There have been a plethora of books pertaining to the overcoming of addictions and attaining a better focus. They all have the same basic advice: recognize the addiction, admit you have the addiction, admit that your addiction hurts or could hurt others, pledge to change, and get an accountability partner(s). This is excellent advice, and has helped countless people overcome addiction. However, there has been little to no help when it comes to dealing with the addiction in the moment the temptation arises.
The problem with dealing with any addiction in the moment is that your mind is completely set on the addiction. More often than not, the theory given for this is one of self-restraint: think of the people you’re quitting the behavior for and even call your accountability partner for support and, if possible, leave the area where the temptation is. Again, this is all excellent advice, but does not help you to change your mindset.
We use mindset alteration every day. I am defining mindset alteration as changing one’s state of mind using a psychological tool. Anytime you have gotten in the car and put on your favorite music after a long day or a stressful situation, you are using the tool of music to change your sate of mind. If you go to church and they begin the service with worship music, they are using the tools of music, singing, chanting, rhythm, and dancing to change your mindset. These tools are beneficial and effective for putting our focus where it needs to be. I believe that we are commanded to fast, pray, sing, and dance because it changes our mindset. We need tools like this to refocus ourselves.
There are a near infinite amount of psychological tools, including music (use of a melodic pattern), singing (vocally projecting meaningful words in a melodic pattern), rhythm (feeling, creating, or listening to a patterned beat), chant (repeating the same words or syllables in pattern), dance (purposely moving the body in interpretive motions), position (putting your body in a certain shape, such as folding hands, standing, crossing legs, etc.), fasting (depriving your body of something it is used to, food and water being the most effective changers because of their chemical influence), ritual (performing an action that is outside of your daily routine, or as a part of your daily routine, with a certain reason or outcome in mind), consuming (ingesting a substance out of ritual or in order to change your mindset, as with communion, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, spices, unleavened bread, etc.), location (entering a place that is associated with a certain activity, i.e. a church building or a classroom), etc.
Most of these overlap and many are used in conjunction with others. Singing, for instance, usually involves music, rhythm, and chant (unless the lyrics never repeat) and is, in the cases of worship and driving, done in a certain location. Any combination is possible and may give different results in mindset.
Using mindset alteration in the process of fighting an addiction is simple. Just as after a stressful you may use music in the car to change your state of mind from frustrated to relaxed and comfortable, you can use psychological tools in order to change your state of mind from focused on your addiction (or any distraction) to focused on what you need to/should be/can be doing instead. At church you sing a worship song to change your state of mind from that of worrying about problems at home or at work to that of focusing on God. If you struggle with getting up in the morning you may change your alarm to a song that makes you feel energized and that makes you want to do things. An alcoholic, when wanting to drink, might start dancing to get their mindset refocused on what they can do and what other things they enjoy. People who have a hard time falling asleep often find it helpful to have a routine that puts them in sleeping state of mind.
There are several ways that we already use mind alteration in our day-to-day lives. Most of us have a morning routine and have found tools that get us focused when studying or going to the gym. People have found prayers that they will recite (chant) in order to focus their mindset. Look at what you do already and see how you can mindfully use those tools more proficiently. At the same time, though, look at what psychological tools you are using that may be having an adverse affect on your mindset. Where is the music you are listening to putting your focus? These tools are useful if you are aware of them and can be equally dangerous if you are not.
The following exert from an article by Steve Wagoner seemed to be pretty good about the idea of Yoga. While it is not directly related to what you're discussing, Yoga is basically a mind altering technique.
ReplyDeleteWhat’s Wrong With Taking a Yoga Class?
by Steve Wagoner
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Let us begin examining the dangers of involvement with yoga by looking at some of yoga’s basic presuppositions. Yoga has its roots in Eastern religion (Hinduism), and therefore teaches that “all reality is one.” Every system of yoga seeks to merge the self (samkhya) with Atman (or god–the true self). But Atman is not the God of Christianity. In the systems of yoga, god is part of the problem, for “god” is impersonal, changeable, and lacks a sufficiently high vantage point to give solutions to the problems he is also embroiled in. The Hindu gods remind us of the gods of Greek mythology in some respects.
HUMAN BEINGS CANNOT MERGE WITH THE TRUE GOD
From a Christian perspective, man is either able to merge with God, or he is not. He is either the creature, or the Creator. He cannot be both. This makes a significant difference when one builds a system of ethics, especially if a person is willing to believe that man can achieve union with God by his own efforts. The creature-Creator distinction, bridged by the Cross and Resurrection events in Christianity, are important not only for liberation from the power of sin, but for redemption as well. From the Bible’s point of view, we cannot come before God by our own unassisted efforts, much less merge with Him. Otherwise we make the work and resurrection of Christ sheer folly. This fact alone sets up enormous differences between Christian thought and yoga at the outset — but let us continue.
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Stories of yogis who can change their brain waves to unconscious patterns at will, or cause the heart to voluntarily stop, have been documented to support the contention that yoga provides one means for controlling the body and mind. It should be borne in mind, however, that some who have become involved in yoga have reported having had demonic experiences of a frightening nature. The end is not always what is sought; hence the contention that this is spiritual openness with religious significance — a risky science of playing with the inner man.
SELF-CONQUEST CANNOT BRING ETERNAL SALVATION
In yoga, an individual’s own mind constitutes his source of yogic power. Self-conquest is therefore to be achieved by “knowing one’s own mind,” which to many persons in Western societies sounds noble. But the problem is this: By the time one meets up with power in meditation, the reason is left behind. You have no way of knowing if the overwhelming and demanding power which you have experienced means you are good or evil. The idea is to give yourself to it and see what happens! Then you go back to the Hindu Vedas to read about what god you have experienced. But the Vedas tell of gods who can promise anything, and then turn on you with unpredictable viciousness and furious abrupt changes. There is risk involved here that has much spiritual significance (compare Exodus 20:3; Ephesians 6:12; 1 Corinthians 10:18-21). Anyone who delves into yoga very far, knows that the gods are where the power is. One discovers at length that some yogis have power to control their bodies, often in spectacular ways, but only because they have surrendered themselves to another power.
Eastern meditation practices all have to do with unfocusing. Everything I said about mind alteration has to do with focusing. The entire point of these tools is to help you focus on God. When Paul encourages us to be physically fit, it's not because we suddenly become closer to God through fitness, it's because a healthy lifestyle is a psychological tool that allows us to better focus on God.
ReplyDeleteAlso, according to that article, the exercise of Yoga is completely beneficial if you focus on God rather than unfocus in an effort to realize your personal non-existence.
Also, his comparison of the Hindu gods to the gods of the ancient Greeks is very inaccurate. The Hindu gods are seen more as pointers of how to realize your oneness with everything rather than actual gods that intervene in your life. Though, they certainly do regularly practice possessions by spirits, which is definitely a loss of focus. Though, if it is truly Hinduism, the goal is never power. Not that it really matters, but it does make me question the accuracy and sources of his research.
Certainly, I am not condoning the use of other religions in order to refocus yourself. In fact, that was never mentioned by myself. I don't think that I mentioned anything like that in my list of psychological tools.
Though, just as they meditate and pray in order to be filled with their spirits, we meditate and pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Theirs is certainly an evil practice, twisted by the deceptions of the Devil, but, like any efficient lie, it has some resemblance of the truth.