Step 11 AA – Progressing With Sobriety Through Prayer and Meditation

“Sought through prayer and meditation to improve
our conscious contact with God as we understood Him,
praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.”

Now that you have reached step eleven, you can look forward to building a strong foundation for a fulfilled and sober life. This step prepares you to move forward and leave your addiction behind. 

This post is part of a 15 part look into the 12 Step Program and how it can be used to help in alcohol addiction and recovery. The full 15 part book can be downloaded for free by Clicking Here

What Is Step 11?

As mentioned in the introduction, step eleven means focussing on building a foundation for the future. Of course, to build that foundation, there are a number of things that must be done. To move forward and build a strong basis for the future, you will focus on spiritual practice daily to ensure a better emotional balance and more stability in your life overall. Next, we will explain how you best execute step eleven.

How Do I Do Step 11?

Since step eleven includes some spirituality, different people can make different choices. For example, someone can choose to pray to a higher power, while others choose to meditate and others still just choose to have a period of self-reflection once a week. This is a personal choice and must be respected. For the purpose of this point, we will provide the example of meditation, which is a common practice nowadays. However, it is possible that prayer works better for you or just sitting down and writing. If this is the case, simply replace meditation with prayer or thought or introspection in some of the steps of this overview.

Make meditation a daily practice: Daily meditation can help to ground yourself and can also be your higher power. In addition to that, it helps to maintain your emotional stability and overall balance. 

For meditation to provide its positive effects, it must be repeated on a regular basis. The brain needs some time to make positive changes, and this is the same for meditation. So, if you keep repeating the practice every day, you will reap the benefits over time. While you can experience some relaxation immediately, for most people the benefits will not be clear until they have practiced meditation for some weeks. 

Choose a relaxing environment: A relaxing environment is vital for your meditation. If you meditate in an environment with lots of distractions, you cannot focus on yourself or your own mental wellbeing. So, do not be afraid to prepare an area inside your home or somewhere else where you can meditate in peace without the fear of being disturbed. 

Do not be judgemental: While you meditate, it is important to let go of existing preconceptions or mistaken beliefs. It is essential to keep an open mind during this spiritual experience. 

In the beginning, you will find that there is a lot of resistance from your own brain during meditation. You might even find that you are easily distracted or disturbed by unwanted thoughts. When this occurs, simply acknowledge the thoughts, and tell them you will think about them later. That this is your spiritual time, to relax and to ground yourself.

What Are Common Pitfalls And How Do I Avoid Them?

Step eleven is subject to commitment, dedication and most certainly implementing some of the steps you have learned in previous steps. You can also encounter some common pitfalls, which we will now explore. 

Do not make demands: Whether you meditate or pray, it is important not to make demands from your higher power. If you do this, it means you are trying to be controlling and have your way. Instead, focus on grounding yourself and on looking after your emotional wellbeing. 

Irregular practice: Meditation or prayer can take a chunk of time out of the day. Since we all live busy lives, it is all too easy to drop the meditation simply because you believe you do not have the time for it. 

We cannot stress enough how important it is to keep the time for meditation or prayer. As mentioned in this overview already, the success of this step depends on repetition, commitment, and dedication. Skipping these spiritual moments can cause you to miss some important red flags that could lead to new triggers. It also causes unstable emotions, which can be a trigger on its own.

Meditation does not necessarily have to be many hours. Instead, you can take five to ten minutes out of your day to keep your practice in check. While we do recommend having some extra time in the beginning, maintenance sessions do not have to be several hours long. Of course, when you feel like you could use a little longer session a couple of months down the line, do not be afraid to do so.

Unrelaxing environments: Some people find it difficult to find a suitable place to meditate or pray. This could be down to the fact you live in a busy household or maybe because you live in a busy area where there is lots of noise. However, a relaxing environment is paramount to meditate or pray properly.

If you cannot eliminate all outside noises, then you should at least have complete privacy. While some road noises may come through if you live on a busy street, a private room where you cannot be disturbed is enough. 

How Will I Know When I Am Ready To Move Onto Step 12?

Step twelve is all about practice, whether you are praying, meditating, or doing something else that helps you keep your emotions balanced and helps you to reflect on yourself. Of course, like most steps, this is not something that is done overnight. Even after completing this step, it is recommended to keep practicing meditation or prayer to keep you on the right track. 

You are ready for the next step if you believe you are getting the most from your meditation and/or prayer. If you think you need some additional practice before moving onto step twelve, then be sure to do so. As we explained earlier, everyone takes their own time when it comes to the twelve steps. So, if you need to spend longer on step eleven, then be sure to do so until you are comfortable to move on.