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.
Trouble With Our Website
We have had some trouble with our website recently and would like to apologise to anyone who couldn’t access it. We know also that some people use the website link to gain access to our LifeRing Zoom meetings and we are really sorry this has happened.
Also apologies to anyone who has sent us an email that we have not been able to respond to.
We hope to have this situation resolved by Friday 23rd September.
As Meetings Resume at St John of God Hospital, Stillorgan We Say Thank You, Cabinteely.
As meetings resume at St John of God Hospital after a long absence due to Covid we would like to say a big thank you to all at St Brigid’s Parish Pastoral Community Centre, Cabinteely who have accommodated our meetings for much of the interim. We are extremely grateful to you.
We are looking forward to meeting old and new friends back in our venue at St John of God Hospital on Monday and Friday nights at 7:30pm.
Blanchardstown meetings have a new home. !! Starting Saturday 23 April.
After many wonderful years in the library in Blanchardstown we are moving to a new location. We will be in the Diswellstown Community & Recreation Centre from 23 April on. This is in St Patrick’s National School very close to Carpenterstown and Laurel Lodge. Meetings will still start at 1pm. No booking or registration needed.
All online meetings now on at 7.30 pm
We have now moved the Saturday lunchtime meeting from 1.00 pm to 7.00 pm.
Stanhope Street Thursday Night Face to Face Meetings Resumed
Face to face meetings in Stanhope Street on Thursday nights have resumed. As a result the 6:30pm Zoom “Stanhope” meetings have been discontinued.
The regular 7:30pm Thursday night Zoom meeting will still proceed as usual.
See Face to Face Meetings for more.
New Face to face meeting now taking place in Lower Abbey Street, Dublin on Saturdays at 11am
We are happy to say we are now holding an additional face to face meeting at Dublin Mission Centre, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin at 11:00 on Saturday mornings.
As with all face to face meetings, at present, it is necessary to prebook and other safety measures are in place. If you wish to attend or would like more information please email Sarah and leave a contact phone number.
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.
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.
Dublin Central Mission (DCM) face to face meetings have now resumed. This brings our total of reopened venues to three.
Pre-registration is required (drop a note including your phone number to info@lifering.ie). Other Covid 19 measures are in place including a requirement to wear a mask.