Alchemist Recovery Podcast

Science vs. Spirit

When science and spirit are positioned as opposites and set against one another, the resulting tension can be overwhelming. 

Whether this is an internal battle or a conversation between two people, organizations, or businesses, the either-or, win-lose setup stretches our stress muscles.

We all get this and instinctively know we’ve got to honor—or at least hear out—both sides of the argument.

But let’s face it, when the head hears one-liners like:

* Follow your bliss.

* Listen to your heart.

* Chase your passion.

* Do what you love.

It cringes.

And when the heart is corralled and led down chutes of:

* Just the facts, please.

* Follow the science.

* Listen to the logic.

* Do the next thing on the list.

It shrivels.

So, how do these two forces within us reconcile with each other?

Join us as we explore this question—be it for your recovery, personal relationships, or even your business and career. We cover…

A Push-Pull Problem with a Yin-Yang Answer:

* Science wants control.

* Spirit wants surrender.

These feel very different:

* The mind pushes.

* The heart is pulled.

Transformation:

* Surrender becomes listening.

* Control becomes personal responsibility.

You can watch the podcast video on the homepage here.

As always, leave any questions or comments below, hit that little ♥️, and until next time…

With Blessings,Randal

What’s missing?

Regardless of where you find yourself on the path of recovery - whether it’s looking to make that first big leap into sobriety, or keeping things rolling in the early stages, or even if you’ve got some time under your belt and hit a plateau, have you, like me, at some point wondered:

“It feels like something is missing.”

This inner gnawing arises and persists despite the many effective therapies and modern approaches that carried us this far. We keep doing all the usual-next-right-things and they continue to deliver all of the usual-next-right-results, but they don’t speak to this voice emanating from the Void and telling us we’re not quite getting all of it.

So, what exactly is missing? 

A spiritual solution

There’s no chemical solution to a spiritual problem.

This is a popular recovery saying that speaks to the fact that taking a pill will not fix concerns of the spirit.

I agree. Let’s take it a step further and allow me to propose…

There’s no thought-solution to a spiritual problem. 

This speaks to the fact that we also cannot think our way into fixing concerns of the spirit.

So, if we cannot use a pill or think our way into arriving at this spiritual solution how exactly do we go about doing it and what exactly does this look like?

Well, let’s get more complicated before we make it very, very simple.

If you’d like to keep reading, you can find the written post on The Sober Shaman, which is entitled, The Heart, Soul & Bones of Recovery.

If you’d like to get the journey and the associated PDF that this Podcast refers to, as well as all of The Program’s 52 Lessons, hit the subscribe for free button below and you’ll have it delivered to your inbox with thanks & blessings!

With All Good Medicine,

Randal

When someone is looking to make the leap from addiction into recovery, it’s normal for them to feel overwhelmed when exploring all of the “proven and effective” ways they should do it.

I know, I listened to plenty of professionals and experts who told me what I should, needed and had to do.

So, I did. And yet…something was still missing.

For me back then, as well as with the people I work with now, this is the spiritual component. And by that I do not mean some woo-woo ambiguity or an inventory of thou-shalt-not-do-these-things-list, no, instead this is a feeling from deep within, which resonates as a rock-solid knowing of the truth. This is what needs to be acknowledged, listened to and understood.

This is what needs to be trusted.

And when you do this, it affords you access to, and the ability to receive benefits from, the realm of spirit. 

This is exactly what we do here at The Sober Shaman. We make the spiritual practical. We follow a detailed map of the path ahead, which guides you step-by-step through every exercise. You arrive back from your journey with the information, knowledge and healing power that applies to your personal situation. 

When you become a subscriber, links to the two primary courses of The Sober Shaman (The Guide & The Program) will be delivered in your Welcome email. Click the button below, sign up & you’ll get them delivered right to your inbox ; )

With Blessings,

Randal

I am consistently updating and adding resources to The Program. Here’s the latest installment for Lesson 41: Your Capacity, which appears as part of the Metal Phase during Principle #2: Addiction is a Cycle.

This one is all about feeling. And just like the feelings that drove us during active addiction, the ones that arise from digging into the roots of investigative recovery can be overwhelming.

Because when a feeling overtakes us and we follow like a lemming, it can lead us right off the cliff.

The flip side also has drawbacks because when we control the feeling following a path of logical structure and/or medicative numbness, we can end up in a suspended state of safety that turns into a life of flatness.

How do we reconcile this?

Listen to the podcast to see how we explore this, or you can watch the video from the main post here:

As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions you have and leave a comment below.

Blessings,Randal

There’s this slogan, “Relapse is part of recovery,” that has always kind of bugged me because I’ve known people to use it as an excuse for their latest slip back into addiction.

And at the same time, I understand the other side, too.

So, which is it? Is relapse a tool to be used in one’s recovery or is it a built-in justification for another trip around the cycle?

In today’s episode of The Sober Shaman, we’ll be taking a look at the one valuable insight that a Yin Yang philosophical perspective can provide to help make a relapse the absolute last one.

Here’s an outline of our talk:

Intro to Yin Yang

Points:

* Relapse is not part of recovery, it’s part of reinforcing the pattern

* Relapse is just a yo-yo reaction into active addiction after a period of successful recovery

* Get this insight and get off the cycle

Yin Yang’s first two Rules

* They are opposites

* They are dependent upon each other

Good vs Bad

* Energies vs Judgements

The problems are…

* We think we can eliminate The Bad

* We think these are our only two choices

* Do our closest relationships understand? 

The solutions are…

* There is another way

* Characteristics and names

* Apply Yin Yang

* Identify who’s in charge?

As always, please leave any comments or questions below or send them to me directly at: [email protected] 

With Blessings,

Randal

This kind of choice is not built upon willpower, or “I’m going to try,” or “It’s a good idea if I stop doing [fill-in-the-blank].”

No, this kind of choice is an immovable object.

This kind of choice is an agreement with spirit, a covenant with God, and, if you’re an atheist, it’s a partnership with Truth itself. 

Until you make this choice, the big problems in recovery will keep resurfacing, increasing the chance of relapse.

In this episode of The Sober Shaman Podcast, we’ll examine what makes this choice different, why it’s imperative for successful recovery, and what it takes to make the decision.

I would like to thank Adam PT for his post, “I Could Relapse,” in which he recalls a Smart Recovery Group that stuck with him. Adam introduces the Fire Triangle, which consists of oxygen, heat, and fuel, and explains how it’s an analogous model for the Relapse Triangle, which consists of opportunity, cravings, and choice. Great stuff.

It had me nodding along in agreement and had my brain humming in harmony with truths that ring like bells.

I experienced this resonance because this choice was what finally pushed me over the line separating addiction from recovery.

Until I made this choice, I was always “trying,” “attempting,” “implementing a new method,” etc., which was frustrating, exhausting, and just set me up for another go-around of the cycle.

These days, I have more clarity about the dynamics and logistics that go into this choice, and the language I use to help others make the same choice for themselves.

Not a subscriber? Make this choice ;) and receive Your Guide to the Shamanic Journey, sent right to your inbox.

Do you know someone who’s struggling with addiction and hasn’t yet made this choice?

It’s not easy. Leave a comment below or shoot me an email, [email protected], with your questions or thoughts.

With Blessings,Randal

Shamanism, to me, is all about relationship. To enter into and maintain an ongoing right relationship with:

* The people we love

* The places we love

* The invisible beings and forces that we love (however your belief system perceives them)

In the West, right relationship has been decimated because we’ve lost our relationship to the sacred. Specifically, this appears in:

* Language

* Listening

* Abilities that connect us to receive knowledge and healing power from spirit/the divine

In this episode, we’ll explore how The Spirits of Colonialism played their part in making this happen and how they continue to perpetuate themselves through the insidious practice of turning the victim into the perpetrator. 

Episode Notes

* Engaging with The Spirits of Colonialism, like all addictions, creates results where everybody loses.

* These results perpetuate themselves by turning victims into perpetrators.

Examples:

* The Roman Empire’s method: conscripting the conquered

* The English Empire’s method: the Welsh Knot and the Irish Stick

Everyone’s just trying to survive:

* Diaspora, immigration, running from and running towards

* My family’s story from the Italian Piedmont to Ellis Island and Patterson, New Jersey

Television Series: “Who Do Your Think You Are?”

The Sober Shaman Program

Examining our family history often provides information about our ancestors’ painful encounters with The Spirits of Colonialism. For many, this is the awareness needed to help break the cycle of addiction.

The following lessons from The Sober Shaman Program guide you through that process:

Watch the entire podcast episode here:

Next Steps

If you’re looking for a holistic, integrative, proven-effective program of long-term recovery, find my program here.

And to learn more about The Sober Shaman and how we can work together, you can always go directly to the website: www.RandalLyons.com.

With Blessings,Randal

Psychology calls it synchronicity. Spirituality and shamanism may call it direct communication from the spirits.

Either way, these events hold meaning, power, and a personal kind of magic in them. This is why, back in my days of active addiction, I chased them in pursuit of more.

Now in recovery, “more” can happen through clean intention, sacred ritual, and right action. 

In this episode of The Sober Shaman Podcast, we explore exactly how to do this and start from a place of:

* Removing the excess

* Learning to listen

* Merging with spirit

This is Big Medicine for our times, for our health, and for helping to break the cycle of addiction once and for all.

Do you have a synchronicity that you know in your bones was spirit communicating with you? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

You can watch this episode in its entirety here:

You can find out more about The Sober Shaman and how we can work together on the website: www.RandalLyons.com.

With Blessings,Randal

The Spirit of Should tells us that it’s not enough. Right here, right now, it’s just not good enough.

This doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. But, for people struggling with addiction and anxiety, it can’t help but poke at the Wound. 

And there’s more. Because the Spirit of Should uses this opening to remind us that right here, right now, “I am not good enough.”

This is the belief that keeps someone plugged into the cycle of addiction.

This is what feeds and sustains the Spirit of Should.

This episode of The Sober Shaman podcast explores:

* How the Spirit of Should operates

* Where it comes from

* How we invited it in (similar to vampire stories)

* Practical steps to dismantle our relationship with it

I also discuss the following chart of the Four Aspects: mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical. For each aspect, I’ve listed its associated domain and medicine.

Find links mentioned in the episode here:

* The Program Lesson 3: What Is Medicine? Part 1

* The Program Lesson 4: What Is Medicine? Part 2

And if you want to watch this episode on YouTube, click play here:

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to share them below or email me at: [email protected]

And if you found this helpful, please hit the little like button and consider becoming a subscriber (it’s free).

With blessings!Randal

If someone’s engaged in active addiction, they’re also engaged in active lying.

This includes lies they’ve told others as well as ones they’re telling themselves—untangling the two can get complicated.

In today’s podcast episode, I discuss one method for freeing ourselves from The Web of Lies. Through the practice of shamanic journeying, it offers medicine in the form of awareness, experience, and practical spirituality.

Basics, examples, practice

If you’re new to shamanic journeying and want to learn the basics, find them here: The Shamanic Journey and Addiction Recovery - Part 1.

If you’d like to hear an example of what a journey might look like, give a listen to today’s podcast at the video link above.

And if you’re ready to undertake the Medicine Journey to The Web of Lies for yourself (without my voice guiding you), here’s an audio drumming file and some follow-up questions:

Questions

Write down the answers to these questions upon your return:

* Did you feel called to travel to the UpperWorld (UW) or LowerWorld (LW)?

* Describe the place of your entrance into the UW or LW?

* Was this a new place or known place?

* Who did you meet?

* Were they new or known?

* When you asked to be taken to The Web of Lies, how did you get there?

* What did The Web of Lies appear to you as?

* What were your first impressions?

* Did it feel familiar?

* What information did you get?

* Was there anything that you needed to do?

* If so, did you do it? How’d it go? Do you need to follow up in Ordinary Reality? Who can help? What do you need to do?

* What did you learn from this Medicine Journey to The Web of Lies?

Back to you.

If you participated in the Medicine Journey using the above audio, how’d it go? What did you receive?

If you’d like to share any insights, medicine, and power you received during your journey to The Web of Lies (or thoughts on today’s podcast), I’d love to hear. Please share in the comments.

As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send them my way: [email protected]

And if you found this helpful, please hit the little like button and consider becoming a subscriber (it’s free).

With Blessings,Randal