Tom Shanahan - Spiritual Adrenaline

Special Praise for Spiritual Adrenaline

In everyones life comes a time of epiphanyan event, situation, realizationthat irrevocably changes lifes direction. Sometimes for the best, sometimes not. While many experience change, very few are able to leverage that experience into a form and format to help others in their own personal metamorphosis. Mr. Shanahan has indeed accomplished that monumental task. Spiritual Adrenaline will for some be an interesting read, for others an amazing awakening, but for those with similar life situations, a life-saving treatise and blueprint to follow for the rest of their life. Congratulations Tom! You have accomplished what most only dream about doing.

Michael Bedecs, DO

Medical Director of the Age Management Center

Spiritual Adrenaline is a truly a gift to the addiction recovery community. In this book, Tom Shanahan shares important information, knowledge, wisdom, and hope in an immensely readable and engaging fashion. Anyone who is interested in long-term, sustainable addiction recovery owes it to themselves to read and absorb this book.

R. Nikki Myers

Founder Y12SR: The Yoga of 12-Step Recovery

I met Tom July 11, 2011. He came in for nutrition and exercise consultation. This is from my notes from that day: In my twenty-plus years of doing nutrition I believe I just met the most enthusiastic and passionate person. I could not be more proud of Tom for taking his passion and turning it into helping others. Spiritual Adrenaline is a must-read for everybody from all walks of life.

Mike Foley, MS

Sports nutritionist

Coauthor, Eat to Be Fit

Innovative, informative, and inspirational; a holistic, groundbreaking look into the future of recovery.

Rob Archuleta

Cofounder, Addict2Athlete

Ive had the wonderful opportunity to know Tom Shanahan since 2012, and I am privileged to call him a friend and fellow passionate entrepreneur. Tom walks his talk as a role model with fitness, food, and spirituality. He is incredibly dedicated in his work, and I find Spiritual Adrenaline beautifully captures his wisdom, passion, and motivation. It is the perfect motivational lifestyle plan for recovery and a great reference guide, filled with a wealth of practical and inspirational information that will stand the test of time.

Melanie Albert

Founder and CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

www.EXPNutrition.com

Spiritual Adrenaline

Spiritual Adrenaline

A Lifestyle Plan to Nourish and Strengthen Your Recovery

TOM SHANAHAN

Central Recovery Press (CRP) is committed to publishing exceptional materials addressing addiction treatment, addiction recovery, and behavioral healthcare topics.

For more information, visit www.centralrecoverypress.com.

2019 by Tom Shanahan

All rights reserved. Published 2019. Printed in the United States of America.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

Publisher: Central Recovery Press

3321 N. Buffalo Drive

Las Vegas, NV 89129

24 23 22 21 20 191 2 3 4 5

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Shanahan, Tom, author.

Title: Spiritual adrenaline : a lifestyle plan to nourish and strengthen your recovery / Tom Shanahan.

Description: Las Vegas : Central Recovery Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018027878 (print) | LCCN 2018044253 (ebook) | ISBN 9781942094883 (ebook) | ISBN 9781942094876 (pbk. : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Substance abuse. | Twelve-step programs. | Self-help techniques. | Conduct of life.

Classification: LCC HV4997 (ebook) | LCC HV4997 .S53 2019 (print) | DDC 616.86--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018027878

Photo of Tom Shanahan by Ken Jones, Ken Jones Photography. Used with permission.

Every attempt has been made to contact copyright holders. If copyright holders have not been properly acknowledged, please contact us. Central Recovery Press will be happy to rectify the omission in future printings of this book.

Publishers Note: This book contains general information about addiction, addiction recovery, nutrition, exercise, spiritual practices, and related recovery-oriented matters. The information is not medical advice. This book is not an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.

CRPs books represent the experiences and opinions of their authors only. Every effort has been made to ensure that events, institutions, and statistics presented in our books as facts are accurate and up-to-date. To protect their privacy, the names of some of the people, places, and institutions in this book may have been changed.

Cover design by The Book Designers. Interior design by Deb Tremper, Six Penny Graphics.

To those who remain sick and suffering either in recovery or in active addictionI truly hope this book can help end the vicious cycle of addiction and suffering in your lives.

Table of Contents

by David Barton

Founder, DavidBartonGym and TMPL Gym

Foreword

If you are like me, Plan A didnt work out and you wound up in recovery. In my case, I crashed and burned at an early age.

Broken and wrung out I found recovery. A lot of advice was made available to me, and I followed every bit of it. I attended meetings, made amends, and emptied coffee cups, until the wheels fell off. Then life got better; however, life got better faster than I did. In fact, when I put down substances, my disease played a trick on me: the obsession I previously had to use alcohol and other drugs subtly crept into other areas of my life. What are they doing? What are they not doing? My bank account. My success. The mirror. Relationships. The past. The future. All of thisa heavy heart, a crazy headstarted to seem like it would never end. At that time, I thought of this as the unpleasant but indefinite cost of recovery.

But then I hit the gym. My goal was simpleI just wanted a six-pack and round shoulders. This arrived in short order. Soon, I realized something else was happening. The changes that were obvious to others on the outside, I was feeling on the inside. My mood lifted. I had energy. During workouts, I had my most creative ideas. And then, hitting the gym became my model for living. The discipline of working out consistently led to my body changing. I could see the fruits of my effort as my self-esteem and confidence grew.

I later found out that repetitive physical movement had enormous neurological benefits. I didnt realize it at the time, but there is plenty of research to back this up. We are wired for exercise. The muscles in the body are an endocrine system all their own and alleviate depression by producing dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins. I started eating better and became a competitive bodybuilder. Seventy pounds later I would see my picture on the cover of bodybuilding magazines. But more importantly, I began to feel the inner peace I had looked for my whole life. Together with my spiritual practice this became a powerful cocktail for psychic change. Up to this point, I thought my pain and frustration were inputs. But I was wrong. They were outputs. They were how I reacted to people and circumstances. The principles of recovery, my workouts, and eating better gave me the strength to process the growing pains of recovery.