Recovering Addict & Professor Andrew J. Assini on How He Helps Recoverees Find Their Spirituality

HAMILTON, N.J. - Aug. 8, 2015 - PRLog -- Andrew Assini has a powerful story of hope. Ten years ago, he was a drug addict in active addition. Now, he is a licensed drug and alcohol counselor and an instructor in the Psychology Department at Rowan University.  Assini has also recently opened Conscious Contact, a substance abuse and addiction counseling practice, and Samma Vayama Well-Being (SVWB), a holistic wellness center, both in Glassboro, NJ.

“Ten years ago, I found myself in an orange jumpsuit, curled up in a ball,” he says in a recent TEDx Talk. “That was the moment I realized that something had to change… So I sat down and started to meditate.” Amazingly, he says, two other inmates sat next to him and also started meditating. That began a practice that has continued to grow and support him in his recovery.

Earlier this week, Assini came on COA Recovery Radio’s “Wellness in Recovery” show to talk with host Nancy Tilelli in more detail about his journey and his vision for Samma Vayama Well-Being (SVWB).

“I want to give people opportunities to experience things that can help them almost instantly,” he says. “At Samma Vayama Well-Being, they’ll learn new ways to move with situations that can help break the pattern that they are in and suffering from.” Those opportunities include talks, classes, and workshops on yoga, meditation, mindfulness, Reiki, creativity, gratitude and much more, all of which are priced very affordably. The center is open to everyone, including people in recovery and their friends and family, as well as those who haven’t experienced addiction.

Friends and family of addiction sufferers are especially welcome, Assini notes, since, he says, “Addiction doesn’t happen in a vacuum. There’s usually a bigger system issue so the more folks who can get help, the more things can improve.”

To listen to Andrew Assini on “Wellness in Recovery”, go to http://www.coaradio.com/coarr/8-4-15nancy.mp3.

To listen to “Wellness in Recovery” on demand, go to http://www.coaradio.com/wellness; for more details about Andrew’s TEDx Talk, Conscious Contact and Samma Vayama, visit the Wellness in Recovery Blog at http://www.coaradio.com/2015/06/wellness-in-recovery-blog/.

TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.

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