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Sankalpa is a holistic centre that works with people who are seeking support to detox off methadone.

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Sankalpa Recovery Group

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

By David Staunton, Project Worker at Sankalpa.

A seed of an idea is growing strong here in Sankalpa over the past two months.  I refer to the Sankalpa Recovery Group which takes place every Tuesday Afternoon from 3.00 to 4.30pm. The group is in response to people from the Finglas and Cabra area who have indicated their desire to become drug free.

Some individuals who have successfully participated in their personal programme here at Sankalpa and who saw a need for support on their journey forward, are also attending and have brought great wisdom, kindness and direction to the group.  The group members to date have drawn up their own guidelines on how they want to see it run and grow, and the ownership that has resulted from this self- managed, self -directed approach, offers both positivity and ownership to participants.

I have a lot of respect for anyone who finds the courage to attend a recovery group.  All the challenging steps which somebody has to take, days, weeks, months, maybe years weighing up the decision.  The courage in dialling a telephone number, speaking about how they are right now to someone on a phone, walking into the group for the first time, meeting other’s – both known and unknown, sharing in the group for the first time and hearing your own voice share feelings and emotions which have remained hidden for many years.  This is certainly no easy task and my heartfelt appreciation and admiration goes out to those who try.

And that is the point – it is about trying.  Trying something else, something different, something new.  It is about trying to develop new behaviours which will serve you well.  At Sankalpa, we believe that you will always know best, you will always know what it is that you have to do in order to become the person you have always wanted to be.  The best we can do is offer you support with this ‘new direction’, affirm you for both your achievements and your courage in trying.  Recovery will take as long as it takes, but Sankalpa and the participants of the Tuesday afternoon group are there with you every step you take on your path.

So, if you want to join us and see your own seed grow and prosper in the Sankalpa Recovery garden, we are right here, right now…

Where are you?

For more information, or to discuss confidentially how Sankalpa may support you, please contact David on 01 8302690 or email: dstauntonsankalpa@gmail.com or you are welcome to just drop in.

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Biodanza – The pedagogy of recovery

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

7 STEPS TO RECOVERY THROUGH BIODANZA

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1. Musical Power

Music has been used since the beginning of time to celebrate and to communicate.  Music facilitates emotional bonding and physical interaction connecting us at a deeper level than words.  Music is a powerful way to release us from stress and move us to experience ourselves in new and positive ways.

2. Dance Power

The movement of biodanza provides an outlet for inner feelings and self-expression often restricted by verbal or cognitive reasoning.  Biodanza seeks to integrate all the human senses through movement, sound, emotion, touch and freedom of expression without fear.  Biodanza overcomes the split between mind and body and brings together the human being in one integrated subject.  This integration brings deeper happiness and peace of mind.

3. The power of now

Biodanza brings the person into the present moment and induces a feeling of being alive making it easier for us to transcend the ego.  When experience life beyond the ego, we find it easier to let go, to express who we really are, to create and to live life out of our imaginations rather than from fear.

4. The power of touch

Biodanza explores our fear of touch.  Cognitive communication is not enough.  We have evolved to communicate through touch. No man/woman is an island.  We exist in relation to each other, in communities, in families and in groups.  The verbal connection is not enough.  Touch triggers the release of brain endorphins, more powerful than heroin.

5. The Power of transcendence

Biodanza gives us an experience of transcendence.  The power of transcendence or spiritual power allows us to experience a state of consciousness that implies the decrease of ego.

6. The power of awareness

Biodanza increases consciousness and opens us up to new levels of awareness.  In Biodanza we don’t use any drugs but prefer to activate the body’ natural neurotransmitter’s to increase a feeling of well-being and happiness.

7. The Power of the group

Biodanza brings people together through the experience of the group.  We start as individuals full of fear and anxiety and we finish a session of biodanza with feelings of connectedness and communion.  We overcome the isolation and loneliness that is at the heart of all human problems.

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Sankalpa’s first short film highlights the problem of valium and alcohol addiction in Finglas

Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

‘The Pharm’ is a short film made by local people from Finglas and Cabra who attend the Sankalpa addiction rehabilitation program.  The film is about addiction to valium and alcohol and focuses on the plight on a mother who is struggling with life in Finglas.  The central character Deborah (Amanda Doonan) is not only struggling with the stresses and strains of her own life, she also has a teenage daughter Laura (Lynne Murray) who has started to mirror her mother’s behaviour.  Deborah turns to her Doctor (Ray Higgins) for support who in turn prescribes her valium without an adequate assessment of her needs and in the end the prescription reinforces her isolation and sense of despair.  Laura eventually convinces her mother to go to FAST (Finglas Addiction Support Team) but Debora is reluctant to admit she needs support. 

As a first film for Sankalpa ‘The Pharm’ provides a realistic portrait of the problems some women face when trying to deal with stress or depression.  The film highlights the ease at which doctors prescribe valium and how prescription medication does not really deal with the underlying causes of the problem.  There is clear evidence in the research literature that valium is widely used by heroin users.  Valium is sold openly in the city centre.  Some drug users secure a valium prescription from their doctors and then sell it on to supplement their income and to buy other drugs.   Recent research in the Irish context indicated that the prescribing of valium and other benzodiazepines increased with increasing levels of material deprivation.  There is also evidence indicating that prescribing of benzodiazepines is significantly higher among females than males.  Valium is being prescribed as a social support drug in the absence of adequate community services.  But the long term cost of this approach has yet to be calculated.  Our reliance on drugs to solve social problems has become embedded in our culture and is being passed from one generation to the next.  Then there the side effects such as liver damage especially when valium is combined with alcohol and other drugs.  It is hoped that ‘The Pharm’ will help to highlight the issue and show that there are alternatives to the medical approach for anxiety and depression.   

Sankalpa are running a competition in conjunction with the release of the film on the 8th of October.  For further details see www.sankalpa.ie  

The Pharm will premier at the Lighthouse Cinema on Friday the 8th of October and Minister Pat Carey will be in attendance.

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