Modern Addiction in a Distracted World: A Nervous-System Guide
About the teacher
Alex Olshonsky
Alex Olshonsky is an executive coach, somatic therapist, writer, and social entrepreneur whose work brings together addiction recovery, embodied psychology, men’s work, and contemplative practice. He writes Deep Fix, founded Sons of Now, co-founded Natura Care, and supports people in building lives too fulfilling to numb.
Learn more →Addiction often organises the field, before it names itself
What addiction can do is it progressively narrows the things that you're interested in, you become reciprocally focused on getting this thing, and your agency to actually interact and be a functioning person in the world diminishes.
Alex frames modern addiction as an organising pattern between a person and their environment.
When you notice you are reaching for something again, the key is getting curious about what you are actually feeling in that moment.
Curiosity is presented as the first lever into the loop.
Treat urges as information, and reroute the energy
When you can be with the emotion, but when you can't like actually reroute that energy towards a constructive behavior, and that could be like taking a walk, it could be calling a friend.
If pausing is not accessible, channel the mobilisation into an available, constructive action.
Bring your interoceptive awareness into the body, scan, put a hand on the belly and the heart, breathe, and it will pass.
A simple embodied pause is offered as one accessible first response.
Reduce pings, increase openings
Ping minimalism is about actively revoking all the pings on your attention, do not disturb as often as you can, have gated times when you check social media.
Reduce attention bids at the field level, then notice how the probability of compulsive loops changes.
Recovery happens in relationship often times, practice telling someone, I had some chocolate and I'm ashamed.
Sharing small actions aloud converts secrecy into a relational impulse that interrupts shame.
Catch the state before the collapse
Next time, can you feel 10 percent of this, go slowly and see how that goes.
A throttling heuristic: meet a fraction of the feeling so the system does not escalate.
The body truly knows how to heal itself, the body is what holds the psyche, if we can get out of the way there's a life directive positive healing current.
Alex repeatedly returns to increased capacity to be with what is present as central to recovery.
Practice
Map one narrowing loop, then add one opening
These steps come directly from Alex Olshonsky’s guidance. Use this for a mild to moderate compulsion or distraction loop. If the pattern involves substance dependence, withdrawal risk, self-harm, unsafe behaviour, or repeated loss of control, use this alongside qualified professional support.
- Name the loop plainly. Notice the recurring behaviour and capture it as a simple sentence, for example, "I scroll for an hour when I intend to publish," to make the pattern visible.
- Pause and scan the body. Bring interoceptive attention into the moment, place a hand on the belly or heart, and breathe to see what sensations or mobilisations are present.
- If you cannot stay with it, reroute the energy. Move the activation into an accessible constructive action: take a walk, call a friend, or use a breathing protocol that changes arousal.
- Share one small truth aloud. After the action, tell a trusted person what happened, for example, "I had some chocolate and I felt ashamed," to reduce secrecy and shame.
Keep adjustments small and compassionate. If any step triggers panic, withdrawal, or safety concerns, reach for immediate support: a trusted person, a regulated space, or professional care.
Stories, states, and steady practice
The path to secure attachment with reality is bringing this work into as much of your waking life as possible, curiosity and intention for awareness are the key levers.
Bring practices off the mat into the everyday moments that used to slip into automaticity: the afternoon scrolls, the late-night checks, rehearsed avoidance.
There is always intelligence in these strategies. Be compassionate when you notice them.
Treat compulsive moves as adaptive intelligence, then offer alternatives that supply contact and meaning.
Map your nervous system patterns.
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Map your nervous system patterns.
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- Browse the Nervous System Mastery masterclass guide library for more masterclass guides.
- Read Reset Your Nervous System for a simple downshift when a loop starts gaining momentum.
- Explore Self-Regulating in High-Stress Situations for pressure, fear, and recovery practices.