How to Find Inner Peace During Withdrawal

When I talk to coaching clients about the discomfort they are feeling during the tough moments of the withdrawal and healing process, words such as the following are often used: restlessness, agitation, anxiety, distress, and sadness.

What is it that people want to feel? As I’ve talked about recently, in part people just want to sense a return to some semblance of “normalcy” in life (to just have “A Tuesday be a Tuesday,” so to speak). People want a return to some sort of “flow” in life, where daily routines and rhythms move about more easily and everything isn’t such a struggle.

Also, people want to find a greater sense of inner peace. After having gone through the withdrawal process myself and coaching so many over the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that those are the two things everyone wants more than anything: normalcy and inner peace.

Recently I’ve talked about how to find a greater sense of normalcy in this process, even as challenges and discomfort are present, and in this post I’ll talk about how you can find a greater sense of inner peace as you move forward in healing.

1) Regain a healthy perspective. You might be experiencing strange and uncomfortable symptoms as a part of your existence right now, but those things are not the whole story. They are just a part of a larger beneficial process of healing that is happening step by step as the body and mind adjust. They are temporary challenges in a process that brings sustainable healing.

It is so easy to become myopically focused on a symptom or struggle in a day to the point where we forget to see: blessings, improvements, goals and the bigger picture of healing that is playing out. Each day come back to that bigger perspective, and when you can’t grasp it for yourself talk to others who help to paint it for you.

2) Come back to simple and reassuring truths throughout the day. Examples would be: “Better or worse this day is moving me forward in healing.” “I am safe and loved and will be okay today.” “My future will be better because of the work I am putting in today.” “Symptoms can’t harm me.” “My body and mind are rebalancing and that is why things feel confusing at times. Progress is being made.”
Focusing on such statements often throughout the day bring peace.

3) Refuse to entertain toxic and negative lines of thinking. Now, this takes work. The default mode of the mind in withdrawal is negative, I was there. So you are going to have a lot of negative thoughts full of fear, doubt, and doom. These will latch onto thoughts about you and your self-worth, they will latch onto thoughts about the prospect of your healing, and they will latch onto thoughts of what your future will be.

Everyone has these negative thoughts, but the goal is to refuse to “entertain” them. When you think about “entertaining” someone, you think about inviting them into your home, sitting down to dinner with them, asking what they need to be comfortable, and spending extended time with them. Don’t “entertain” the junk thoughts. They don’t deserve your extended time or attention, and they have no business getting comfortable in your home or mind.

As the week goes on we’ll continue the list of ways to find increased inner peace, but to begin the week practice the above three items.

God bless your journey and continued progress,
Michael