The Sober Shaman

First, I’d like to thank all of you that follow or subscribe to The Sober Shaman. It’s an honor to land in your inbox and receive a bit of your time and attention, as well as get back your questions, responses, and sometimes a request for help for those struggling to break the cycle of addiction.

I am saying goodbye to Substack as a host for my podcast and newsletter. Nothing personal Substack - it’s just feeling more like social media than Home.

So, if you’re new here, please go to this link to subscribe

And if you’d like to get the free gift of The Sober Shaman’s Guide to the Shamanic Journey, you can now receive the PDF, video and drumming file here:

As always, shoot me any questions, comments or concerns you have at: [email protected].

With blessings,

Randal

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit randallyons.substack.com

In this episode of The Sober Shaman Podcast, we delve into a recent—and common—conversation with a client about the benefits of adopting a spiritual approach to recovery.

They want to know, “What will it do for me?”

There are certain perspectives that viewing life through a spiritual lens can provide, which can be used to one’s advantage. But first, we need to confront the baggage carried into the present. For many of us:

The problem is that we’ve been conditioned to believe what spirituality should be, rather than discovering for ourselves what it can be.

Join me as we explore some of the wonders that spiritual medicine can offer. Listen to the audio here:

I’d love to hear your feedback—leave a comment or send me your questions. And don’t forget to hit the little ♥️—your support is always appreciated!

With Blessings,Randal

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit randallyons.substack.com

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.

Tune in to the podcast episode here:

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

With Blessings,Randal

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit randallyons.substack.com

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, have you ever wondered:

“Is something missing? 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—and take it further.

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

We can’t think our way into fixing concerns of the spirit.

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

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

We don’t need a middleman to access the divine.

In order to begin our search for the spiritual solution, we must first address an elephant-in-the-room-sized issue. This is the issue of our beliefs.

In the West, many believe that we do not have the ability, or the right, to establish and maintain a direct relationship with our helping and compassionate spirits.

Centuries of religious persecution have told us that engaging in direct revelation with spirit is wrong, bad, weird, or impossible. 

With spirit replaced by science and “true facts,” it’s no wonder our “spirit muscle” has been ignored and left to atrophy.

Then, “experts” tell us we need them as intermediaries, standing between us and the divine to safely deliver and accurately interpret “the information,” so we aren’t led astray.

This is a lie.

Every one of us has the inherent human ability, and birthright, to receive knowledge, information, and healing power from our compassionate and helping spirits.

So, how do we go against the tide of false messaging and receive these benefits as a spiritual solution to our addiction?

Stop searching. Start trusting.

Trust the truth you already know.

This is what…

Speaks to your heart,

Touches your soul,

Resides in your bones.

I believe every one of us has the right and the ability to do exactly this.

When you embark on this path, you learn how to:

* Hear what speaks to your heart

* Feel what touches your soul

* Understand what resides in your bones

It’s that simple. Simple, but not easy—because it goes against what we’ve been programmed to believe. Years of Catholic schooling left grooves on my psyche, and mainstream society’s derogatory, dismissive terms for those I admired who encouraged trusting oneself created confusion. But when I chose sobriety, I also chose to trust my spiritual beliefs.

Because of this, I can say with some certainty, that the answer is not out there somewhere, so stop searching. We already possess the solution, so start trusting.

Where do we begin? At the beginning.

The following is a parable that speaks to this truth. Its exact origins are unknown, as many traditions, religions, and beliefs have versions pointing to the same essential wisdom.

It goes something like this…

Kicking it with the angels

In the beginning, when God was finished creating the universe, they were kicking it with their angels and had an idea.

God said, “You know, I’d like to show myself to the people but I want to make it challenging and rewarding. I think I’ll hide myself and make them work for it. Hey angels, where do you think a good hiding spot would be?”

Angel 1 suggested, “We could bury you deep within the earth.”

God thought for a minute, then replied, “No, I don’t think that’ll do. It won’t be long before they dig up all the treasures I’ve got in there and soon enough, they’ll get to me too.”

Angel 2 said, “Hey, we could put you on the moon.”

God thought about this one for a minute and said, “Not bad Number 2 but sooner or later those pesky people will fly up there and make it look too easy. We’ve got to make it just a bit more difficult.”

This caused a long silence with no other options coming from the angels.

Then, from the rear, Angel 13 cried out, “I’ve got it. Why don’t we hide you within their own heart. They’ll never look there!”

“Brilliant!” God exclaimed. “That’s the perfect hiding place.”

And so, there we have it, God is hiding within each of our hearts. And they will stay hidden until we’re ready to acknowledge this truth and take our courageous adventure to this place deep within.

To do so, we must first go through broken-heartedness.

A Shamanic Journey to Your Broken Heart

The method I use to access the realm of spirit is known as the shamanic journey. It’s a simple yet profound method that is learned, practiced, and personally mastered. It appears throughout history, is on every continent, and each culture has its own particular ways of achieving success.

With a little training, this method can become a path that opens the spiritual realms to just about anyone.

I adapted this approach for clients at addiction treatment centers. Given participants’ diverse beliefs and each center’s unique focus, I clarified that one could engage from an atheist or psychological perspective. For those approaching it as a spiritual journey, I emphasized that this non-denominational method can actually deepen one’s existing religious beliefs.

Below, you’ll find an audio for this guided Journey to Your Broken Heart.

If you desire, go ahead and undertake the journey for yourself or offer it to a client. I’ve included a list of post-journey questions, which I recommend answering immediately upon your return.

The Journey to Your Broken Heart

PDF with Post-Journey Questions (pp. 16-19)

I’ve done this journey with thousands of clients through the years and I’ve never gotten the same broken heart twice.

Yet our broken-heartedness manifests in strikingly similar ways. Our human responses to pain follow predictable patterns, often planting the seeds that lead to and perpetuate the cycle of addiction.

Trusting our heart, soul, and bones

The shamanic journey is one way of accessing the realm of spirit. It allows us to request the support of our helping spirits, venture into the “hiding places of God,” and return from our explorations with experiential wisdom. No one can give this to us, and no one can take it away.

It can only come from our personal and direct relationship with the divine.

From this place of connection, we learn to trust what is inherently known in our heart, soul, and bones and apply these spiritual solutions to our recovery.

With Blessings,Randal

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit randallyons.substack.com

Welcome to The Sober Shaman

I’m Randal Lyons, and I help people struggling with addiction who want to break the cycle using spiritual practices.

Let me start by saying…

This is not some woo-woo, follow-the-guru, blind-faith path.

No. This is the application of proven, effective methods—methods I’ve successfully integrated at world-class treatment centers and in private practice for decades.

So, I can tell you with confidence…

You don’t need to keep scrolling for another expert’s quick-fix promise or the latest scientific breakthrough from out-there-somewhere. So…

Stop Searching. Start Trusting.

Trust what you already know. The truths that speak to your heart, touch your soul, and reside in your bones.

This is how you begin to reclaim your power and live a life of passion and purpose.

This is what we do. We make the spiritual practical.

Here at The Sober Shaman, you’ll find plenty of free resources.

When you become a free subscriber, you’ll get:

Your Guide to the Shamanic Journey, which takes you step-by-step through the entire process of undertaking a shamanic journey on your own.

You also get full access to the complete 52 Lessons of The Program. This is the material that has been integrated at Western treatment centers, hospitals, and clinics, as well as in my own private practice. Do the work in a way that works for you—either going through the Lessons in order or tackling an exercise from whichever Lesson’s topic is most relevant to you right now. There’s no wrong way to progress.

If you’re looking for 1-on-1 guidance,

…visit my website where you can:

* View the Investment and Packages

* Get answers to your questions

* Contact me directly

If you’re a business or organization,

…we can create a customized offering for:

* Aftercare for your clients

* Integrative programming

* Executive consultations—with complete discretion

* Creative collaboration

* Speaking, teaching, and presentations

Let’s discuss the possibilities: contact me here.

Thank you for visiting The Sober Shaman. I look forward to hearing how we can work together—connection is medicine!

With blessings,Randal Lyons

Doctor of Oriental Medicine (FL), Licensed Acupuncturist (CA, CO)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit randallyons.substack.com

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?

Before we look for an answer, let’s make things even more complicated…

“Randy, why am I on more drugs coming out of treatment than when I went in?”

When I led groups in treatment centers, I asked people to raise their hands and keep them up if they answered, “Yes,” to any of the following:

Since entering treatment, have you been diagnosed with and prescribed medication for:

* Depression?

* Anxiety?

* ADHD?

* Other?

Every single person had at least one hand raised, and the majority had both up—along with raising a foot or two.

That’s a lot of feelings, a lot of diagnosing, and a whole lot of treatment. So, it’s common for someone to ask, “How am I going to learn to deal with my feelings if I’m loaded up with prescription drugs?"

That’s a darn good question. One that requires answers from professional and ethical standpoints, and which are delivered by those legally and ethically allowed to do so. 

So, for our purposes here, I’m investigating this question from a spiritual standpoint and providing this perspective to the only other person who’s legally, ethically, and morally allowed to change their prescription: the client.

To simplify things and give us a place to begin our conversation, here’s what I call The Graph of Expression:

Key:

#1 - Black Zone: The socially acceptable and proper range of expression

#2 - Blue Zone: Depression

#3 - Red Zone: Anxiety

#4 - Brown Zone: Apathy

Here’s some detail:

The Black Zone is what greases the wheels of polite society and says:

* Thank you.

* Excuse me.

* Yes, please.

* No, thank you.

* My fault.

* No worries.

The Red Zone is where the fast feelings live, which can be described as:

* Up

* Riding the lightning

* Downloading inspiration

* In the flow

* “I wanna go fast!” ~Ricky Bobby

* Yes! Woohoo!

Heading down into the Blue Zone, we find the slow feelings, which can be described as:

* Bummed

* “I ain’t got no motivation.”

* Depressed 

* I’m moving slow today.

* Why should I go? What’s the point?

* No. I just don’t feel like it.

Staying in the Brown Zone, which is a compressed version of the Black Zone’s social norms, can look like:

* “Oh well, I never really liked that cat anyway.”

* “Which restaurant? I don’t care.”

* “Oh yeah. I guess I just forgot.”

* “Whatever.”

* “I don’t know…”

* “I don’t feel strongly either way…”

The Graph of Expression is a simple, visual map of the range of human feelings and provides a place to begin our exploration about where we’re at and where we’d like to go.

Once we’ve identified which zone is ours, what happens if we don’t like where we’re at and want to go about changing things?

Generally speaking, there are two ways to answer this question:

* From the the inside: “I will find and develop the necessary skills and tools to deal with my feelings in healthy ways.”

Or…

* From the outside: “I can’t do this, so I’ll just take a pill and eliminate the problem.”

Boom! Now, we’re staring straight down the point offered by the title for this post because:

You can’t reclaim your power from spirit and relinquish your power to an expert at the same time.

Here’s what it looks like when someone uses a pill to hand over their power. To be clear, I’m not saying that using a pill automatically hands over your power. More on this a little later.

“Randy, if there’s a pill to fix my feelings-situation, I don’t understand why using a pill to do it relinquishes my power?”

Because if you do “find the answer” by way of the pill, the problem is that you’re:

* Handing your power over to the pill

* Handing your power over to the expert

* Handing your power over to your limiting core belief

Let’s look at each of these, investigating how using a pill hands over your power.

Problem 1: Using the pill relinquishes your power to the pill.

You’re dependent on an outside agent, the pill, which decreases or eliminates incentive for internal development. 

When this happens, it removes your ability to find, develop, and maintain what it takes to deal with, or in some cases even visit, a feeling.

This ability is a foundational requirement of most personal and spiritual practices. So, in this case, a pill replaces practice.

The medicine from a pill cannot deliver the rewards that the medicine from a practice does.

The medicine of practice bestows rewards that cannot be given and cannot be taken away. They can only be earned.

This kind of spiritual practice is one step along the path to reclaiming your power. It is a path of internal development, healthy improvements, and eventual mastery.

Problem 2: Using the pill relinquishes your power to the expert.

“Fix me,” whether spoken or implied, is the phrase that relinquishes your power to the expert.

“I’m here to fix you,” whether spoken or implied, is the phrase that your expert imposes on you to validate that relinquishment of power.

The “fix me” intention is a spell that you and your expert both believe in. It is what keeps your power flowing to the expert.

This flow of power happens only in one direction: from you to your chosen expert.

Right relationship with your prescribing physician is an equal partnership that is built upon mutual respect, input, and scientific curiosity. 

When you have this, it breaks any previous spells of disempowerment and dependence, which had you believing in the expert’s castings of how you would be fixed by them.

Problem 3: Using the pill relinquishes your power to your limiting core beliefs.

From a spiritual perspective, limiting core beliefs are the doorway you send your power through to the receiving ”spirit of inability.” 

Whether you view this receiving agent as a spirit, or an archetype, or even a bank account of energy, the point is that the Universe has a repository where you power is placed. As is the Yin Yang nature of things, your power is then sent back in equal measure and as validation for your belief lying at the core of addiction.

This limiting core belief, which forms itself into some kind of “I am” statement, fills in the blank with your particular brand of not-enough-ness. 

For example, “I am weak, so I need the pill.”

The pill reinforces the belief at the core of your addiction that right here, right now, you’re not good enough as is. You need something to deal with the feeling.

Handing over your power to the belief that you’re not enough and need something is an act of substitution. You’ve swapped out your drug or action of choice for the legally prescribed medication. 

Unfortunately, this validates your need for an outside agent that disempowers you and empowers the limiting core belief.

Your power is redirected to feed the spirit of inability, which then perpetuates the Cycle of Addiction.

Breaking this cycle begins by recognizing and acknowledging the power that your limiting core belief holds. Then, the next step is to stop feeding it with even more power. “If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.”

Empowered or disempowered?

Look, I don’t believe that medications are bad. They hold potential to be a useful tool in recovery.

I am not “anti-medication.” But I am “anti-disempowerment.”

The people I work with want to reclaim their power, passion, and purpose. But, again, right relationship with your prescribing physician is an equal partnership built upon mutual respect, input, and scientific curiosity.

There should be a clear plan that answers all of the, “What if” questions, and this holds true whether one is exploring going on or coming off medication.

Nothing replaces the power of professional support when you feel like you are truly heard, seen, and understood. From this place, successful and spiritually empowered recovery has a firm foundation upon which to build.

You can listen to this episode on the podcast here…

…or watch it from the video at the top of the page.

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

Blessings,Randal

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit randallyons.substack.com

If this is your first time visiting, welcome to The Sober Shaman!

In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to undertake a successful shamanic journey. It’s a step-by-step instructional course that'll show you how to meet your own helping and compassionate spirits, and then how to receive the knowledge, information and healing power that directly relates to your personal situation.

At The Sober Shaman, we use the shamanic journey to transform addiction and heal trauma. We’ll shed some light on how we do exactly this and provide an introduction to that topic.

To begin, all you need to do is become a free subscriber and you'll gain immediate access to the course. After signup, you’ll automatically get the Welcome email that contains The Guide.

You’ll receive the 58-page colorful PDF, an accompanying page-by-page guided video, and the audio file of the drumming that leads you on the shamanic journey.

These are yours to download and keep regardless of how long you stay a member, so please utilize them whenever you’d like to receive the gifts that are waiting for you on the journey!

Get Your Guide to the Shamanic Journey now

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit randallyons.substack.com

In this episode of The Sober Shaman podcast, we’re going to explore shamanic writing and, specifically, how our Medicine wRites exercise is used for addiction recovery.

Click the pic above to watch on YouTube.

I provide two important answers to the question, “What makes shamanic writing different than responding to a regular writing prompt?”

Then, at the end of the episode, I guide you through a Medicine wRites exercise. If you care to share how it went for you, send me what you’ve got! I’d love to hear about your journey.

Highlights

3:00 What’s the difference between shamanic writing and responding to a regular journaling prompt?

* Spirits are real.

* The Wall of Denial

* Inside of me vs. outside of me in non-ordinary reality

6:11 The shamanic provides separation

* Objectivity

* The Observer

* Perspective

7:05. The Wall in Non-ordinary reality

* But it’s not me.

* Separate from me and my identity

* 100 percent responsibility for its creation and ongoing existence

8:10 Merging with The Muse

* We have helping and compassionate spirits.

* These spirits want to help.

12:04 Morning Pages

* Permission to write authentically

16:40 New Perspectives = New Responsibilities

* It’s a two-way street working with spirit

* Integration

* Payback to the spirits

21:30 Medicine wRites: The Wall of Denial

* A complete guided Medicine wRites exercise taken directly from The Program

* The Program’s Free Preview, including another Medicine wRites exercise, as well as a Medicine Journey, videos, PDF, and other experiential material

You can find The Sober Shaman Podcast on Apple and Spotify, as well as watching it on YouTube from the link in the pic above. If you listen in, please take a moment to rate and review!

If you have thoughts or questions, feel free to reach out to me at: [email protected].

With blessings,Randal

Get full access to The Sober Shaman at randallyons.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit randallyons.substack.com