Dallas Bragg breaks cravings into two parts: a physical sensation and the story you tell about it. The distress that triggers relapse comes from the narrative, not the feeling itself. When a craving hits, notice where it is in your body, what it feels like, and watch it rise and fall without fighting it.
Listen, here's why you get overcome by your cravings. Every craving has 2 parts: the physical sensation and the story we tell about what that means. So your heart's racing, your palms are sweating, your mind's fixating— all neutral sensations. But what causes unbearable suffering that can lead to using again isn't the sensation. It's the thoughts, like, I'll never be free from this. I'm going to relapse. I'm going to relapse. I'm going to relapse. I'm going to relapse. Next time a craving hits, get curious. Where do you feel it in your body? Does it have a temperature? Does it have a texture? Watch as it peaks and then eventually fades. Remember, cravings don't mean you're failing at recovery. They just mean your system is healing and recalibrating.
