What are the spiritual principles of NA? (2023)

What are the spiritual principles of NA?

The 12 spiritual principles of recovery are as follows: acceptance, hope, faith, courage, honesty, patience, humility, willingness, brotherly-love, integrity, self-discipline, and service.

Spiritual principles are the path laid out for experiencing our lives free of unnecessary suffering, with strength and resilience to experience the pain and fear that must be walked through as a part of life.

The primary principle powering the practice of Step One is honesty. Other spiritual principles that should be practiced here include acceptance, courage, surrender, open-mindedness, willingness, and humility, to name only a few.

The operative spiritual principle behind Step Five is integrity. Other applicable spiritual principles include humility, willingness, honesty, forgiveness, open-mindedness, acceptance, prudence, and serenity.

It is known in the rooms of AA that the spiritual principles are the Twelve Steps. To be thorough, the 36 principles are the Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions and Twelve Concepts. There are many different spiritual virtue lists that refer to the Twelve Steps which have been printed by other AA's over the years.

The 12 fruits are charity (or love), joy, peace, patience, benignity (or kindness), goodness, longanimity (or long-suffering), mildness (or gentleness), faith, modesty, continency (or self-control), and chastity.

The spiritual principles that are the foundation of this step are open mindedness, willingness, faith, trust and humility. It really doesn't matter whether we have any idea of how this power greater than ourselves is going to help, just that we come to believe it is possible.

Step Three takes us to our next Spiritual Principle, that of faith. We are willing to make a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand him.

The overriding spiritual principle for Step Four is courage. Other spiritual principles important for working this step include honesty, willingness, and humility. In taking Step Four one must exhibit the courage necessary to honestly and thoroughly examine oneself.

What is the spiritual principle of step 12?

The first and foremost Spiritual Principle in Step Twelve is Service. It would seem the Twelfth Step would be a culmination of all the previous steps. In a way it is, but we are also introduced to a few new ones, too. Among them is Service as the basis for this Step, and for that we are grateful.

The spiritual principle linked to Step 7 is humility. Humility is defined as a freedom from pride or arrogance: the quality or state of being humble. By definition, humility is the very thing many alcoholics and addicts have been missing throughout the entirety of their addiction.

Spiritual principles abound in Step 8. Forgiveness, honesty, courage, willingness, accountability, humility and compassion are some of the biggies. By listing who we believe we have harmed, we are holding ourselves accountable. By admitting we are human and have made mistakes, we develop compassion for ourselves.

Principles come before personalities. We are dealing only with general principles common to most denominations. So we of A.A. do obey spiritual principles, first because we must, and ultimately because we love the kind of life such obedience brings.

Humility, Love, Forgiveness, Harmony, Truth, Faith, Hope, Compassion, Understanding, Self-forgetting, Willingness, Strength, Wisdom, Serenity, Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

The Spiritual Principle of Faith is inherent in the Eleventh Step. God has always met our needs, not our wants, our needs. Once more, we are reminded that our Higher Power hasn't brought us this far to drop us now! Recovery has given us a second chance at life.

The shamans, healers, sages, and wisdom keepers of all times, all continents, and all peoples, in their ageless wisdom, say that human spirituality is composed of three aspects: relationships, values, and life purpose.

What are the 8 spiritual disciplines?

Step 9 is another one of the 12 steps, that initially appears most difficult, but the rewards of putting this principle into practice can be immense. The spiritual principle involved is that of forgiveness, not only from others but forgiveness of self, which can bring healing to both parties.

Step three is defined as "(to make) a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him." What Is Alcohol Use Disorder.

Come to believe that a Higher Power can help us overcome our weaknesses and restore our sanity. In particular, step 2 of the 12 steps is the step which gives the person hope after he acknowledged his powerlessness to overcome addiction by himself. There is recognition that help is needed to lead a sober life.

Searching and fearless. Step Four calls on us to be searching and fearless. We are asked to look carefully at ourselves and to get beneath the self-deceptions we have used up to now to hide the truth from ourselves. We search within, as if entering a dark house with a single candle to guide us.

Some of us sought out sordid places, hoping to find understanding com- panionship and approval. Momentarily we did—then would come oblivion and the awful awakening to face the hideous Four Horsemen—Terror, Bewilderment, Frustration, Despair.

The key spiritual principle behind Step Six is willingness.

Step Six speaks of being entirely ready to have God remove all our defects of character. Yet we find that we often cling to some of our defects of character because they give us a certain amount of pleasure.

Here are some tips to help you with this moral inventory: Try and list resentments in groups, i.e.; Family, school, relationships, work, etc. If you are not sure in any area, call somebody and ask them for their experience. Get into the habit of writing every day, even if it's only for ten minutes.

How do you practice the principles in all our affairs?

The 12th Step states: “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” Alcoholics Anonymous Cleveland explains that the principles we are suggested to adhere to coincide with the steps: Hope, faith, ...

What Is Tradition Ten? The 12&12 states the Tenth Tradition as follows: “Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.”

It is truly the first step in this process of recovery. Powerlessness is a Spiritual Principle, too! It means when an addict or alcoholic puts a drug or drink in their body, they are no longer in control or in charge. The disease is making the decisions for them.

Step 7 – “Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.”

Humility, pride's polar opposite, gets to the root of this need to be in control and do it all on one's own. Step 7 NA of the 12 Step approach attacks this addiction mindset from a heart-felt perspective while strengthening your resolve to stay clean and sober.

Surrender means having the open-mindedness to see things in a new way, as well as the willingness to live differently (Living Clean, “Awakening to Our Spirituality”). In ridding ourselves of all reservations, we surrender. Then, and only then, can we be helped to recover from the disease of addiction (IP #29).

One approach that many take to removing their character defects is to write each item on their list on a separate piece of paper, drawing a defect from a hat or a jar every day so that they may work on them one at a time. In order to work on our defects, we must do more than simply avoid expressing them on a given day.

Think of amends as actions taken that demonstrate your new way of life in recovery, whereas apologies are basically words. When you make amends, you acknowledge and align your values to your actions by admitting wrongdoing and then living by your principles.

Acknowledge what you have done and how you have hurt the person. Don't just apologize— saying “I'm sorry” is not enough. The situation will only improve if you are sincere in your efforts. Ask the person what you can do to remedy the situation and what would need to happen for them to feel better.

Intentionally practicing the awareness and application of spiritual principles helps to train our minds, strengthening our ability to direct and maintain our attention in ways that enhance our learning, growth, and healing.

Are the 12 principles in the Big Book?

The Big Book also outlines the 12 AA principles, which are single words encompassing the virtues needed to pass each step.

Readings from the Big Book, “Alcoholics Anonymous” [In addition to the following, 'principles' are mentioned in the Big Book on pages xxii, 19, 64, 93-4, 97, 121 (footnote), 139, 156.]

The shamans, healers, sages, and wisdom keepers of all times, all continents, and all peoples, in their ageless wisdom, say that human spirituality is composed of three aspects: relationships, values, and life purpose.