Addictions are any habit that you struggle to let go of. The nature of habits makes them unhealthy because they are rooted in mechanical living - it is not a choice made out of awareness.
Obviously, there is a wide range of addictions, from mild to very destructive, and it is certainly beneficial to momentarily shift to a less damaging habit, until we are ready to eradicate their root completely. Diving deeper within ourselves to clear addictive patterns requires fasting from these habits, and possibly fasting from food and beverages - when the digestive system is at rest, the body uses all of its energy for cleansing and healing, allowing deeply rooted patterns and memories to surface.
Addictions typically serve to suppress energy that we are unwilling or unable to allow to the surface of our awareness – either because we are afraid of experiencing that pain or we do not have the tools yet to navigate this natural inner cleansing process skillfully. Resistance is typically resistance to reality, to the truth. This means that healing, and clearing addictive patterns does require to get real - if we are unwilling or unable to go there, then we are not truly seaking healing - we are merely seaking relief, which does not bring the inner freedom of true healing.
Suppressed energy never goes away – in fact, it builds strength over time, and it will require more energy to keep that painful emotion suppressed, which will lead to depletion, exhaustion and depression. However, deep emotional wounds cannot be approached unless we have already brought ourselves into balance and are well grounded. Attempting to clear addictive patterns when ungrounded or out of balance will lead to a chaotic inner state that will require more time and patience to heal. Fasting from addictive habits will allow the suppressed emotional energy to come up to the surface of our awareness. If we are balanced and grounded, we can sit in meditation to observe and feel calmly what arises in our experience. This is a natural cleansing process. If we get up from our meditation cushion to give into the addictive habit, it will fuel additional energy into it, keeping us in the painful loop. If we allow the intensity of the waves to gradually subside over time, we are allowing the psyche to be freed, and from there, we can rewrite our own history by taking in positive and fresh new inner impressions that will nourish our life force instead of depleting it.
Contrary to an unfortunately popular believe, when you sit in meditation and observe the thought patterns and the emotions while working your way out of an addiction, the resistance and push back that you experience are not the work of your ego. Many people have made the ego their enemy - if you do so, you will in fact lower your personal power and your ability to cleanse your psyche from damaging and degrading inner messages. The ego is associated with your human personality and its function is to protect you and ensure your survival. Therefore it will help you cleanse the negative programming imprinted in the psyche. The push back and resistance that you experience are in fact part of that negative programming.
A healthy and balanced individual (and ego) can successfully cleanse his consciousness and resist any new attempts to manipulate or implant it again - however this does require to work through layers of initial clearing and to bring yourself into balance first.
In Light & Void
Julie