Harmony Foundation has a very active alumni program and offers multiple ways to stay connected including the
Harmony Hub, a digital recovery tool designed to build a social network of support for those navigating their recovery journey.Days of Harmony is another vehicle to support people in recovery. “It’s a two-day revisit program for alumni who have at least six months of sobriety or are working with a solid recovery plan,” explains Harmony’s director of alumni and recovery support services Tabitha Miller.
Miller also runs a popular
weekly book club for alumni. “It’s one of the highlights of my week,” she says. “We’ve been running our book club for over a year now and so far we covered more than ten books. The cool thing is, we’re not just reading recovery books, we’re reading all kinds of books.”So far books the club read and discussed included:
- Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown
- The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer
- The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
“The goal is to expose our alumni to multiple pathways of finding inspiration,” says Miller. “In early recovery, some people may think they can only do Recovery Dharma, they can only do 12-Step meetings, or they can only do SMART Recovery when it comes to support groups. What I really love about the book club is that it shows people that inspiration and ideas can come from anywhere and they can incorporate those ideas into their recovery journey.”
It’s also an opportunity for participants to spark different kinds of conversations. “We talk about everything from the food we eat to emotions we experience, or new hobbies.”
The latest book the club is looking at is Jay Shetty’s Think Like a Monk. “This book was recommended by one of our alumni who has been attending the group consistently. He actually re-engaged with alumni programming through our book club. He was sober for about a year after treatment and then relapsed. He wanted to relaunch his recovery and wanted to re-engage with Harmony and he found the book club to do just that!”
He also reconnected with the Harmony Hub and rejoined Harmony’s alumni meetings but it was the book club that really got him back on track. “Shetty has a podcast called ‘On Purpose’ where he talks about all kinds of health, wellness, and spiritual matters. The cool thing is, that everything Shetty talks about in the book is parallel to what we experience in sobriety and recovery,” explains Miller. “He provides easy-to-do steps and he asks great questions. Every chapter we read, there is some nugget – all the books we’ve read so far can be read and re-read. Take it back down from the bookshelf and something new can be learned.”
Books can be great sources of inspiration and information when read on your own. But the experience is enhanced when you discuss the book with like-minded readers. “There is something that solidifies the information coming from a book when you talk about it and get another person’s take. That way, it tends to stick with you a little bit longer,” says Miller.
If you or a loved one are struggling with alcohol or drug addiction, or you have questions about our programs, call us today at (970) 432-8075 to get the help needed as soon as possible. Our experienced staff is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.