Ester Nicholson – Soul Recovery
ESTER: I had been using the same 12-Step healing process for more than ten years, which I now see I needed for healing my addiction. My practice of the 12-Step process was actually perfect because it ultimately led me to New Thought metaphysical principles—something I had no previous experience with. It was a revelation for me, to no longer make myself so guilty and wrong—and to find some sense of self-worth. But something was missing in New Thought teaching because it didn’t include the rigorous level of accountability and honesty that the 12 Steps demand. But by unifying these two teaching modalities, I now had a complete spiritual practice for my own healing. This same unification of these two practices has become the foundation of my work in Soul Recovery.
OMTimes: Will you please share an example of this powerful combination?
ESTER: Step Four of the 12-Steps is making a “searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.” This process uncovers all the things we have done that we have guilt around: who we have wronged, actions or relationships we have abused, etc. In Soul Recovery, I expand this idea to include our deep resentments, belief systems, and the part we’ve contributed to any disharmony in those relationships—outside of a sense of blame. We get to have a deep sense of compassion for where we have lost sight of our wholeness, and how that compromise has resulted in repeated patterns in our lives. From that place, we get to offer all of ourselves to the unconditional love of the divine to be transmuted into wholeness.
