SatiSeva — A Buddhist Recovery and Support Book

SatiSeva is a Buddhist Recovery and Support book offering a mindful, compassionate approach to addiction, recovery, healing, and connection.

SatiSeva is a collection of 16 Mindfulness Practices for anyone touched by addiction or what I call, negative habit energy. For a person in recovery, these Mindfulness Practices, inspired by the work of Thich Nhat Hanh, help deepen one’s practice especially when abstinence begins to feel more solid but coping with life’s stressors feels more taxed. For a person in a more supportive role as a friend, family member or ally of someone in recovery, these Mindfulness Practices are a way to gain new insights and perspective about the contemporary realities of negative habit energy. I first started developing and offering SatiSeva in 2020 when people in our Recovery Dharma Sangha asked about oportunities for family members. I looked around and noticed there was very little outside of the traditional approach.

SatiSeva differs from the typical structure of Al-Anon by not segregating those in recovery away from those in supportive roles. While that paradigm has merit, it is my conviction that if we want to foster connection and belonging, we ought to be practicing together. I believe Mindfulness to be the most pristine and incorruptible bridge to achieve that.

Selected excerpt:

We live in a society governed by a story, a mythology, leading us
to believe that neglecting ourselves, putting ourselves second, and working ourselves to utter exhaustion is a virtuous endeavor. Systems of belief endowed by these myths elevate this notion
to saintly Good Samaritan status. We need to take care of everyone
and everything else before we ever appear on our own radar. By the
time we are ready to care for ourselves, we are so mentally, spiritually, and physically depleted we hardly have anything left to give. Our actions, supported by mere fumes of Presence, risk becoming transactional and may be internalized as feelings of resentment and selfloathing. In all our external giving, we neglect the inner Nurturance needed to be genuinely selfless.

I spent years trying to find a balance between giving and self-care.
It took a long time for me to realize that my emotions could be Sacred Worlds of wisdom awaiting gentle exploration. Instead, my inner world was often teeming with ruthless voices that told me I was being selfish whenever I tried to do something restorative and Nurturing for myself. The judgments were quick and vicious. “Julia, I can’t believe you’ve neglected yourself so much. What’s the matter with you? You know better! Also, I can’t believe you’re taking time for yourself! How self-centered can you be?”

My favorite guilt-voice would say things like, “Julia, you don’t ‘really’ need that much care for yourself. Besides, you know if you take
your eye off the ball for even a minute, the whole world is going to fall apart, and it will be all your fault. Shame on you, Julia; the shit hitting the fan is all on you.”

I know it sounds ridiculous, and I can laugh at myself about it now,
but there was a time I struggled to reconcile what I knew I needed to do with the overwhelming feeling of guilt of doing it! Self-doubt and the relentless hissing inner criticism droned constantly in my mind. This was my immature ego in the driver’s seat of my life.

Healing
The core practice of Nurturance is Both basic And simple. ….

Order and view more about this book at SoulsCenter.com

Reviews

Annie ~
Everyone is recovering from something. Whether it is substance use, process addictions, traumas, harmful behaviors or thought patterns, Julia normalizes and explores recovery from these negative “habit energies” that we all possess. The wisdom offered in this book is thoughtful, compassionate, expansive, and truly healing. Instead of feeling shame or guilt, my old perspectives shift to empowerment and kindness toward myself and others, leading to a deeper sense of self-awareness and inner-peace. I am grateful for Julia’s teachings that recovery is possible in many new ways.

Kindle user ~
Satiseva is a luminous, soul-level companion for anyone seeking to understand or support the tender, complicated realities of addiction, recovery, and human habit energy. The book reads like a resource guide for those caring for loved ones in active addiction, as well as for those of us discovering the subtle ways that habits, coping mechanisms, and compulsions shape our own lives. Julia writes with a clarity that dissolves stigma and replaces it with genuine understanding.

What makes Satiseva extraordinary is how it empowers readers to become Instruments of Peace. Drawing from mindfulness practices and person-centered care, Julia offers gentle, practical ways to create conditions of ease — the same sensitivity she encourages when interacting with people navigating sobriety or feeling shame about their habits. Her guidance helps us recognize the countless forms of “negative habit energy,” from substances to shopping to social media, and invites us into connection, practice, and self-discovery rather than judgment. These pages feel like an open hand extended to anyone suffering, or anyone who loves someone who is suffering. It’s a beautiful, wise, and deeply needed book.