Impulse Control and You

Sooooo,
I have been thinking about how important impulse control is in overcoming our addictions.
Since I have poor impulse control, among a host of other reasons, I fell into the life of addiction in the first place....
Tonight I came to the realization that I really don't have any strategy to work on this problem and it is probably
one of the biggest in the face of relapse.....

Does anyone have any tips to better will power and impulse control?

Thanks in advance gals and guys.

yoga has allot of impulse control

neversickanymore said:

yoga has allot of impulse control

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Hey NSA,
Can you elaborate please.....

You see, I have a unwarranted bias towards yoga.
When I think yoga, I think of:
A: Yoga pants (and the attractive females that come along with them)
B: Hippie dude doing yoga in front of a lake listening to phish

Point being, I cant see myself doing yoga....

When you are doing yoga there are tons of impulsis to not do what you are doing... or to break a pose or stretch. Im sorry if these aren't the correct terms I am not actually into yoga yet myself. The reason i posted that is a friend of mine swears by it. Her main point with it was that it allowed her to develop strong impulse control. Since she was a junky for many years and now has been clean for almost a decade, and attributes much of her success to Yoga and how she developed strong impulse control.. I think there must be something to it and thought it may benefit you as well.

If you give it a go let us know what you think. I plan on trying it myself and I think i have enough time as of this week. wonder if I will look hot in yoga pants.. lol. do dude ware them.. who am kidding I will be in sweats.

NSA, as always thank you for the thoughtufl responses, but like I said, and this may be shallow, I really cant see myself getting into yoga....
and Im sure you will look great in yoga pants. What ever's comfortable.



And Its also a bump to see if anyone else has some ideas that seemed to have worked for them!

You could practice it. By some candy or a food you really like and leave it out so you will have to practice controlling the impulse to eat it.

neversickanymore said:

You could practice it. By some candy or a food you really like and leave it out so you will have to practice controlling the impulse to eat it.

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Great point!

One part of our brain (lower / mid/ center) is ancient, directs the sympathetic nervous system, is focused in the Now, and works along the lines of fight or flight.

The new part (front and center, above our eyes) is a modern addition that was slapped on top of the mid-brain in the past few million years, and is the part that keeps you walking along on your way without touching the chocolate eclair when you see it in the cold case.

This part of the brain stimulates the "para"sympathetic nervous system and works on the premise of "pause and plan."

Anything that you can do to stop yourself and pause is a step in the right direction.

There is a practice called "wait ten minutes."

In ancient times, on the Serengeti, there was either food in front of you or there wasn't.

If you can wait ten minutes, you are calling up the modern brain and can at that point enlist its "pause or plan" response.
This time can be well spent mulling over your Big Plan in your mind.

Damn, if I could learn to follow my own advice and understanding, I would already be done with this crap!

Anyone please feel free to correct me if I have any of the biology wrong, still learning...

I think your spot on Space!!

I second the Yoga suggestion. Aside from helping to train impulse control in the exact way that NSA pointed out, It's also incredibly meditative and focus driven and trains your mental (and physical) strength in a general, all around sort of way - if that makes sense. And I also used to be the guy who said they could never see themselves doing yoga. I did a lot of work on not letting my pride or ego control my decisions when I got sober, and eventually after people urged me to try it for long enough I got into doing yoga and it's really incredible what it does for you physically, mentally, and spiritually. I can't describe the number of benefits that go with regular yoga practice. That being said, I've slacked off lately and have REALLY been missing those benefits, mainly because now I know what I'm missing. I used to have a free/donation based studio right up the street but I moved recently and need to start forcing myself to travel the extra distance because it really is worth it.

neversickanymore said:

You could practice it. By some candy or a food you really like and leave it out so you will have to practice controlling the impulse to eat it.

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Not a horrible idea. I was doing really good with quitting cigarets, even though my live-in girlfriend smokes at home, I was doing really good until i wasint...

As for what you were saying Firebird,
http://www.entheos.com/ideas/brian-johnson/1987/the-willpower-response-pause-and-plan
I found this, and am about to read it. Thanks for the tip.

Case and NSA,
My girl wanted to try yoga anyway so perhaps ill give it a shot since you two recommend it so much. If I do, ill let you guys know how it goes.

Anyone else have any ideas that seemed to work for them?

It sounds corny but meditation also helps and works. I found that regular cardio-vascular exercise helps too but YMMV.

PriestTheyCalledHim said:

It sounds corny but meditation also helps and works. I found that regular cardio-vascular exercise helps too but YMMV.

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Not corny at all, IMO, meditation and exercise are two of the shortest lines between two points when it comes to training self control.