EP 51: The Unconscious Root of Addiction with Steve Ozanich

Steve Ozanich discovered personal healing through Dr John Sarno’s work and has dedicated his life to helping others in the same way. He is an author and teacher specializing in TMS or MindBody Syndrome. As a result of Annie’s own personal healing through Dr John Sarno’s work, she met Steve during the initial phase of her research into what is now the This Naked Mind method. On this episode, Steve and Annie discuss the MindBody Syndrome in great detail, outlining how our pains and addictions are often a result of our unconscious mind.
Episode Links:
Steve’s Website - www.steveozanic...
Welcome
Today I am honored to have Steve Ozanich with me to discuss the root of addiction. Steve is who I first connected with after reading Dr. Sarno's book "Healing Back Pain" and he helped start my research that led to writing "This Naked Mind".
The Mind Body Syndrome
People who are watching need to understand that TMS which Dr. Sarno discovered, the mind-body syndrome, it's equivalent to addiction. It the same, there's no difference between the two. When you see the bigger picture. Maybe some people won't see it yet, but those of us that have been through the belly of the whale, been spit out on the other side, you can see it; pain and disease and addiction and obsession. They're all the same thing. They're coping mechanisms for deep emotional pain.
Dr. Sarno
What this great doctor discovered, was that all of these things that they're labeling as body problems and these diseases and pains, were actually coming from mind. This is also the root of addiction. They're unconscious effects of unexpressed resentment and fear and anger, and all these powerful emotional processes that we are completely unaware of. We don't even know they're existing because they're unconscious. Like you just mentioned that word, they're unconscious. A lot of people say, "I don't believe that. I feel my anger, I feel this and that." Well, it's what you can't feel, that's the problem.
The Shadow
What Carl Jung called the shadow; the shadow side of us, the dark, hidden side of us. You are not aware of it because you've disowned it from your conscious awareness. You're not aware of it. You can look all you want, you won't find it. So, it's there. He made this nexus; this modern doctor, between what's happening in our physical body that we're calling ulcers and skin problems and back pain and rotator cuff tears, and meniscal tears; all of these terms. It is not coming from there. The brain is actually just using those changes in the body to make you think that that's the cause of it, but it's really an emotional process.
The Root of Addiction
The root of addiction is unconscious. If you're drinking too much and you're doing drugs and you have severe disease or pain syndrome, you are not being true to yourself. You've got to take a deeper look, there's something going on within the unconscious mind, which is the shadow. Carl Jung made that great statement, "There is another, within us, whom we do not know." That changed my life and that's a very powerful statement. So, it switches back and forth between drinking ... People drink heavy to kill physical pain sometimes, but what they're really doing is killing the emotional pain. They're numbing it, which eases the physical pain. And then, vice versa, I work with a lot of people where it switches back and forth and Deepak Chopra said, it all comes down to a spiritual yearning. There's something we're seeing deep within us, and I think that's love. It's love.
Keep Listening
To learn more about the root of addiction and Steve Ozanich's work listen to the complete podcast.