teachers today, recognize an obvious need in our culture for a synthesis of mindfulness and mental health.

One of the important reasons mindfulness is salient in recovery, according to the Biens, is because addiction "is at its core a way of avoiding life rather than being aware of it"; that, "for many addicted people, addictive behavior is a way to turn problems off for a while." Yet the abuse of substances ultimately only increases fears and avoidant behavior over the long term. It is only effective as a short term coping strategy. Mindfulness, they urge, is a way of awakening to the beauty of the present moment.

A central theme of "Mindful Recovery" is that mindfulness is the opposite of experiential avoidance, or of denying responsibility, or of ultimately fleeing one's inner self. The Bien's have an approach which they emphasize is, "spiritually oriented." Although the Bien's connect mindfulness with Buddhism in this text they point out that Buddha did not set out with the intention to teach Buddhism as a religion per se; rather as a practice and "path of liberation." It is a way to end one's mental, emotional, and physical suffering; yet the sort of practice espoused by the Buddha does not conflict with and only enhances one's personal religious devotion or higher ideal, whatever path it may be including Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, or any other.

The Buddha's primary teachings are the Four Noble Truths. The Four Noble Truths tell us that life is suffering and that there is in fact a way to free or liberate us from that suffering. The way to liberation, Buddha taught approximately two thousand years ago, is the eightfold path, which is:

• Right view
• Right thought
• Right speech
• Right action
• Right livelihood
• Right mindfulness
• Right diligence
• Right concentration

However, the Buddha did not mean "right" in the moral sense, rather in a practical way. He meant whole, or complete, or effective.

Meditation and mindfulness are a practice in being. The addicted person rarely embraces moments. This is because the here and now is uncomfortable for many reasons. But meditation is a practice in embracing the now; it is about practicing whatever one does with whole attentiveness, "If you are doing the dishes in order to be able to go on to something you think will be more satisfying than doing the dishes, not only will you not enjoy doing the dishes, but you will not enjoy whatever it is you go on to do next...you never live, but are always planning to live."

Their approach is Eastern influenced, but mindfulness is universal and has been practiced in all cultures, in all wisdom traditions; and Western psychology has now embraced mindfulness as a therapeutic modality. The stages of change model developed by Prochaska juxtaposes on the Bien's philosophy.

What I find uniquely stimulating about this approach is how the practice of mindfulness as a positive addiction is emphasized. It sounds similar to what William Glasser, the creator of choice theory and reality therapy, espoused in the 1980s. The only way we can overcome compulsive, addictive behaviors is through replacing them with healthy, positive addictions. In this book, an example is provided of a man in recovery from cocaine addiction (Martin), who took up golf with such passion that it replaced his addiction: "Martin's story also points out that while quitting is an essential step, it is not enough. One needs a new focus. While other things can provide it, in our view, the best focus you can have is on living more deeply, more spiritually. In this book we offer mindfulness as just such a a focus - indeed as a way of life." What the Bien's are saying is that mindfulness becomes the positive addiction undergirding all useful habits, or to replace destructive ones.

The Bien's "10 Doorways to Mindfulness" also somewhat parallel the very successful 12step approach. The 10 Doorways are:

• Practicing being present
• Considering as a story that is always fresh
• The use of the journal for story and awakening
• Meditation
• Connecting with the natural world
• Cultivating healthy relationships
• Exploring dreams
• Practicing mindfulness at work
• Learn to hold and embrace difficult emotions to ensure recovery
• Practice, practice, practice

This author highly recommends this book. If one takes the steps outlined here and as the authors say in the tenth and final door, "practice, practice, practice," he or she will at the very least achieve a new perspective on addiction, with new passion and a positive addiction that cannot do oneself or anyone else harm.