{"author":"Christopher Dines","author_id":"Christopher+Dines","total_quotes":51,"quotes":[{"text":"Mindfulness (present-moment awareness) is deliberately focusing our attention on our thoughts, emotions, feelings, sensations and mental activity without losing awareness of what is happening in the present moment. It is essentially being in a state of present-moment awareness and maintaining clarity without being swayed or distracted by mental commentary.","author":"Christopher Dines","tags":["burnout","calmness","christopher-dines","mindfulness","mindfulness-burnout-prevention","mindfulness-practice","stress"],"id":17448,"author_id":"Christopher+Dines"},{"text":"Top lines to a human being who tends to isolate (an avoidant) would mean they make an effort to talk to another human being when the opportunity arises. A top line can also mean that, whether we feel like it or not, we are committed to our recovery and to improving our emotional and professional life. The idea of ‘top lines’ is not to be hard on ourselves or to put us in a position where we feel unsafe or burnt out. It’s a way to avoid missing opportunities to learn, serve and grow.","author":"Christopher Dines","tags":["addiction","addiction-and-recovery","addictive-behaviour","addictiveness","top-lines","twelve-step-fellowships"],"id":26768,"author_id":"Christopher+Dines"},{"text":"Conscious breathing anchors us into the nowness of life and gives us a fresh outlook, no different from how a baby observes reality without mental commentary. The baby enjoys watching the world and human activity without any limiting mental concepts spoiling his or her perception. Naturally, we all have to evolve from the helpless state of babyhood, but to be able to tap into that wonderful ability and truly BE in the moment is immensely liberating.","author":"Christopher Dines","tags":["burnout","calmness","christopher-dines","mindfulness","mindfulness-burnout-prevention","mindfulness-practice","stress"],"id":28598,"author_id":"Christopher+Dines"},{"text":"Love addicts often pick partners who are emotionally unavailable because deep down, they don’t feel worthy of having a healthy, loving relationship. A love addict craves and obsesses about becoming enmeshed or ‘one’ with another human being at all costs, even if it means putting themselves in potential danger.","author":"Christopher Dines","tags":["addiction","addiction-and-recovery","addictive-behaviour","addictiveness","love-addiction","love-addicts"],"id":29927,"author_id":"Christopher+Dines"},{"text":"I don’t think I’ve ever met an addict in long-term recovery who hasn’t gone through at least one traumatic childhood experience. Research indicates that one traumatic event in childhood is as grave as continuous combat in a war zone. A traumatic event during childhood can leave a grave imprint on the human body.","author":"Christopher Dines","tags":["addiction","addiction-and-recovery","addictive-behaviour","addictiveness"],"id":43146,"author_id":"Christopher+Dines"},{"text":"When we seek to escape from inner conflict and pain, we are running away from unresolved childhood trauma or original pain. Most people with serious addictive natures who are in the process of recovery have found that trauma played a huge role in escalating their addictions. It certainly did for me.","author":"Christopher Dines","tags":["addiction","addiction-and-recovery","addictive-behaviour","addictiveness"],"id":54915,"author_id":"Christopher+Dines"},{"text":"The process of recovering from addictiveness happens at a deeper level of consciousness and through feeling our pain without using old addictive fixes. There is no escaping that getting in touch with our original pain is the touchstone to mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.","author":"Christopher Dines","tags":["addiction","addiction-and-recovery","addictiveness","consciousness","family-of-origin","grief","grief-and-loss","grief-work","original-pain-work","the-kindness-habit"],"id":60459,"author_id":"Christopher+Dines"},{"text":"Two monks were once travelling together down a wet and muddy road. The rain was torrential, making it almost impossible to walk along the path. As the two men were trudging along, a beautiful girl dressed in silk appeared. She was unable to cross the path and looked distressed. “Let me help you”, said the older monk. He picked her up and carried her over the mud. His younger male companion did not utter a word that night until they reached their lodging temple. Then after hours of restrained conversation, the younger monk exclaimed: “We monks do not touch females; it is too tempting for us and can create a bad outcome”. The older monk looked into the younger monks eyes and said, “I left the girl on the road. Are you still carrying her?” This ancient Zen story illustrates beautifully how so many of us are trapped in the habit of constantly “re-living” the past in our minds, thus dishonouring the present moment. The young monk wasted hours distressing himself with judgment, speculation, anxiety, resentment and ultimately self-perpetuated unhappiness as a direct result of not being mindful.","author":"Christopher Dines","tags":["anxiety","christopher-dines","mindfulness","zen"],"id":65673,"author_id":"Christopher+Dines"},{"text":"When we practise self-compassion, we look after ourselves just as though we are nurturing a small child. In fact, a major part of grieving our original pain work (so that we can heal and be emotionally liberated) is to re-parent ourselves and reconnect with our inner child. This is what the author, John Bradshaw, meant by ‘reclaiming our inner child’. In recovery, we can begin to nurture our inner child and connect deeply with our heart and spirit.","author":"Christopher Dines","tags":["addiction","addiction-and-recovery","addictive-behaviour","addictiveness","heart","inner-child","john-bradshaw","original-pain-work","spirit"],"id":70271,"author_id":"Christopher+Dines"},{"text":"When you can begin to see the similarities between you and your work colleagues in respect of ‘being human’ and the collective challenges we all face, it makes life much easier to deal with, especially when met with overbearing behaviour.","author":"Christopher Dines","tags":["burnout","calmness","christopher-dines","compassion","empathy","mindfulness","mindfulness-burnout-prevention","mindfulness-practice","stress"],"id":78905,"author_id":"Christopher+Dines"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":51,"pages":6,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}