Spirit of Recovery

How do we express our wholeness with power and authenticity? By finding our own true voice. Addiction affects everyone with it and around it by silencing that voice and stifling self-expression. Special guest Scott Farrell shares how voice and energy work is spiritual work, and can open up our vitality and creativity to engage us fully in our lives. Scott, founder of Harmonic Oasis—www.harmonicoas...

Would you like to feel with ever greater deep certainty that your Higher Power is a real, loving, and active Presence in your life? That experience is absolutely available to everyone—“The Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek.” The 11th Step of the 12-Step program invites us to seek awareness of God’s power in our lives through p...

Why do recovery programs make such a big deal about being of service? When we share what works for us with others, it of course extends the hand of fellowship. But even more foundational than that, we build our realization that we have worth and value—we are a part of living—the feelings of uselessness and self-pity slip away. Guest Lennis Baugh, Unity minister and recovery counselor, is all about...

Moving into recovery means moving into conscious relationship with our innate spirituality. And that means we are going to change! We see ourselves with new eyes and realize we have the ability to create good. Guest Renee Leboa is copastor of the Spiritual Living Center of Charlotte and a dynamic, humorous, and down-to-earth speaker and New Thought teacher, leader, and musician. Her openness about...

When desperation met up with nondogmatic spirituality, the 12-Step program was born. The founders of what became Alcoholics Anonymous drew from many religious resources, searching for wisdom that would help those suffering from the deadly disease of addiction make conscious contact with healing, regenerative spiritual power. One of those resources was the New Thought movement, of which Unity is a...

Taking time away to gather with others walking a spiritual growth path deepens recovery. A few days of putting the focus on reflection, prayer, and sharing in a nurturing environment can “love us forward” in new ways. Guest Richard C., recovering person, Unity student, and teacher of tai chi and chi qong, shares how his full circle journey from retreat attender to retreat leader empowers his life....

We recover so we can live life instead of sleepwalking through it. Developing our talents and interests is an important part of finding what we can pack into the stream of living. It’s how we participate in life. Guest Alan Smith, with many years of recovery, discusses how songwriting and music-making bring joy to his life and engage him in creative participation. He shares his deeply moving recov...

What happens when we live in recovery? We get stronger, wiser, and in deeper contact with our Higher Power, who loves us. When we become aware of how we are changing and growing, those qualities soar. Special guest Allen Liles, Unity minister, shares the 10 best gifts he’s received in recovery and invites us to make our own list.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is prayer just an “extra frill” that takes time out of our busy day and prevents us from getting the important things done? Or is prayer a way of determining what really is important and opening us to the power to accomplish that in creative living? Special guest Terry Lund is a Unity minister and former Chair of the Prayer Department in the Unity ministerial school. Raised in a New Thought househ...

Bill Wilson almost died of his alcoholism, but a series of opportune events led instead to his sobriety and the creation of the worldwide fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. Bill was a reluctant hero quite aware of his failings. Because of his powerful thirst for wholeness, he found a door to an authentic spirituality that fully embraces the human condition. Guests Kevin Hanlon and Dan Carracino w...

One of the biggest tasks of recovery—and possibly the hardest—is learning to accept the good stuff! Guest Debbie Strand, host of the online radio show Sober in the City has experienced the amazing power of God at work in her life. Debbie shares her story and how she reaches out with honesty and courage to help others create a life of sobriety and dignified living. Learn more about Debbie’s work at...

Two halves don’t make a whole—at least as far as relationships are concerned. A strong sense of self, emotionally and spiritually, is the foundation of strong relationships. Special guest Greg Barrette shares how focusing on self-love and practicing daily contact with your loving Higher Power is the key to life-giving relationships in your personal life and your work life. Greg was born and raised...

Everybody has experienced that persistent feeling that who they are is defective, flawed, not enough. What everybody may not know is that this feeling has a name—toxic shame—and that it doesn’t have to rule our lives. We can move beyond it. Special guest Brent Uzell, licensed Unity teacher and spiritual leader active in creating bridges across faith and cultural differences, shares how to recogniz...

Creating harmony in relationships is no easy task. It takes self-awareness, skill, and maturity. Yikes! There is hope—help can be found by applying the 12 Traditions of recovery programs as a way to heal and enrich all relationships. Special guests Ken S. and Sherry G-S. apply the Traditions to their own relationship and host a monthly recovery meeting focused on relationships as a spiritual pract...

A hero is a remarkably brave person—one who has shown great courage or strength of character. How does recovery rouse defeated, helpless people—those with the disease of addiction as well as the family and friends who love them—to mature into heroes? Special guest Rev. Jack Abel, M.Div., MBA, director of Spiritual Care at Caron Foundation, shares how traditional stories of the hero’s journey can s...

Childhood in a family affected by the disease of addiction (and all that goes with it) is intense and painful. When adults who have had this experience undertake the challenge of exploring and healing how they were impacted, they create a deeply rich opportunity for spiritual development. And they are often surprised to discover their immense, innate strength. Special guest Carol Browne shares wha...

Addiction and enabling addiction saps life of its power. Recovery happens as we connect with constructive, creative power that is greater than the addiction. Does it matter what we name that power or how we find it? Special guest Dale Worley is a Unity Minister, recovering person, singer-songwriter, and co-host of the powerful Unity Online Radio program Music Speaks Louder Than Words. Dale shares...

Addiction can show up in many guises. As we discover that we are one with constructive, creative spiritual power, addictions fall away and we begin to heal at the level of soul. More and more, we experience ourselves as people of worth and value with the ability to fulfill our deepest aspirations. Special guest Ester Nicholson, author, Agape International-licensed spiritual therapist, motivational...

We all want the best for kids. What can help them navigate this complex world and grow up to lead lives that express health, love, and caring? Good things happen when parents, churches, schools, and communities ensure that young people have good information and self-care skills in the areas of substance abuse, dating violence, bullying, and suicide prevention. Marty Harding and Sue Thomas, directo...

In 1991 Bob L. used the short breaks on his job in an automotive plant to start writing down the images of addiction and recovery running in his head. He had no way of knowing that by 2013, Visions, a 90-minute play with a volunteer cast and staff on a shoestring budget, would have reached 30,000 people with a message of hope and won numerous awards. Special guests Bob L. and Visions cast members...

Active addiction, whether we are the "afflicted" or the "affected," brings us face-to-face with the rawest places within us. Recovery means accepting that this is a grace-full, mercy-full universe and that cooperation with a loving Higher Power can heal us at depth. Special guest Bob A. shares from a wealth of experience on the power of Steps 6 and 7 of the 12 Steps of Recovery.   Learn more about...

Choosing recovery means that in each moment we turn ourselves toward life, not death. We take action to come alive to our feelings, our experiences, and our creative capacities. We take time to nurture our relationship with the Divine Power of the universe and learn to express it. We choose to resurrect our life on a daily basis! Sandi McKinney, Unity minister with many years of recovery, shares h...

In recovery, many people realize the old idea they held of a Higher Power just doesn’t work. Oftentimes, that thinking must be turned on its head. Pelagius, a fourth-century monk who didn’t believe in original sin, and Rumi, an ecstatic 13th-century Sufi poet, offer amazingly fresh ideas that can lead to a more intimate, powerful, and happy relationship with Spirit. Special guest Rev. Leo Booth, U...

Coming into recovery means that spirituality must be lived—a Higher Power is no longer just a theoretical proposition. That spiritual relationship comes through listening to others’ experiences, following suggestions, reading—and most of all, through personal effort to communicate with a great Goodness that is beyond understanding. My special guest, Mary, who has more than three decades of quality...

The disease of addiction can be a fast road to despair and ruin—or an astounding gift of grace. Tom Catton, child of the '60s, and author of The Mindful Addict: A Memoir of the Awakening of a Spirit, shares how more than 40 years in recovery has opened him to an adventurous life grounded in saying “yes” to Spirit’s leading. Tom journeys within through a committed meditation practice, and journeys...