The FIVE ELEMENTS of
DEEP RECOVERY
Addiction is bewildering.
But we are not broken. Addiction occurs when the five elements of our lives swing out of balance and we crave the qualities we’ve lost connection with.
When we see this clearly, our cravings are not seen as problems but as signals or gateways.
Cravings are wisdom expressing itself through our longing for the Elements.
The Five Elements of Deep Recovery are not a formula, not astrology, and certainly not a personality test. They simply provide a language system for communicating with the wisdom within our cravings.
A deeply sober person has five qualities that are the fulfillment of five universal needs, or the transmutation of these basic elements. This system of language is based on but not synonymous with the Five Buddha Families of Vajrayana Buddhism.
So the opposite of addiction is connection. But it is also stability, clarity, movement, and rest or space. The same energy can be flipped so that recovery becomes a process of discovery rather than a painful or shameful process of “I can’t do that.”
The popularized phrase “The opposite of addiction is connection” is beautiful but only one fifth of the truth.
If we can recognize the elemental quality of our cravings—the underlying needs behind those cravings—we can begin to introduce other strategies to meet those needs. In this way, recovery isn’t about looking back and giving something up, it’s about becoming more in touch with the sacred energies of the phenomenal world. When these elements are in balance, cravings dissolve and we can find a sense of peace. Deep recovery is about discovering the underlying causes of our addiction, which are valid voices within us calling out to be met.
Stability//Earth
If someone drinks every night or smokes cannabis nightly (as examples), it might be because they don’t know other ways to settle down into earth. Overspending and internet shopping are also connected with stability. We are looking for something physical we can touch and hold to help us feel safe and settled.
What we eat and how we keep our homes, how we dress and groom are all connected with the stability of earth. One time I stopped myself after the point of no return (grabbing my keys and making the plan) because I realized I hadn’t eaten that day. This confusing experience of my mind being hijacked by craving was resolved with a cheeseburger.
Stability is also connected with having a sane relationship with money. This is the element I personally most need connection with.
Clarity//Water
Clarity is connected with water. Water can be violent when it becomes a waterfall or a patch of black ice, but when it comes to rest it has the ability to reflect very clearly. It can be cool and soothing. It can become a cloud.
A deeply sober person has this reflective quality of water. It is associated with intellect, knowledge, and penetrating vision. It is knowing oneself and being curious about everything. Someone’s disguised cravings for this element might show up as an Adderall addiction or an overuse of psychedelics. It might show up as endless debates in comment sections or even overworking.
Journaling, studying, and deep listening can all be ways to connect with the element of clarity.
Connection//Fire
The element of fire can be translated to connection and creativity. Dancing, music, communication, love, and compassion are all connected with the warmth of fire. If someone can’t imagine giving up alcohol because all of their socializing happens around drinking, their wisdom-craving might be connection.
The means through which we connect is creativity. Connection is not just something we receive, we must be actively creative to connect. This element can be met by creating art or music, or by deeply conversing with and caring for a friend or loved one. It is also connected with deep connective sex.
I am most deeply connected with this element which is why “creative culture” will be emphasized and I’ll be sharing playlists and thoughts on pop culture and art.
Movement//Wind
We can’t survive in perfect stillness all the time. This element is connected with both physical activity and exercise as well as accomplishment of tasks, getting shit done. Someone who is drawn to excessive caffeine, cocaine, methamphetamines, endless restlessness and keeping too busy might be needing to connect with the element of movement. Someone with a lot of wind energy will likely be labeled as having ADHD.
Sometimes introducing the element of earth can help balance the intense energy of wind, but it’s still important to move our bodies and to accomplish tasks. A healthy wind can accomplish things and then rest. And that takes us to our final element.
Rest//Space
Rest here does not mean flopping. Flopping and binging on Netflix might be a disguised wisdom-craving for space. Someone drawn to dissociatives like ketamine or nitrous oxide might actually be desiring the simplicity of open awareness. When rest is being craved for, someone might choose to simply check out with endless scrolling or drinking alone.
All of the other elements arise from and then return back to space. While in some ways it’s the most delicious element when experienced properly, it’s also the element that many of us fear the most. We are taught in Western culture to fill space at any cost. Three screens at a time. Mindless chatter. Bringing drama into relationships. These are the methods we use to avoid resting in open space.
This is why most of us need to be introduced to the rest of space. We need a teacher who can point to it and say, “see, it’s not that scary.” And once we’ve experienced that in a Dharmic setting we can begin practicing bringing it into our daily lives.
Bringing it to the path
Candy and the real thing. Every element has a candy version. It’s fast, cheap, always within reach, and it leaves you a little emptier afterward. A cigarette is candy Earth: five minutes of feeling held in place. The cultivated version usually costs more up front (a meal, a walk, a phone call, an honest hour of nothing) and pays you back later. A lot of recovery is slowly learning to trade the candy for the real thing, one craving at a time.
Three questions. I used to think addiction was getting in the way of the path. Now I try to bring it onto the path by asking three questions, one for each of the three vehicles of Buddhism.
Hinayana, the foundational vehicle: Do I continue to do this even though it brings me suffering?
Mahayana, the great vehicle: Do I continue to do this even though it interferes with my availability to others?
Vajrayana, the indestructible vehicle: Have I yet to transmute this to medicine?
That last question is where the elements really come into play. Once I can hear which element a craving is reaching for, I can go looking for the medicine instead of the candy. The hardest part is cultivating the willingness to ask at all.
This is my own approach. It wasn’t taught to me, and it isn’t an introduction to the three yanas. Keep what helps.
Practicing together. We’ll be walking through the elements one at a time at Super Lotus Social, a free gathering on Saturday nights, and trying a journaling practice I call the Elemental Inventory. Check Events for dates.