LSD could treat alcoholism

<p> </p><p>The new study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that LSD had a positive effect on alcohol misuse in each of the trials, with 59 per cent of patients who took the drug having improved at follow-up, compared with 38 per cent who took a placebo.  A single dose of LSD produces benefits which last between six and 12 months, and repeated doses along with modern treatments could ensure longer term results, the researchers said. The drug, which causes hallucinations that make users experience the world in a distorted way, is not physically addictive but some experte believe users can become dependant on its effects, for example from a need to distance themselves from reality. Pål-Ørjan Johansen, a Norwegian researcher and fellow of Harvard Medical School, who led the research, said: "Given the evidence for a beneficial effect of LSD on alcoholism, it is puzzling why this treatment approach has been largely overlooked." Dr David Nutt, former advisor on drugs to the government, said: "I think this study is very interesting and it is a shame the last of these studies were done in the 1960s. "I think these drugs might help people switch out of a mindset which is locked into addiction or depression and be a way of helping the brain switch back to where it should be, in a similar way that Alcoholics Anonymous programmes do."</p>

LSD could treat alcoholism

  The new study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that LSD had a positive effect on alcohol misuse in each of the trials,...

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Ice cream as 'addictive as drugs' says new study

<p> </p><p>Researchers concluded that cravings for the dessert were similar to those experienced by drug addicts. They found that the brain was left wanting more while eating ice cream in the same way as a person who regularly uses cocaine. Their study, published online in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, appears to add weight to previous studies that people can be left feeling "addicted" to some foods. Dr Kyle Burger, from the Oregon Research Institute, in Eugene, about 110 miles south of Portland, said overeating "high-fat" or "high-sugar" foods appeared to change how the brain responded and in turn downgraded the mental "reward". "This down-regulation pattern is seen with frequent drug use, where the more an individual uses the drug, the less reward they receive from using it," said Dr Burger, the study's co-author.</p>

Ice cream as 'addictive as drugs' says new study

  Researchers concluded that cravings for the dessert were similar to those experienced by drug addicts. They found that the brain was left ...

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Sheen's ex-wife charged with cocaine distribution

<p>Charlie Sheen's ex-wife has been charged in Colorado with possession and distribution of cocaine stemming from her arrest in Aspen. Brooke Mueller was arrested by police on Dec. 3 after a woman reported being assaulted at a nightclub. Pitkin County chief deputy district attorney Arnold Mordkin said Friday that Mueller has also been charged with third-degree assault. Both drug charges are felonies. Possession with intent to distribute is the most serious and carries a penalty between four to 12 years. Conviction on the possession charge could result in up to 18 months behind bars. Mueller has vowed to fight the charges. Sheen and Mueller divorced last year after Sheen was arrested on suspicion of assaulting her in 2009. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and completed his probation in 2010.</p>

Sheen's ex-wife charged with cocaine distribution

Charlie Sheen's ex-wife has been charged in Colorado with possession and distribution of cocaine stemming from her arrest in Aspen. Broo...

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Ex-drug prosecutor who handled Las Vegas celebrity cases gets 9 months in jail in crack case

<p> </p><p>A former top Las Vegas drug prosecutor who handled the high-profile Paris Hilton and Bruno Mars cocaine possession plea deals was sentenced Monday to nine months in county jail in a felony crack possession case. Former Deputy District Attorney David Schubert apologized to the court for what he called “a tragedy,” and then stood silently as a state court judge berated him as “a disgrace to his oath as a prosecutor and a lawyer.” 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? Personal Post (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department/Associated Press) - This undated police booking photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department showes former Deputy District Attorney David Schubert. Schubert a former top drug prosecutor who handled the Paris Hilton and Bruno Mars cocaine possession plea deals in Las Vegas has been sentenced to nine months in jail in his own felony cocaine possession case. Clark County District Judge Carolyn Ellsworth also said that the terms of a plea deal that could have gotten Schubert probation and a chance to clear his record were “offensive.” “I’m not going to give you the special treatment,” the judge said. Police arrested Schubert in March 2011 after they watched another man get out of Schubert’s car, go into an apartment complex and return. Officers found Schubert with a $40 rock of crack cocaine and confiscated an unregistered 9 mm handgun from his car. Schubert once handled Clark County’s highest-profile drug prosecutions as the district attorney office’s liaison to a federal drug task force. Hilton, 30, was arrested after police said 0.8 grams of cocaine fell out of her handbag following a Las Vegas Strip traffic stop in August 2010. The celebrity socialite received a year of probation on misdemeanor cocaine possession and obstruction charges. She successfully completed probation last fall. Mars, 26, was cleared in January of a felony cocaine possession charge after staying out of trouble for a year and meeting other conditions of a plea deal. The Grammy-winning pop star, whose real name is Peter Hernandez, acknowledged in court in February 2011 that he had 2.6 grams of cocaine after a performance at a Hard Rock Hotel & Casino nightclub. Schubert resigned from the prosecutor’s office after his arrest and underwent two months of inpatient substance abuse counseling. The 48-year-old has been undergoing outpatient alcohol and drug counseling since May, and has been practicing criminal defense law in some of the same courtrooms where he was a prosecutor for 10 years. Schubert pleaded guilty to a felony charge of unlawful possession of a controlled substance not for sale. The conviction could threaten his law career, depending on a review by the State Bar of Nevada and action by the state Supreme Court, bar official Phil Pattee said. The judge ordered Schubert to surrender March 12 to begin his jail sentence. Defense attorney William Terry said he may appeal the sentence or ask the judge to take the rare step of setting it aside.</p>

Ex-drug prosecutor who handled Las Vegas celebrity cases gets 9 months in jail in crack case

  A former top Las Vegas drug prosecutor who handled the high-profile Paris Hilton and Bruno Mars cocaine possession plea deals was sentence...

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Kathryn Fuller, who barely survived taking contaminated cocaine that killed her 'Amazing Race' producer boss, is likely to be arrested and prosecuted by police

<p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Kathryn Fuller, who barely survived taking contaminated cocaine that killed her 'Amazing Race' producer boss, is likely to be arrested and prosecuted by police in Uganda when she is released from the hospital. <br /></span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Police spokesman Asuman Mugyenyi said Monday that Miss Fuller is being treated as a witness and suspect after she was found unconscious on the floor of her hotel February 18 alongside Jeff Rice, who died.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>The announcement casts doubt on her ability to fully recover from paralysis that has left the right side of her body limp. Her father said she must return home to South African for medical treatment.</span></span></p><div class="artSplitter" style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Kathryn Fuller" class="blkBorder" height="471" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/02/27/article-2107275-11F2BF03000005DC-298_634x471.jpg" style="border-image: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="634" /></span><p class="imageCaption" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">'Suspect and witness': Kathryn Fuller is subject to arrest in Uganda when she is released from the hospital, where she is recovering from taking contaminated cocaine</span></p></div><div class="artSplitter" style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="splitLeft" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Poisoned or Overdose? Jeff Rice was found dead on his hotel balcony in Kampala, Uganda" class="blkBorder" height="423" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/02/27/article-2107275-11E13989000005DC-254_306x423.jpg" style="border-image: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="306" /></span></div><div class="splitRight" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Katheryne Fuller, who was found unconscious in a Ugandan hotel next to the lifeless body of 'Amazing Race' producer Jeff Rice, is recovering in hospital" class="blkBorder" height="423" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/02/27/article-2107275-11E13984000005DC-267_306x423.jpg" style="border-image: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="306" /></span></div><p class="imageCaption" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bad drugs: Jeff Rice (left) has produced episodes of 'The Amazing Race' and other shows for American TV. He was working on a film in Uganda when he and Miss Fuller (right) took cocaine laced with fatal additives</span></p></div><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>'Ask people to pray that we come home,' Stuart Fuller, her father, told The Mercury newspaper.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Mr Fuller has been staying in the Ugandan capital of Kampala since Miss Fuller was discovered ill. <br /></span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Mr Rice, </span><span>American TV and film producer, was found dead bleeding from his mouth and nose after</span><span> taking the cocaine in hotel room he and Miss Fuller were sharing.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>The pair were in Uganda working on a film Mr Rice was producing. <br /></span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> </p><div class="relatedItemsTopBorder" style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> </div><div class="relatedItems" style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><h4 style="min-height: 1px; font-size: 1em; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"></h4></div><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Miss Fuller is currently recovering at a clinic in Kampala, but her father said she needs medical facilities and expertise only available in South Africa. <br /></span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>'She can regain the use of her right side, but needs to come to South Africa for treatment and to recuperate,' Mr Fuller said.<br /></span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>However, Miss Fuller must likely face charges of consuming cocaine in Uganda.  <br /></span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>The case has alerted officials there to the possibility that Uganda is becoming a 'consumption destination,' a spot for adventurers and addicts to take illegal drugs with little risk of police detection.</span></span></p><div class="artSplitter" style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Father" class="blkBorder" height="594" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/02/27/article-2107275-11D990A8000005DC-729_634x594.jpg" style="border-image: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="634" /></span><p class="imageCaption" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Family man: Mr Rice is the father of two small daughter, aged 7 and 1. He and his wife worked out of Durban, South Africa</span></p></div><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Mr Fuller said he was disappointed in his daughter for taking the drugs, but says she has already paid the price for her mistake. <br /></span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>'I am cross, extremely cross. She’s an extremely bright woman who made a mistake,' he said.</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>'After this, she’ll have to prove herself. We’ve been through hell, but which father wouldn’t rush to support his daughter?'<br /></span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Police arrested Moses Kalanzi, a 23-year-old 'special hire driver,' for supplying contaminated cocaine and heroin to Mr Rice. <br /></span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>The driver is co-operating with police and could face charges for his role in the transaction, according to Ugandan newspaper the Daily Monitor.</span></span></p><div class="artSplitter" style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Work: Rice helped producers on The Amazing Race, which follows teams as they travel around the world for a prize of $1 million. He worked on its latest season" class="blkBorder" height="343" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/02/27/article-2107275-11D99C4D000005DC-17_634x343.jpg" style="border-image: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="634" /></span><p class="imageCaption" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Work: Rice helped producers on The Amazing Race, which follows teams as they travel around the world for a prize of $1 million. He worked on its latest season</span></p></div><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>'</span><span>There was constant communication between the special hire driver and Rice on phone about the purchase of the drugs,' said a police spokesman. 'So we want to know the source of the drugs and how it is trafficked into the country.'</span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Father-of-two Mr Rice, 39, who worked on the series The Amazing Race, was discovered slumped over a table bleeding from his nose and mouth</span><span> at the Serena hotel in the capital, Kampala. <br /></span></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> </p><div class="floatRHS" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 20px; min-height: 1px; width: 308px; float: right; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img alt="Family: Miss Fuller's father Stewart Fuller traveled Kampala in the hopes of taking his daughter back to south Africa for treatment" class="blkBorder" height="423" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/02/27/article-2107275-11E7A155000005DC-496_306x423.jpg" style="border-image: initial; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 1px solid black;" width="306" /></span><p class="imageCaption" style="min-height: 1px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Family: Miss Fuller's father Stewart Fuller traveled Kampala in the hopes of taking his daughter back to south Africa for treatment</span></p></div><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>An official toxicology report confirmed the narcotic with a 'lethal additive' was in Mr Rice’s blood, dispelling initial suspicions he had been poisoned by attackers or that he had swallowed it to conceal the drugs from police.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Mugenyi, the Ugandan police spokesman, said: 'Rice… used cocaine which had lethal additives and that’s what killed him.'</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Brad Nathanson, a private investigator and friend of Mr Rice, said he had been shown the toxicology report by police and there was no evidence of 'foul play' in Rice’s death.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>He said: 'In fact it was as a result of buying bad drugs, cocaine to be specific … it was a bad concoction.' <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>'I have read the toxicology report … it shows that there were small traces of cocaine in their blood and urine.' <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Mr Nathanson said he had traveled to Uganda as a favor to the Rice family following rumors he had been poisoned.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Miss Fuller was found unconscious at the same time Mr Rice’s body was discovered <br /></span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>Mr Rice and Ms Fuller were believed to have voluntarily consumed the drugs, meaning she could be prosecuted under Uganda’s drug laws. Drug use can carry a jail term in Uganda.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>As well as the Amazing Race, Mr Rice also worked on Animal Planet's Whale Wars and the South African version of The Biggest Loser.</span></p><p style="min-height: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span>He is survived by daughters, ages 2 and 7.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; text-align: left; background-color: #ffffff;"><br /><br /><br /></span></p>

Kathryn Fuller, who barely survived taking contaminated cocaine that killed her 'Amazing Race' producer boss, is likely to be arrested and prosecuted by police

Kathryn Fuller, who barely survived taking contaminated cocaine that killed her 'Amazing Race' producer boss, is likely to be arrest...

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Cannabis memory effects examined

<div class="zemanta-img" style="text-align: left;"> <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aspergillus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Conidiophores of molds of the genus Aspergillu..." border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" height="167" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Aspergillus.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="250" /></a></div> <br /> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Scientists believe they are closer to understanding how taking cannabis disrupts short-term memory. The Canadian team from Ottawa University narrowed the effect down to a particular type of brain cell called an astrocyte. Writing in the journal Cell, they said it might be possible to block it in medicines based on cannabis. A UK researcher said it could reveal more about natural brain chemicals. Cannabis floods the brain with a host of chemicals which mimic one of its own subtle signalling systems, leading to pronounced changes in mood and memory. Scientists are trying to harness the power of these chemicals, called cannabinoids, in pharmaceuticals aimed at conditions such as multiple sclerosis and chronic pain. The doses of cannabinoid are carefully controlled to avoid the "high" feeling. The work by the Ottawa University researchers may shed light on how one of the best known cannabinoids, THC, acts on the brain. Memory matters Their work suggests that, when it comes to affecting memory, THC is acting not, as might be expected, on the brain's neurons, but on a brain cell called an astrocyte. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote We may find a way to deal with working memory problems in Alzheimer's.” Dr Xia Zhang They bred mice whose astrocytes could not be affected by THC, and found that their spatial memory was unaffected by the dose. This discovery could help drug companies reduce the risk of unwanted side effects when using THC in their products, they suggested. However, possibly more importantly, it could shed light on the brain's own chemical pathways, the "endocannabinoid" system. Dr Xia Zhang, one of the researchers, said: "Just about any physiological function you can think of in the body, it's likely at some point endocannabinoids are involved." Understanding how this system works could lead to ways to make it work better, he suggested. "We may find a way to deal with working memory problems in Alzheimer's," he said. Prof Heather Ashton, from the University of Newcastle, said that memory problems were an established feature of cannabis use, and understanding the mechanism behind them was "interesting". She said: "When someone is taking cannabis, in some cases you find that they cannot even remember starting a sentence by the time they reach the end." But she agreed that the practical benefits of such research might ultimately lie in a better understanding of the body's own endocannabinoid system, rather than the effects of cannabis itself.</span>

Cannabis memory effects examined

Scientists believe they are closer to understanding how taking cannabis disrupts short-term memory. The Canadian team from Ottawa Univers...

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Ronnie Wood: Show keeps me sober

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container zemanta-img" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ron_wood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: clear:left;"><img alt="Ron Wood, The Rolling Stones Guitarist" border="0" class="zemanta-img-inserted zemanta-img-configured" height="362" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Ron_wood.jpg" style="border: none; font-size: 0.8em;" width="303" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption zemanta-img-attribution" style="text-align: center; width: 303px;">Ron Wood, The Rolling Stones Guitarist (Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ron_wood.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Ronnie Wood has revealed doing his radio and television show has helped him stay sober. The Rolling Stones guitarist, who has previously opened up about his alcoholism, presents a show on Absolute Radio, which has been turned into a television series for Sky Arts. And he said having a focus has helped him stay off the booze. He said: "While I've been keeping sober, it's been a way to express myself in a new focused way. It has helped me stay sober because of all the archives I'm having to plough down with my producer. I've had to concentrate but I also get the freedom, it's what I do, I deal with music, I get energy from it." The musician entered rehab after an intervention by artist Damien Hirst, and Ronnie told the Radio Times he knew he had to get clean as he was becoming immune to the effects of drugs and alcohol. He said: "The drink wasn't working, the dope wasn't working. I wasn't getting high. I was getting p'ed off and I was getting annoyed at myself. I thought, 'I'm not this person'."</span><div class="zemanta-related" style="clear: both; margin-top: 20px; overflow: hidden;"> <h4 class="zemanta-related-title"> Related articles</h4> <ul class="zemanta-article-ul zemanta-article-ul-image" style="margin: 0; overflow: hidden; padding: 0;"> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://childwithinus.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-essence-of-loving-kindness-is-being.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="//i.zemanta.com/363488018_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://childwithinus.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-essence-of-loving-kindness-is-being.html" style="background-image: none; display: block; height: 83px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The essence of loving kindness is being able to offer happiness.</a></li> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://childwithinus.blogspot.com/2015/09/if-our-parents-didnt-love-and.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="//i.zemanta.com/363488022_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://childwithinus.blogspot.com/2015/09/if-our-parents-didnt-love-and.html" style="background-image: none; display: block; height: 83px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">If our parents didn't love and understand each other</a></li> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; display: block; float: left; font-size: 11px; list-style: none; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px; padding: 0; text-align: left; vertical-align: top; width: 84px;"><a href="http://childwithinus.blogspot.com/2015/09/this-is-why-you-check-your-email-many.html" style="border-radius: 2px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; display: block; padding: 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img src="//i.zemanta.com/363488027_80_80.jpg" style="border: 0; display: block; margin: 0; max-width: 100%; padding: 0; width: 80px;" /></a><a href="http://childwithinus.blogspot.com/2015/09/this-is-why-you-check-your-email-many.html" style="background-image: none; display: block; height: 83px; line-height: 12pt; overflow: hidden; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">This is why you check your email many times a day!</a></li> <li class="zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li" style="background: none; 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Ronnie Wood: Show keeps me sober

Ron Wood, The Rolling Stones Guitarist (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Ronnie Wood has revealed doing his radio and television show has help...

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Drug gangs report blasting UK cities as dangerous

<p> </p><p> Comment By Professor Alan Stevens Drug gangs report blasting UK cities as dangerous is too confusing The problems are nowhere near as deep in Manchester or Liverpool as they are in Rio de Janeiro – or even San Francisco A masked municipal policeman stands outside a shopping mall in MexicoAP On one hand it is right to state that there are communities in British cities suffering from social exclusion and marginalisation and that this contributes to their drug and crime problems. But on the other, these ­problems are nowhere near as deep in Manchester or Liverpool as they are in Rio de Janeiro or Ciudad Juarez – or even San Francisco or Los Angeles. The problem with the INCB report is that the wording is unclear. It gives the impression that its comments on no-go areas could apply equally to all of these cities. But it should have been more careful in specifying which ones it was referring to. The cities in Central and South America have more extreme ­problems which come from bigger social inequalities. They are dramatically more affected by crime and health problems. For example, in the past few years in Rio there have been repeated attempts to crack down on the areas controlled by violent drug markets. For a while these places were no-go zones. But authorities have acted in a militaristic fashion in the past year as they prepare for the World Cup.</p>

Drug gangs report blasting UK cities as dangerous

   Comment By Professor Alan Stevens Drug gangs report blasting UK cities as dangerous is too confusing The problems are nowhere near as d...

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British cities are becoming no-go areas where drugs gangs are effectively in control

<p><br />British cities are becoming no-go areas where drugs gangs are effectively in control, a United Nations drugs chief said yesterday. Professor Hamid Ghodse, president of the UN’s International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), said there was “a vicious cycle of social exclusion and drugs problems and fractured communities” in cities such as Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. The development of “no-go areas” was being fuelled by threats such as social inequality, migration and celebrities normalising drug abuse, he warned. Helping marginalised communities with drugs problems “must be a priority”, he said. “We are looking at social cohesion, the social disintegration and illegal drugs. “In many societies around the world, whether developed or developing, there are communities within the societies which develop which become no-go areas. “Drug traffickers, organised crime, drug users, they take over. They will get the sort of governance of those areas.” Prof Ghodse called for such communities to be offered drug abuse prevention programmes, treatment and rehabilitation services, and the same levels of educational, employment and recreational opportunities as in the wider society. The INCB’s annual report for 2011 found persistent social inequality, migration, emerging cultures of excess and a shift in traditional values were some of the key threats to social cohesion. As the gap between rich and poor widens, and “faced with a future with limited opportunities, individuals within these communities may increasingly become disengaged from the wider society and become involved in a range of personally and socially harmful behaviours, including drug abuse and drug dealing,” it said.</p>

British cities are becoming no-go areas where drugs gangs are effectively in control

British cities are becoming no-go areas where drugs gangs are effectively in control, a United Nations drugs chief said yesterday. Professo...

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Blues legend Gary Moore died after drink binge

<p><br />ROCK legend Gary Moore died after bingeing on enough alcohol to put him nearly eight times over the drink-drive limit, tests in Spain have revealed. The guitar ace (58) suffered a heart attack brought on by the massive amount of alcohol that he knocked back at the start of a sunshine holiday in Spain's Costa del Sol, the studies showed. No traces of any illegal drugs were found in his body. But he had 380mg of alcohol per decilitre of blood in his system, which is more than 30mg the amount associated with fatalities. And it was just short of the 416mg that Amy Winehouse had in her body when she died. Tests revealed that dad-of-three Mr Moore, found dead in bed at a luxury hotel on February 6 last year, had abused alcohol for years. Former Thin Lizzy guitarist Mr Moore died at the Kempinski Resort Hotel in Estepona hours after starting a six-day holiday with his new partner.</p>

Blues legend Gary Moore died after drink binge

ROCK legend Gary Moore died after bingeing on enough alcohol to put him nearly eight times over the drink-drive limit, tests in Spain have r...

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Zumba Fitness is the only Latin-inspired dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music

<p> </p><p>Zumba Fitness is the only Latin-inspired dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music, created by Grammy Award-winning producers, and contagious steps to form a "fitness-party" that is downright addictive. Since its inception in 2001, the Zumba program has grown to become the world's largest – and most successful – dance-fitness program with more than 12 million people of all shapes, sizes and ages taking weekly Zumba classes in over 110,000 locations across more than 125 countries.</p>

Zumba Fitness is the only Latin-inspired dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music

  Zumba Fitness is the only Latin-inspired dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music, created by Grammy Award-winning pr...

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Zumba's Latin rhythms on the move in the fitness world

<p> </p><p>On a rooftop parking lot, with temperatures in the chilly low 50s, a crowd of all ages shimmied and shook, sweated and smiled as DJ Francis played an eclectic mix of dance music. But this wasn't just another wild South Florida party. It was a special Zumba class for charity, led last month by the creator of the global craze, Alberto "Beto" Perez. The charismatic Colombian in cargo pants — who has become a rock star in the fitness world — climbed onto the roof of a Chevy minivan that doubled as a stage. He demonstrated salsa steps, the merengue march and many other Latin-inspired dance moves — all while also cuing the drummer and the bongo player. For an hour, 75 of his adoring fans — and even the minivan — moved to the beat. "Everybody loves it; everybody has fun," Perez said while posing for pictures with his Zumba faithful, some of whom had traveled from as far as Canada. Two days later, Perez flew to New York to appear on the TV morning show "Live! with Kelly." "You must be so rich by now," host Kelly Ripa gushed to Perez, 41. Perez's Zumba classes, with the motto "Ditch the Workout, Join the Party," were strictly a South Florida phenomenon 10 years ago. Today, Zumba Fitness has become the largest branded fitness program in the world, with about 12 million people taking Zumba classes weekly at 110,000 locations in at least 125 countries, according to company spokeswoman Allison Robins. The private company won't reveal information about the company's finances or its net worth. But at a time when most of the world is struggling economically, Zumba Fitness' empire appears to be flourishing. It is doing so on the strength of a growing army of certified instructors who spread the Zumba gospel to such distant outposts as Iceland, Papua New Guinea, Nepal and even Afghanistan — at the Kabul Community Center. Many fitness crazes have come and gone. Staying power is tough in the ever-evolving fitness industry. John Figarelli, founder of the National Fitness Hall of Fame Museum and author of "The History of Fitness: Fads, Gimmicks and Gadgets," said: "I think the owners of Zumba did a great job of getting it going from a business standpoint." Zumba Fitness does not charge gyms to carry its classes. Instead, it trains instructors and gives them the license and use of the trademark if they join the Zumba Instructor Network. "We're helping the instructors to become entrepreneurs and make a living out of it," said company co-founder Alberto Aghion. Exercise as a business It's a sound strategy, said Figarelli, whose book covers 100 years of working out, from 1900 to 2000. "Most group-exercise instructors will just go with the next popular class. But if Zumba is your business, instructors will stay with that." Ensuring instructors are successful has become the company's main mission. "We have three people who all they do is call up gyms all day and try to find instructors employment," said company co-founder Alberto Perlman. The company has made Zumba instructors easy to find, with a worldwide listing that includes all of their network instructors' classes regularly updated on the company's website. Instructors also receive new music and choreography about every two months. The music department now creates music just for Zumba classes, with original songs that include "Zumbalicious," "Que Te Mueve" and "Caipirinha," which was a No. 1 song in Israel. Zumba Fitness makes its money on its instructors academy, instructors courses, monthly fees from instructors in its network and on all its brand merchandise. The company has built its own line of hip, colorful clothing and footwear, workout DVDs, two video games, original music and a lifestyle magazine, Z-Life. This was not the business model when Zumba Fitness was founded in Aventura, Fla., in 2001 by the "three Albertos" — creator Perez and boyhood friends Perlman and Aghion, both entrepreneurs in their mid-20s and natives of Colombia. The trio's original plan was simple: produce VHS workout tapes of Perez's popular South Florida classes to sell around the country on infomercials. An inspired ad-lib Perez fell in love with dancing at age 7 by watching a VHS tape of the 1978 movie "Grease," starring John Travolta. At age 16, he was teaching aerobics classes for $1 an hour. One day, he forgot his prepared music. All he had in his backpack was a cassette tape of merengue and salsa music he'd recorded off the radio. His morning class was full of moms who had dropped their kids off at school. "I can't say, 'Hey sorry, I forgot my music,' " Perez said. "I say to the people, 'I have a new class I prepared for a long time.' It was not true. I improvised for one hour." The moms loved the dancing exercise. Perez turned it into a regular class in Cali. He soon moved to the Colombian capital of Bogotá, where he continued those classes and became a choreographer for Sony Music and Shakira. In 1999, Perez came to the United States for the first time. He pounded the pavement on South Beach, going from gym to gym. Nobody was interested in this new dance exercise class by a guy who couldn't speak English. On his fourth trip to Miami he landed a job at the swanky Williams Island Spa in a development where several Colombians lived. Some had even taken classes with him in Bogotá. Within a year, Perez was in demand, teaching 22 classes all over South Florida. At the same time, Perlman and Aghion were looking for a new business venture after the dot-com bubble burst, bringing down their Internet company, Spydre Labs, an incubator for Internet startups related to Latin America. Enter Raquel Perlman. While Alberto Perlman was telling his mom about how badly he was feeling for laying off people, she was telling him about how happy she was taking Perez's classes, where were then called Rumbacize. "You should meet Beto and maybe start a gym together," she told her son. "He's the talk of Aventura." Perlman watched a class and was reminded of people having fun at a nightclub, but without the drinking and pickup lines. "Beto, have you heard of Billy Blanks' Tae Bo? Why don't we do VHS tapes and sell them on television?" Perlman said he told Perez. In August 2001, they and Aghion founded Zumba Fitness. To create a demonstration video to show investors, the three stayed up all night laying down boards to create a dance floor on the beach outside a Sunny Isles hotel. About 200 of Perez's students paid $20 each for the class, raising an additional $4,000. When the infomercial began running on TV, people rang the call center in Ohio to buy the videos, and a few also asked how to become Zumba instructors. Those callers were forwarded to Zumba's office — at Aghion's home. After a few 2 a.m. wakeups, Aghion realized this was another business opportunity. Zumba Fitness also has greatly benefited from Internet advertising and social media. Many people discovered Zumba via YouTube videos. Zumba Fitness started a Facebook page about a year ago and now has more than 3 million fans. Zumba is mentioned every 11 seconds in social-media platforms, Robins said. It's not clear yet if Zumba will have a long shelf life or be added to the long list of exercise fads, said Walter R. Thompson, professor of exercise science at Georgia State University. He'll watch to see how it fares over the next few years in a worldwide survey that ranks fitness trends. "I hope it stays around," he said. "It's motivating a lot of people to exercise."</p>

Zumba's Latin rhythms on the move in the fitness world

  On a rooftop parking lot, with temperatures in the chilly low 50s, a crowd of all ages shimmied and shook, sweated and smiled as DJ Franci...

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Morocco yoga courses: Stretching out on a yogic break in soothing Berber country

<p><br />Dust clouds sway like ghosts dancing to an inaudible tune across miles of Moroccan dessert. I’m only 15 minutes south of Marrakech, but the soil’s already darkened to a deep, blood-clot red that clashes violently with the cobalt sky above. Spindly Argan trees feature goats that have clambered into the branches and nibble on the fruit (yes, really), a snapshot of surreal comedy against nature’s stark, beautiful reality. It’s my first up-close and personal foray into Morocco’s rural centre, despite having fallen head over heels for mad old Marrakech eight years beforehand. Rustic retreat: Lalla Abouch offers yoga courses set in the beautiful Moroccan countryside There’s something intoxicating about the swirling, jasmine-soaked souks, the thrill of losing yourself in the medina only to wind up on a rooftop drinking pomegranate martinis hours later. I’ve returned several times since to enjoy the city’s myriad hidden bars, supper clubs and late night lounges. But this time I want a different kind of escapism, one that’s less hedonism, more health. 'We’ve the perfect place', Rosena, the Irish founder of Moroccan concierge experts Boutique Souk, assures me before arranging a car to drive me the three-hour journey south into Morocco’s Berber country. Thirty miles south of the colonial port city of Essaouira, our jeep turns inland, swerves sharply at a junction and turns up an invisible, potholed dirt road through fields of carefully irrigated vegetable patches and chicken coops. A donkey brays ‘hello’ as I clamber out, the only contender to shatter the silent calm of our weekend lodgings. Named Lalla Abouch after ‘Lady Argan‘ and Morocco’s famous Argan tree, the guesthouse embodies what many ‘boutique’ lodgings strive for yet often fail to achieve. Chic and rustic, it proffers the perfect balance between comfort and style – the home from home I’ll never replicate no matter how many Elle Decoration subscriptions I sign up for. Taking the plunge: The refreshing pool is lined with plants and a traditional stone wall Beaming Lucreiza, the Italian who runs this hideaway, gives me a tour of the farm’s intimate selection of cosy rooms, all located around a bougainvillea-splashed courtyard, before ushering me onto the farm’s charming alfresco terrace for fresh mint and ginger tea. Terracotta pots trickle fresh water into a plunge pool overlooking acres of lovingly tended vegetable patches, whilst wild tortoises sunbathe lazily in the afternoon rays as kitchen hands gingerly navigate them whilst plucking robust courgettes for the evening meal. Food is a big draw at Lalla Abouch - so don’t go thinking this is yoga with all the normal detox-wheatgrass-deprivation tags. Lunch, though simple, is lip-smackingly good: home-plucked bitter leaves; creamy local goats cheese; cumin-crusted courgettes, caramelised carrots; a fuchsia pink beetroot dip; wholegrain couscous studded with ruby pomegranate seeds. Each bite radiates with energy and (forgive the hippy hyperbole) is offered up with love. Lucreiza beams as I eat. 'We like to give an alkaline, vegetarian diet during the retreats', she explains. 'It’s a good for body cleaning and rejuvenation.' I come away from the meal feeling more satiated than many of my finest dining experiences back in the UK. Unusual sights: Goats love to climb the Argan trees, while Lalla Abouch has plenty of quiet corners for relaxing Besides intensive, twice daily yoga and meditation sessions lasting two hours a go, Lalla Abouch offers a real (and rare) opportunity to totally unplug from daily life. As Lucreiza concedes, 'the natural elements are deep and strong', so the entire operation of the farm and its retreats has been designed to really embrace the local surrounds – and the produce found within it. Better still, my experience isn’t marred by the constant checking of Blackberry’s or broadband; connectivity here is slim to none. Sure, it’s a little disconcerting at first, but after several hours our entire party agrees we’re happy for the forced technology amnesty. With no one to tweet or CC, I instead sink into an indulgent afternoon of reading in the farm’s huge hammock, slung beneath the boughs of the Argan tree. I doze, stirring only when the attention seeking donkey’s comical eey-awww or Lucreiza’s quiet, smiling kitchen hands water the fragrant herb garden. I’ve done no yoga yet, but I can already see why Moroccan specialists Boutique Souk thought they’d 'struck gold' when stumbling upon the farm.</p>

Morocco yoga courses: Stretching out on a yogic break in soothing Berber country

Dust clouds sway like ghosts dancing to an inaudible tune across miles of Moroccan dessert. I’m only 15 minutes south of Marrakech, but th...

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Defeat Your Ego Before it Defeats You

<p> </p><blockquote>“He’s so full of himself” is a statement of derision. The irony of life is that whoever said it is probably full of herself too. Such is life. But does it have to be that way? While it is too much to expect to change others, you can certainly reduce your own ego and I recommend it. What few gains I have made in ego reduction have greatly increased a deep and lasting sense of well-being in my life. That is why I consider this topic top priority for both happiness and success training. First, what is ego? There are many different definitions, so I will clarify. I don’t mean that ego is your self, otherwise killing ego would be killing yourself, a terrible misunderstanding. Instead, I mean it is an illusory concept of self, inflated beyond reality. In this sense, killing your ego gets you in tune with reality. Sounds good, but there’s a catch. Wouldn’t that make you depressed? If ego protects you from the truth you don’t want to know about yourself, doesn’t destruction of ego open you up to depressing truths? Well, that depends. The only reason those truths are unwanted in the first place is because we are attached to the notion they are true. Having your sense of self popped is depressing for anyone. However, having no ego, by which I mean a sense of self that is accurate, means much less chance for disappointment. I’ll discuss how to get there in a moment. In other words, if you are not attached to a particular outcome, any outcome can be a pleasant reminder that you are alive. It’s quite nice. I invite you to try it. Lies are social lubricant because ego cannot handle the truth. Flattery, because of ego, is something that always works, though you would like to believe it doesn’t work on you (it does), but the less ego you have the less flattery can fool you. Do you really want to reward people for lying to you? Perhaps, if it makes you feel better. But soothing the ego only makes you feel better in the sense that smoking a cigarette makes you feel better: it keeps you from feeling worse. You would feel even better than that if you did not smoke at all. Likewise, without ego, you do not require soothing lies, and this will save you a lot of energy. Not only will you not have to lie to yourself, you will not have to work so hard to cover up for your (poorly concealed) self-delusions or build your ego back up while reality continually damages it. That’s never any fun. Most people assume an inflated ego is an unalterable reality, probably because most people have one all their lives. The normal, happy person consistently overestimates her abilities. Nevertheless, there are many people who have successfully reduced the ego and exhibit greater happiness and poise as a result. What did they do? Ask the happiest person you know, and see what she says. Check her recommendations against mine. Ego gets in the way of more happiness and more success. The good news is you can reduce it. HOW TO KICK THE EGO HABIT This is where your typical 7-10 steps is a waste of time. They have too many “don’ts” and too few “dos”. That can be frustrating and ineffective. I will simply share a habit or two that helps me and which I think will help the most people. Two may be one too many, since these habits are difficult and take much practice. Do only what makes sense to you. Seek doing your best instead of personal achievement. Getting in the zone and working hard makes you feel better, do better and frees you from your limiting ego. Practice concerning yourself with doing your best and getting in the zone, without benchmarking. This is huge. If you need to be “good” you will become discouraged by the fact that we all start out at the beginning and things take longer than we wish them to. So you will need to be lied to in order to keep going. “You’re doing a great job!” That is how we treat children. The problem is that when we assume we are doing better than we really are, we get scraped up real good. Ouch. Now consider the alternative. If you realize that doing your best is a deep source of satisfaction, no matter how you end up, the truth is always good news. You have plenty of room for improvement. And, since the unadulterated truth is the best aid for doing your best without running into barriers or waiting for external reinforcement, the truth will become your friend, not your enemy, and flattery will be your enemy, not your friend. Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck calls this the Growth Mindset, and she finds that when a child adopts it, even for a moment, his capacity to handle honest feedback goes through the roof, almost instantly. On the flip side, 40 percent of those whose intelligence was praised overstated their scores to peers. “We took ordinary children and made them into liars,” Dweck says. Similarly, Enron executives who’d been celebrated for their innate talent would sooner lie than fess up to problems and work to fix them. [Stanford Magazine]. When young people’s sense of self-worth is bound up in the idea that they are smart—a quality they come to understand as a genetic blessing from the sky—at least three bad things can happen. Some students become lazy, figuring that their smarts will bail them out in a pinch. Others conclude that the people who praise their intelligence are simply wrong, and decide that it isn’t worth investing effort in homework. Still others might care intensely about school but withdraw from difficult tasks or tie themselves in knots of perfectionism. (To understand this third group, think of the Puritans: They did not believe they had any control over whether they were among God’s elect, but they nonetheless searched endlessly for ways to display that they had been chosen, and they were terrified of any evidence that they were not.) [The Chronicle Review] Meditate on the idea that the individual self and the universal soul are one and the same, aka “all is one.” Don’t try and prove logically that it’s true or false. That would be absurd and frustrating. The authors of the Upanishads spent years contemplating and arguing among each other until they agreed on this one basic truth: all is one. The wisdom from all corners of the world seems to boil down to the same statement. The tremendous benefit of this centering belief is that you understand that you are simultaneously eternal and infinitesimal. When you die, you lose nothing. If you hurt another person, you are hurting both yourself and the whole world. I don’t know why, but this idea gives me deep serenity, and no shelter for ego. If you don’t like the spiritual flavor of that, meditate on the scientific probability that there are infinite universes. That has a very similar conclusion, part of which is that there is no reason to make such a big deal about getting your way or to bemoan minutiae. However, there is no reason not to either, so I cannot say you are wrong to disagree with me here. All I can say is what I sincerely recommend. ONE CAUTION Though you choose to reduce ego to improve your quality of life, be sure to respect other people’s decisions not to reduce ego or to have a poor quality of life. You can still try to convince them and, besides, doing so respectfully will be most effective. Of course, if you reduce ego, you will naturally respect others’ decisions. I just mention this because it is one place I tripped up many times.</blockquote>

Defeat Your Ego Before it Defeats You

  “He’s so full of himself” is a statement of derision. The irony of life is that whoever said it is probably full of herself too. Such is l...

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For reasons still obscure, the program and the fellowship of AA could cause a surrender which in turn would lead to a period of no drinking.

<p> </p><p> It became ever more apparent that in everyone's psyche there existed an unconquerable ego which bitterly opposed any thought of defeat. Until that ego was somehow reduced or rendered ineffective, no likelihood of surrender could be anticipated. AA, still very much in its infancy, was celebrating a third or fourth anniversary of one of the groups. The speaker immediately preceding me told in detail of the efforts of his local group—which consisted of two men—to get him to dry up and become its third member. After several months of vain efforts on their part and repeated nose dives on his, the speaker went on to say: "Finally, I got cut down to size and have been sober ever since," a matter of some two or three years. When my turn came to speak, I used his phrase "cut down to size" as a text around which to weave my remarks. Before long, out of the corner of my eye, I became conscious of a disconcerting stare. It was coming from the previous speaker. It was perfectly clear: He was utterly amazed that he had said anything which made sense to a psychiatrist. The incident showed that two people, one approaching the matter clinically and the other relying on his own intuitive report of what had happened to him, both came up with exactly the same observation: the need for ego reduction. It is common knowledge that a return of the full-fledged ego can happen at any time. Years of sobriety are no insurance against its resurgence. No AA's, regardless of their veteran status, can ever relax their guard against a reviving ego. The function of surrender in AA is now clear. It produces that stopping by causing the individual to say, "I quit. I give up on my headstrong ways. I've learned my lesson." Very often for the first time in that individual's adult career, he has encountered the necessary discipline that halts him in his headlong pace. Actually, he is lucky to have within him the capacity to surrender. It is that which differentiates him from the wild animals. And this happens because we can surrender and truly feel, "Thy will, not mine, be done." Unfortunately, that ego will return unless the individual learns to accept a disciplined way of life, which means the tendency toward ego comeback is permanently checked. This is not news to AA members. They have learned that a single surrender is not enough. Under the wise leadership of the AA "founding fathers" the need for continued endeavor to maintain that miracle has been steadily stressed. The Twelve Steps urge repeated inventories, not just one, and the Twelfth Step is in itself a routine reminder that one must work at preserving sobriety. Moreover, it is referred to as Twelfth Step work—which is exactly what it is. By that time, the miracle is for the other person.</p>

For reasons still obscure, the program and the fellowship of AA could cause a surrender which in turn would lead to a period of no drinking.

   It became ever more apparent that in everyone's psyche there existed an unconquerable ego which bitterly opposed any thought of defea...

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Murder in the Rooms of AA

<h1 class="article-head" style="clear: both; font-size: 54px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 54px; font-weight: normal; font-family: NewsGothicBT-BoldCondensed, Arial; background-color: #ffffff; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"></h1><p class="top-teaser" style="color: #444444; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: NewsGothicBT-BoldCondensed, Arial; background-color: #ffffff;">One AA sponsor was falsely implicated in the slaying of a prostitute, while another was gunned down after divulging someone's top-secret "fourth step" confession. Just how protected are you when helping people who may be mentally ill—or even dangerous?  </p><div class="image" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: 17px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff;"><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-above"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img alt="" src="http://www.thefix.com/sites/default/files/styles/article/public/AA_GunRed.jpg" style="margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" /></div></div></div><p class="caption" style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #000000; color: #ffffff; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 15px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 15px; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0px;">Killing the messenger</p></div><div class="attribution" style="clear: right; float: right; width: 161px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 30px; margin-left: 40px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-color: #858585; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff;"><p class="author" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 8px; padding-left: 12px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px;"> </p></div><div class="body" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; background-color: #ffffff;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Confessing less-than-savory acts to a trusted AA sponsor is not an unusual scenario for most people during the early days of their recovery. A “fearless moral inventory,” in fact, is one of the backbones of the 12-step program. But what would you do if someone confessed something to you in an AA meeting that went far beyond the bounds of the usual the usual tales of drug-induced bad behavior?  What if they confessed to cold-blooded murder?  When 20-year-old Bob Ryder came to his sponsor, Floyd Nadeau, with something on his conscience, Nadeau surely had no idea that what he was about to hear would have a lasting impact on both men’s lives.</p><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px; font-style: italic; color: #d31820; width: 280px; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">There have been many high profile cases of murder prosecutions hinging on admissions of guilt coming to light during AA meetings. This one was among the most biizarre.</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">According to Nadeu, Ryder confessed that he had been getting high with a prostitute at his home in Lewiston, Maine when the prostitute started to “irritate him” by constantly complaining about her tough life. The final straw came when Ryder allegedly caught the woman rifling through his wallet. According to Nadeu, Ryder said that he grabbed the nearest thing to hand—a wooden clock—and viciously beat his victim to death with it before concealing the body in the basement of his home.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Nadeu later told authorities that at first he was highly skeptical that Ryder had murdered anyone. His sponsee, after all,  had a history of mental problems, which had led to his being discharged from the marines. But to prove he was telling the truth, Ryder supposedly took Nadeu down into the basement and showed him the decomposing corpse. Still, it would be over two weeks before Nadeu went to the police; when questioned on this seemingly inexplicable delay, Nadeu <a href="http://www.truecrimereport.com/2011/07/bob_ryder_confesses_to_aa_spon.php" style="color: #d31820; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">claimed</a> that he was worried about violating AA’s teachings on confidentiality.  </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">But the sponsor had even more revelations to come. After Ryder was arrested, he claimed that he and Nadeu had been cruising for prostitutes when they picked up the victim, Danita Brown, a mother of nine children. Ryder claimed that he and Nadeu had spent two days partying with Brown before the murder, and though he killed the woman while Nadeu was out, he insists that he immediately told Nadeu about his crime as soon as he came back. Ryder added that his sponsor had advised him to use baking soda to cover the corpse’s odor. Nadeu <a href="http://bangordailynews.com/2011/07/15/news/lewiston-auburn/lewiston-man-charged-in-woman%E2%80%99s-death/" style="color: #d31820; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">denies all the allegations</a>. "I had nothing to do with it," Nadeau is reported as saying, "and I've been cleared." The truth will no doubt be unraveled now that Ryder has been formally charged with Brown’s murder.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Of course, it’s really not a surprise that a program that deals exclusively with addicts—and thus people who are sometimes, by extension, leading criminal lifestyles—might involve those who have several nasty skeletons in their closets or have issues beyond substance abuse. There have been many high profile cases of murder prosecutions hinging on admissions of guilt coming to light during AA meetings. Last year in Alabama, Jamie Letson was <a href="http://blog.al.com/live/2010/05/jamie_letson_convicted_of_1980.html" style="color: #d31820; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">found guilty</a> of the 1980 murder of an 18-year-old student. The case remained unsolved until Letson confessed to her AA sponsor about it in 2002. There was also the case of Southern California resident Scott Gordon Reynolds, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-11-07-3603151677_x.htm" style="color: #d31820; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">who was sentenced to 50 years</a> for the murder of his AA sponsor, Uriel Noriega, in 2008. The killing, which took place in front of multiple witnesses during a meeting at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Long Beach, California, occurred because,when Reynolds snapped after he found out that Noriega had told other members at the AA meeting that Reynolds was gay. He said the secret was known only to his mother and his sponsor.  Reynolds told police he took the gun to the meeting with the intention of committing suicide in front of the group, but once he got there, he had a change of heart and decided to murder Noriega instead. If Reynolds’ version of events is to be believed, this case is an interesting inverse of Ryder’s, where an alleged disregard for AA’s principle of anonymity led to tragedy. (The prosecutor has gone on record to say that Reynolds’ claims were never fully proven in court).</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Still, both of these cases bring up some interesting ethical questions, such as: what are the limits of confidentiality in AA? What should you do if you’re sponsoring someone who seems mentally ill or dangerous? And is there any kind of legal protection over what you say in a meeting or to a sponsor?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">According to Michael Cohen, the executive director of <a href="http://fla-lap.org/" style="color: #d31820; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Florida Lawyers Assistance</a> and a legal expert who is in recovery himself, "Probably the best course of action would be for a sponsor to let the sponsee know in advance that if the sponsee confesses to a crime, there is always a possibility that the sponsor could be forced to disclose the information, or that the sponsor might do it voluntarily if they were really troubled by the disclosure. I would advise anyone I sponsored that if they needed to disclose this type of information, they might want to consider doing it to a therapist or clergy, in which case it would be protected by statute."</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">“Unlike attorney-client, doctor-patient, substance abuse treatment counselor-client, or priest-penitent relationships, there is no statutory confidentiality protection for sponsors or 12 Step group members, and they have been compelled in some cases to testify about information received,” Cohen explains. “The police could threaten to charge the sponsor with obstruction of justice if they refused to cooperate.” Under US law, while therapists and other professionals are legally obliged to disclose information to the authorities if they believe a client presents a danger to themselves or others, this statute protects them from having to testify in court.</p><blockquote style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26px; font-style: italic; color: #d31820; width: 280px; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 15px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">“We’re only as sick as our secrets,” says one AA mantra. But what about a case where the secret is murder?</p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">There are a few legal precedents here. In the case of<a href="http://www.dinslaw.com/files/Publication/e1417e0d-26bd-48bc-a52e-0a4c1bf3e6a8/Presentation/PublicationAttachment/ff9d9818-2cff-490c-9025-0e1954cc4f7b/Borowicz%20-%20Cox%20v.%20Miller%20The%20Clergy%20Privilege.pdf" style="color: #d31820; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Cox Vs Miller</a>, a 2002 decision by the 2nd circuit court of New York struck down a previous decision by the Southern District of New York Court’s which said that a confession of murder by Cox (disclosed to several AA members) fell under the auspices of New York’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessional_privilege_%28United_States%29" style="color: #d31820; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">clergy privilege</a>, the 2nd circuit court’s decision was that since the confession was not made “in order to seek spiritual guidance,” it did not qualify. However, the court did not go as far as to analyze whether or not Alcoholics Anonymous should be treated in the eyes of the law as a traditional religion for future clerical privilege analysis, therefore leaving something of a grey area for future cases.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">AA is a program that doesn’t differentiate. Meetings take place everywhere from exclusive Beverly Hills neighborhoods to the bowels of maximum-security prisons. When I was in drug treatment, I felt that I could—and should—talk openly about the petty theft and fraud I’d engaged in to fund my heroin habit, as it was part of the process of “getting better.” “We’re only as sick as our secrets,” says one AA mantra. But what about a case where the secret is murder?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">“Spiritual suggestions are not above the law,” said an AA spokesperson I talked to about these issues, adding that there is often confusion between the idea of anonymity and “privileged communication.”</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">“The tradition of anonymity does not mean that AA members enjoy privileged communication as we are not professionals,” the spokesperson told me. “However, Bill W. tells us in the Big Book that our sobriety allows us to become citizens of the world again. I think that based upon our core principles, most AA members would encourage one another to take responsibility for their actions.”</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">AA has long strived to protect its identity as a program without leaders, a program built upon the foundation of addict helping other addicts. But I can’t help but wonder—given some of the examples detailed here—whether or not some kind of formal training should be required before someone takes on the massive responsibility of sponsoring another addict. After all, if I were to set up an office tomorrow and advertise myself as a psychotherapist, I imagine I would be closed down in a matter of weeks unless I had the necessary qualifications. Yet AA sponsors, unpaid and untrained, are entrusted with the spiritual and mental wellbeing of fragile—and occasionally dangerous—newly sober people every single day. Surely it’s not too critical to suggest that the program as a whole should consider implementing some basic protections for sponsors and sponsees alike?</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px;">Whatever the eventual truths that emerge from the Ryder murder case however, anyone who argues that cases like this prove that the rooms of AA are dangerous is missing the point. There’s nothing more threatening happening in the meetings and fellowship than anywhere else where you may come into regular contact with your fellow human beings. (During the years I attended AA meetings, the most dangerous thing I ever encountered was the second-hand smoke wafting over from the usual huddle of chain-smoking ex-dope fiends.) For every tale of a 12-step tragedy, there are hundreds if not thousands of stories being shared about lives being saved. And sometimes, as it turns out, the rooms themselves can be a safeguard—as they were for an unlucky armed robber who was gunned down <a href="http://www.wistv.com/story/10169294/man-shot-killed-while-trying-to-rob-five-pts-aa-meeting?clienttype=printable" style="color: #d31820; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">while trying to rob</a> a particularly well-armed AA meeting in Greenville, South Carolina. How many other places are there where the guy sitting next to you—who happens to have a concealed weapons permit—is willing to risk his life in order to keep the group safe?</p></div>

Murder in the Rooms of AA

One AA sponsor was falsely implicated in the slaying of a prostitute, while another was gunned down after divulging someone's top-secret...

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No A.A.'s, regardless of their veteran status, can ever relax their guard against a reviving ego.

<p> </p><blockquote> The function of surrender in A.A. is now clear. It produces that stopping by causing the individual to say, "I quit. I give up on my headstrong ways. I've learned my lesson." Very often for the first time in that individual's adult career, he has encountered the necessary discipline that halts him in his headlong pace. Actually, he is lucky to have within him the capacity to surrender. It is that which differentiates him from the wild animals. And this happens because we can surrender and truly feel, "Thy will, not mine, be done." Unfortunately, that ego will return unless the individual learns to accept a disciplined way of life, which means the tendency toward ego comeback, is permanently checked. This is not news to A.A. members. They have learned that a single surrender is not enough. Under the wise leadership of the A.A. "founding fathers" the need for continued endeavor to maintain that miracle has been steadily stressed. The Twelve Steps urge repeated inventories, not just one, and the Twelfth Step is in itself a routine reminder that one must work at preserving sobriety. Moreover, it is referred to as Twelfth Step work-which is exactly what it is. By that time, the miracle is for the other person.</blockquote>

No A.A.'s, regardless of their veteran status, can ever relax their guard against a reviving ego.

   The function of surrender in A.A. is now clear. It produces that stopping by causing the individual to say, "I quit. I give up on my...

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quite a few people face death of a loved one or their child or spouse, suddenly they question their beliefs.

<p> </p><blockquote>Philosophies collapse in the face of extreme disaster. Before, they might have had philosophy or religious beliefs, but when quite a few people face death of a loved one or their child or spouse, suddenly they question their beliefs. "This wasn't supposed to happen to me, I had a business arrangement with God. I wasn't supposed to suffer." The mind, the "me", collapses. Explanations fade. So you're faced with disaster you cannot explain that seems to deny the existence of something deeper. The cross seems to stand between you and the transcendental dimension to love. But, strangely, that very cross is the opening also. Somebody once put it this way: "What stands in the way is the way." And you realize that when you no longer internally resist the form that this moment takes. I call it the "is-ness" of this moment.</blockquote>

quite a few people face death of a loved one or their child or spouse, suddenly they question their beliefs.

  Philosophies collapse in the face of extreme disaster. Before, they might have had philosophy or religious beliefs, but when quite a few p...

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The addiction to drugs, food, alcohol, etc. is nothing compared to the addiction we humans have to thinking.

<p> </p><blockquote><img alt="" height="465" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5aZt9SgW0WEmXxNpMn1uhQagFPcKGD-w87cNJ0h8cjhLR-snC5RITZUbYPInigNLM6Li1JtPZE8FcIdlljTMARP97p24XduemBpRBlYjN8q0R9etuY9Igo1SlV6iHZkHPunHRI1P55ABO/" style="float: left;" width="640" />The addiction to drugs, food, alcohol, etc. is nothing compared to the addiction we humans have to thinking. Sitting quietly in silence is so foreign to most of us that the mind quickly starts thinking of its "problems" simply because it feels more "natural." We say we want peace, but because of our conditioning many of us actually feel more comfortable worrying. Worrying about what? Anything, the mind is not picky. -Michael Jeffreys</blockquote>

The addiction to drugs, food, alcohol, etc. is nothing compared to the addiction we humans have to thinking.

  The addiction to drugs, food, alcohol, etc. is nothing compared to the addiction we humans have to thinking. Sitting quietly in silence is...

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Take 5 seconds just to be quiet.

<p> </p><blockquote><img alt="" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoLA-uFCrgjlcfFnyFStq1vg4Y8uyc_WL2PQ3er1Y4Ul5-EKLuMwyhCn9fMN_U6-2Vsm58nNrdTTzKSCVzbF0h-FUHx9r_LEmc8y3Bpam4uirepPUXDbT1n5xVn2fprgG53dTAfpW9w_K7/" style="float: left;" width="348" />Take 5 seconds just to be quiet. Everything that disappeared in those 5 seconds for you, that’s what’s not real. So when you are not thinking, everything that disappears… that’s what’s not real. For most people, that’s about 99% of their whole experience of life… their whole world.</blockquote>

Take 5 seconds just to be quiet.

  Take 5 seconds just to be quiet. Everything that disappeared in those 5 seconds for you, that’s what’s not real. So when you are not think...

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Take 5 seconds just to be quiet.

<p> </p><blockquote><img alt="" height="465" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-_NKVe93ufjo/TsO7cvE6X9I/AAAAAAAAJ_E/TENPO7RLlPg/%25255BUNSET%25255D.jpg" style="float: left;" width="640" />Everything that disappeared in those 5 seconds for you, that’s what’s not real. So when you are not thinking, everything that disappears… that’s what’s not real. For most people, that’s about 99% of their whole experience of life… their whole world.</blockquote>

Take 5 seconds just to be quiet.

  Everything that disappeared in those 5 seconds for you, that’s what’s not real. So when you are not thinking, everything that disappears… ...

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If Life has no interest in the past, why should you?

<p> </p><blockquote>If Life has no interest in the past, why should you? –Michael Jeffreys</blockquote>

If Life has no interest in the past, why should you?

  If Life has no interest in the past, why should you? –Michael Jeffreys

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It doesn't matter what it is--an atom, a thought, a sound, a situation, a body, a mental state, a plant a storm, a mountain, or a galaxy--everything that we know of is changing

<p> </p><blockquote>It doesn't matter what it is--an atom, a thought, a sound, a situation, a body, a mental state, a plant a storm, a mountain, or a galaxy--everything that we know of is changing, either quickly or slowly. Inward and outward, big or small, there is only this shift and flux. If this is fully acknowledged, it may be realized that this is all that actually exists. No object or "thing" is ever truly formed anywhere. Nothing is ever established or defined. No thing ever comes to stay, to exist, to "be."</blockquote>

It doesn't matter what it is--an atom, a thought, a sound, a situation, a body, a mental state, a plant a storm, a mountain, or a galaxy--everything that we know of is changing

  It doesn't matter what it is--an atom, a thought, a sound, a situation, a body, a mental state, a plant a storm, a mountain, or a gala...

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Wabi Sabi teaches how to become fundamentally present and how to arise in mastery of your mind and ego

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsF7fxMqcRhJS9SHnVm4vJK1Yq6z6C8WkuLJ6O4soM_Ni4DexDnbmAW96M22bouqv2NrNo5SV9T2JaIEKlVNCJJKXugf83omWSxZOO2milMIcFlCen8SMcHiWqCWMMi4N2svDlos4Mr65m/s1600/wabi+sabi+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsF7fxMqcRhJS9SHnVm4vJK1Yq6z6C8WkuLJ6O4soM_Ni4DexDnbmAW96M22bouqv2NrNo5SV9T2JaIEKlVNCJJKXugf83omWSxZOO2milMIcFlCen8SMcHiWqCWMMi4N2svDlos4Mr65m/s320/wabi+sabi+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">Wabi Sabi teaches how to become fundamentally present and how to arise in mastery of your mind and ego, so that you are no longer involuntarily pulled out of Presence. Teaches that the fully awakened state of consciousness is available now. </span><div> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">It is not something that occurs in the future. It is already here, waiting to be revealed. As you awaken into the present moment, your thoughts will stop, your mind will fall silent, and you will awaken to an inner silence and peace that is beyond understanding. You will begin to encounter what the mystics and masters have been speaking of for centuries.</span></div>

Wabi Sabi teaches how to become fundamentally present and how to arise in mastery of your mind and ego

Wabi Sabi teaches how to become fundamentally present and how to arise in mastery of your mind and ego, so that you are no longer involunt...

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The world we see merely reflects our own internal frame of reference

<p> </p><blockquote>The world we see merely reflects our own internal frame of reference--the dominant ideas, wishes and emotions in our minds. We look inside first, decide the kind of world we want to see and then project that world outside, making it the truth as we see it. We make it true by our interpretations of what it is we are seeing. -A Course in Miracles</blockquote>

The world we see merely reflects our own internal frame of reference

  The world we see merely reflects our own internal frame of reference--the dominant ideas, wishes and emotions in our minds. We look inside...

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As Bill Sees It-Selfish? - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

<p> </p><blockquote>" I can see why you are disturbed to hear some A.A. speakers say, 'A.A. is a selfish program.' The word 'selfish' ordinarily implies that one is acquisitive, demanding, and thoughtless of the welfare of others. Of course, the A.A. way of life does not at all imply such undesirable traits. "What do these speakers mean? Well, any theologian will tell you that the salvation of his own soul is the highest vocation that a man can have. Without salvation--however we may define this--he will have little or nothing. For us of A.A., there is even more urgency. "If we cannot or will not achieve sobriety, then we become truly lost, right in the here and now. We are of no value to anyone, including ourselves, until we find salvation from alcohol. Therefore, our own recovery and spiritual growth have to come first--a right and necessary kind of self-concern."</blockquote>

As Bill Sees It-Selfish? - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

  " I can see why you are disturbed to hear some A.A. speakers say, 'A.A. is a selfish program.' The word 'selfish' ord...

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Selfish, the way it’s commonly used, means taking care of oneself only and without regard for others or to the detriment of others.

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWiD_JMDcRdgY-UD8YzEW8RSUCO99TEMhoC-40CJ8bw5EFZy3vYg1nf-iixFEIKyUQEOdWWl2vSjPKU8Tst6FNLXimsJnKUivwN-Zfg-RV2wqFCW8iWH9zjxyMWywC7fo8UVah56wewbiA/s1600/zolo+assembly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="425" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWiD_JMDcRdgY-UD8YzEW8RSUCO99TEMhoC-40CJ8bw5EFZy3vYg1nf-iixFEIKyUQEOdWWl2vSjPKU8Tst6FNLXimsJnKUivwN-Zfg-RV2wqFCW8iWH9zjxyMWywC7fo8UVah56wewbiA/s320/zolo+assembly.jpg" width="226" /></a></div> <br /> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">AA First and the “Selfish” Program I shudder, shudder, shudder when I hear someone say AA is a selfish program. Back to the dictionary and the meaning of words. Selfish, the way it’s commonly used, means taking care of oneself only and without regard for others or to the detriment of others. The word selfish is used many times in the Big Book to mean just that, and it is presented as a bad thing. Not a good thing. It’s in As Bill Sees It and certainly elsewhere that Bill W said AA is a selfish program. He said that it’s selfish in the same way that a person cannot enlighten someone else while the person himself is not enlightened. You can’t make someone believe in something you don’t believe in (or rarely). You can’t give away what you haven’t got. If an alcoholic is not sober, she is a danger and detriment to herself and everyone else.</span><div> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> </span><div> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> This alcoholic must first set about achieving sobriety. When a new person comes into the rooms and is told what a commitment AA needs to be in the beginning, sometimes the person protests. People feel they cannot neglect or leave their children or parents or jobs or what have you in order to go to meetings or to rehab. The point is, this person may actually lose all those things and much more if she doesn’t attain sobriety. In that way, sobriety has to come first. Rarely, but unfortunately sometimes, </span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;">I hear a newcomer say that his family or friends are actually against his attendance in AA. There are lots of reasons for that. The family or friends may not want to stop drinking, may be dependent on that person and fear a change, or may have a bad opinion of AA. In those cases, the newcomer has to defy the people who don’t want him in AA and attend, and hopefully most of them will come around to realize that is best. Usually, though, I hear the “selfish” program phrase thrown around when someone is considering giving less than is appropriate to some other area of life. We are not encouraged to neglect our families, careers, or other responsibilities in order to devote time to AA or our other spiritual quests. It is plainly written again and again that we are to rejoin society and serve and contribute, not crawl away into an AA insulated cave where we selfishly look after our own needs and fulfilment. It’s a pet peeve and a prejudice of mine that I see lots of “therapy” and pop psychology as being too introspective and selfish to do good for anyone besides the therapist or book author. And I’m NOT commenting on all therapy and all books. </span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div> <div> <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: large;"> I know that people have real needs and realise real benefits every day. Still, for many of us, I do believe that the AA program well worked gives us a good balance of introspection and encouragement to take care of our own – our own being this place and all the people here with us at this time.</span></div> </div>

Selfish, the way it’s commonly used, means taking care of oneself only and without regard for others or to the detriment of others.

AA First and the “Selfish” Program I shudder, shudder, shudder when I hear someone say AA is a selfish program. Back to the dictionary a...

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A Selfish Program?

<p> </p><blockquote>"A Selfish Program?" I can see why you are disturbed to hear some A.A. speakers say, "A.A. is a selfish program."  The word 'selfish' ordinarily implies that one is acquisitive, demanding, and thoughtless of the welfare of others.  Of course, the A.A. way of life does not at all imply such undesirable traits.  What do these speakers mean?  Well, any theologian will tell you that the salvation of his own soul is the highest vocation that a man can have.  Without salvation-however we may define this-he will have little or nothing.  For us of A.A., there is even more urgency.  If we cannot or will not achieve sobriety, then we become truly lost, right in the here and now.  We are of no value to anyone, including ourselves, until we find salvation from alcohol.  Therefore, our own recovery and spiritual growth have to come first-a right and necessary kind of self-concern.  From As Bill Sees It</blockquote>

A Selfish Program?

  "A Selfish Program?" I can see why you are disturbed to hear some A.A. speakers say, "A.A. is a selfish program."  Th...

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Pain is god disguised as your greatest teacher. The greater the pain, the bigger the opportunity for a breakthough.

<p> </p><blockquote>Pain is god disguised as your greatest teacher. The greater the pain, the bigger the opportunity for a breakthough. -Michael Jeffreys</blockquote>

Pain is god disguised as your greatest teacher. The greater the pain, the bigger the opportunity for a breakthough.

  Pain is god disguised as your greatest teacher. The greater the pain, the bigger the opportunity for a breakthough. -Michael Jeffreys

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