Winner of the 2014 USA Best Book Award, and Winner of the 2015 International Book Award in the Self-Help: Motivational category.

"Eight Step Recovery: Using the Buddha's Teachings to Overcome Addiction provides a spiritual pathway to recovery for people from any faith tradition, as well as for those who are not religious, and for those who suffer from addiction as well as those who are simply aware of the suffering associated with the human condition. This is a book for everyone!" Professor Chris Cook, Director of the Project for Spirituality, Theology & Health, Durham University, UK

"Blending Mindfulness-Based Addiction Recovery with traditional Buddhist teachings and moving personal stories, Valerie Mason-John and Dr Paramabandhu Groves give us a wise and compassionate approach to recovery from the range of addictions. This comprehensive approach to treatment will be a valuable tool for addicts and addiction professionals alike." Kevin Griffin, author of One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps

"'The Buddha was in recovery'. Taking this bold statement as a starting point, this wonderful book shows how we are all addicted to aspects of life and can all benefit from training our minds and hearts to be free of the tyranny of compulsion. The MBAR (Mindfulness-Based Addiction Recovery) programme draws on a wide range of the Buddha's practical, yet deeply profound, teachings. Over the eight steps you are given a priceless gift - the possibility to gain mastery over your mind and heart and find freedom." Vidyamala Burch, co-founder and director of Breathworks, author of Living Well with Pain and Illness and Mindfulness for Health

"Eight Step Recovery is a useful resource for Buddhists, addicts, and addiction experts alike." Tricycle magazine, Summer 2014

CONTENTS
Dedication
Foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn
Foreword by Gabor Mate

About the authors
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Our personal stories
Who was the Buddha?
The Buddha was in recovery
The Buddha's teaching
Eight Steps toward recovery
Who is this book for?
How to use this book
Eight Step Recovery meetings
Mindfulness Based Addiction Recovery (MBAR) program

Step One: Accepting that this human life will bring suffering
Three types of suffering
Everyone has pain
The Four Reminders
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Step Two: Seeing how we create extra suffering in our lives
The common ways we deal with suffering
Craving as the source of suffering
Types of suffering
The Hungry Ghosts
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Step Three: Embracing impermanence show us that our suffering can end
Impermanence
We can change
Impermanence and addiction
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Step Four: Being willing to step onto the path of recovery - and discover freedom
Vision and transformation
Kindness to help us stay on the path of recovery
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Step Five: Transforming our speech, actions and livelihood
The importance of thoughts and emotions
Transforming speech
Transforming actions
Transforming livelihood
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Step Six: Placing positive values at the center of our lives
Exploring values
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Step Seven: Making every effort to stay on the path of recovery
Staying on the path of recovery
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Step Eight: Helping others to share the benefits I have gained
The Fourth Sight
Helping ourselves and others
How we practice this step
Three-minute breathing space, AGE

Dr Valerie Mason-John (Vimalasara) is a playwright and the author of seven books, including Detox Your Heart (2005, Windhorse Publications), and her award winning novel Borrowed Body, republished as the Banana Kid. Her most recent publication, The Great Black North - Contemporary African Canadian poetry 2013, is the first national anthology to document the voices of African Canadian Poets. She has just completed her second novel, The War Done Done. She works as a consultant in Conflict Transformation, Restorative Justice, Leadership and anti Bullying in both the domestic field of education, social services, youth, addiction and the police, as well as in the corporate world. She was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 2005. She is currently based at the Vancouver Buddhist centre.

Dr Paramabandhu Groves is a consultant psychiatrist working in the National Health Service in the UK, and has specialized in the field of addiction for 20 years. He is the clinical director of Breathing Space, which is the health and well-being wing of the London Buddhist Centre, teaching mindfulness-based approaches to help with depression, addiction, and stress. He developed the Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention course for addiction, which has successfully run in both the UK and Canada. He is the author of Practical Buddhism: Mindfulness and Skillful Living in the Modern Era, and has published academic papers and contributed to several books in the field of addiction. He is ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order.