The Peter McVerry Trust is about to close Áit Linn, Ballymun.

We have found a new venue for Friday morning LifeRing Meetings.

Sadly the Peter McVerry Trust has decided to close down Áit Linn, Ballymun.

The last meeting of LifeRing at Longdale Road will take place this Friday, April 12th at 10am.

We would like to thank the staff at Áit Linn for their great cooperation over the years, years have rushed by so quickly. It seems only yesterday that Mara invited us in to hold meetings. We were only too happy to accept. Like everyone else we were greeted with a warm welcome, friendliness, kindness, professionalism and respect. We have nothing but admiration for the dedication of all the staff at Longdale Road and would like to thank them sincerely.

The decision to close came as a shock to us all and we hope somebody somewhere has plans to continue the good work with as little disruption as possible.

As for LifeRing meetings, Paul and the other amazing ‘LifeRingers’ at Áit Linn have already sourced a new venue for future meetings at:

Whitehall Colmcille GAA Club
Collins Avenue
D09 DX53

The time will be 10am every Friday as at present, starting on Friday 19th April.

We are applying for charitable status

LifeRing Ireland Secular Recovery is a non-profit company limited by guarantee.

There is no charge to attend any of our meetings. While, at face to face meetings, a pencil case is passed around, giving attendees the opportunity to make a contribution, helping to defray meeting and other expenses, any contribution is entirely voluntary and the focus remains on recovery, not finances.

We are in the process of putting together an application to the Charities Regulator for registration under the Charities Act.

Legally, we feel it important to point out to the public that at present we are not a registered charitable organisation.

Life Beyond Your Wildest Dreams

One could be forgiven for thinking that there was no alternative to traditional 12 step recovery paths such as AA because for years those alternatives, including LifeRing were rarely reported on. Thankfully that is changing.

Here is an interesting podcast on “Life Beyond Your Wildest Dreams”, a US podcast that discusses what life in recovery can be like. Here, Michael from LifeRing UK talks about how there are, in fact, many alternatives to faith based 12 step programmes, about the role LifeRing can play and he describes how LifeRing worked and still works for him.

Michael lived in Ireland for some years, and when work and family connections brought him back to the UK, he decided to bring the LifeRing service with him, forming LifeRing UK with three online meetings per week and a face to face meeting in Edinburgh every Saturday. Michael is also a member of the LifeRing US  board and we are very proud of our association with him.

Here’s the link. Its about 20 minutes. Enjoy.

Stanhope Street Meeting Moves to Monday Night

With effect from Monday 3rd April our weekly Stanhope Street meeting will take place each Monday at 6:10pm. We are changing because the Centre will no longer be available on Thursday evenings.

There will be no meetings on Bank Holiday Mondays.

The last Thursday night meeting will take place on Thursday 30th March.

We hope this change does not cause too much inconvenience.

Meetings over the Christmas period

Apart from Diswellstown, all meetings over the Christmas period will take place as scheduled.

There will be no meeting in Diswellstown on Saturday 24th December or Saturday 31st December. Diswellstown meetings will resume on Saturday 7th January.

On line meetings take place as usual throughout the Christmas.

Diswellstown Centre closed Saturday 29th October

The Diswellstown Centre is closed on 29th October and unfortunately we will not be able to hold our regular Saturday 1pm meeting on that day. The next Diswellstown meeting will take place on Saturday 5th November.

We are indebted to LifeRing Scotland for the following tips that we wholeheartedly endorse.

Set yourself up for success

If this is your first day in recovery, you are likely to be feeling low.

You may be wishing you were not like this and could deal with addictive substances “normally”

You may have family or loved ones who are disappointed with you.

You may be hating on yourself.

These are all thoughts which are counter productive.

It is a good practice to reframe your thoughts on all of this, in fact it is a good practice to reframe every situation you are likely to come across.

I would reframe this as: I am taking control of my life in a healthy positive way. Life can be so much better. This is a freedom, not a burden.

These statements may feel odd just now but people do recover, and find that the journey of change, is liberating, and worthwhile to the extent that they are grateful that they came to this point. Yes they are grateful they have this “condition” because it brought them to a point where they can find joy in life. 

Live in the now

In the short term, forget about what you did or didn’t do in the past. Seriously just accept that that was then and this is now. There will be time in the future where you can look back, with an objective mind, and look back in the right way. That may be with the help of counselling, but right now you want to just get a period of sobriety under your belt. 

Be your own observer

Read about mindfulness. You don’t have to be an expert on it, just be aware of it, such that you can be aware of emotions that you will have. Being aware of emotions and accepting them is a way to keep urges at bay. Being aware of anger (for example), seeing it coming, observing it, accepting that it is ok to feel that way, but that you do not need to act upon it. 

This may be difficult at first, but like everything it gets easier with practice. 

Do what you need to do

Keep this close to your heart.

Ignore all or any of this advice if you feel it is truly counter productive to you staying sober. 

You do what you need to do to stay sober.

If a loved one wants you to go to an event, and you do not feel you are ready, then don’t go. This is a time to be selfish. Don’t want to shop and pick up a bottle for your partner, “Sorry cant do that, you need to get that yourself.”

Cope with urges

Surf your urges

Urge surfing is a mindful activity. It is linked to being your own observer. Taking a step back from your thoughts, and observing the urge, like the temper tantrum toddler that it is. Read more below.

Urge Surfing

Delay, Distract, Decide

Delay: Give yourself 10 mins, you can decide after that.

Distract: Do another activity, could be, TV, reading, excersise, anything to take your mind off things.

Decide: Write down pros and cons. “Play the tape forward”. What will happen if you do? What will happen if you don’t? 

Be kind to yourself

This is not the time to beat yourself up. You deserve to recover.

Eat ice cream.

Pick up a long lost hobby.

Buy something nice with the money you are saving.

Give yourself a hug.

Feel good about what you are doing.

Sleep

All of this thinking about change can be exhausting, get plenty of rest.

Make an attempt at improving  your sleeping habits

Speak to other peers

There are resources out there 12 steps, SMART recovery, or LifeRing. Find what fits you best. Keeping engaged will help you enormously. It is likely to make the difference. If you are able to do this on your own then all power to you, but many have found this to be the thing that keeps them sane. 

Think about relapse in the right way

If you slip, then it is really important that you get back to the right frame of mind for your next attempt.

Slipping and relapse is a normal part of recovery.

Again, the same things above still apply.

You may be feeling that you failed. This is a perfect opportunity to reframe your thoughts on this. ” I have an opportunity to learn more about myself. I can learn from this and put myself in a better situation for my next attempt. ”

LifeRing Starts Up in Scotland – The Irish Connection

It is wonderful to see LifeRing now setting up in Scotland.  This formidable project has undertaken on by Michael, a Scot who lived in Ireland for a number of years and has recently returned home. Michael says LifeRing played a vital role in his recovery and feels that its secular, non judgemental, non prescriptive approach will meet an unfilled need in Scotland.

Already LifeRing Scotland is holding online meetings at 11am on Saturdays. Microsoft Teams is used and you can join in a browser window or install Teams for PC, Android or iPhone. Join a meeting using this Link to online meeting.

We in Ireland are very proud of Michael and wish him every success.

Visit https://lifering-scot.org for more information on LifeRing Scotland.

You can find them on twitter at @LiferingScot.

You can email them at admin@lifering-scot.org.

To attend a LifeRing meeting, all you need to do is to turn up!

LifeRing is a self-help group for people managing their addictions whatever they may be, including alcohol and illegal or prescription drugs. LifeRing was started in California ten years ago by a group of recovering addicts including Martin Nicolaus, author of ‘Empowering your Sober Self’ and the addiction recovery workbook ‘Recovery by Choice’.

LifeRing meetings were first established in Ireland in Dublin in 2009. There are currently meetings in Dublin, Dingle, Sligo, Mullingar, Navan and Tralee.