Breaking Free

Vegetarian Times, Jan, 2001 by Jane Mersky Leder

Yoga can be an important tool to reduce stress and anxiety. "It allows people to have an experience of deeper peace and quiet, a stillness that people never find in their daily lives of doing, doing, doing," Sultanoff says. Flower essences can also ease depression or help release repressed emotions, adds Sultanoff, who benefited from flower essences during his own recovery from nicotine addiction.

To beat addiction, it's essential to fortify the mind and body. But recovering addicts who beautify their environments have an extra edge. In their book, Sultanoff and coauthor Roger Klinger advise people to improve their surroundings-especially since one of the common side effects of addiction is a neglected home. "Our charge is to help the recovering addict cultivate a taste not only for 'clean living' but for the kind of refined living that can help her heal her wounds and move along into sobriety," they write. They recommend Feng Shui, the Chinese system of object arrangement, to emphasize the relationship between health and the home environment. Klinger and Sultanoff believe it's possible to make big improvement with simple changes. Start by removing clutter. Then, examine your surroundings and replace disarray with beauty and "sacred order." Creating a special place in the home or garden with momentos of good times or important relationships can become a place of refuge. Such sacred spaces and personal rituals are a powerful way to affirm recovery. Rituals don't have to be elaborate or exotic ceremonies; they can be as simple as lighting a candle in the morning and saying a prayer for yourself or others. The key to a lasting recovery, Sultanoff says, is turning the process into a pleasurable experience that gives life new meaning.

resources

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON SEXUAL
 ADDICTION AND COMPULSIVITY
 (NCSAC)
(770) 989-9757; www.ncsac.org

EATING DISORDERS AWARENESS AND
 PREVENTION, INC. (EDAP)
(800) 931-2237; www.edap.org

NATIONAL COUNCIL ON ALCOHOLISM
 AND DRUG DEPENDENCE, INC.
 (NCADD)
(212) 206-6770; www.ncadd.org

NATIONAL COUNCIL ON PROBLEM
 GAMBLING, INC.
(800) 522-4700 (24-hour)
www.ncpgambling.org

AMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION
(800) LUNG-USA ([800]) 586-
4872); www.lungusa.org

JANE MERSKY LEDER, whose work has appeared in Woman's Day and Good Housekeeping, specializes in health and psychology.