Being Yourself | The Wheel of Doubt

Being Yourself | The Wheel of Doubt

Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This episode centres on something that shows up in every inner struggle: doubt, and the mind’s constant hunt for certainty. While the show covers topics like addiction, chronic pain, anxiety and depression, here the focus is firmly on what Gangaji calls "the wheel of doubt". You’ll hear Gangaji unpack how doubt can be both a smart survival strategy and a trap.

She points out that questioning and hesitation are "absolutely legitimate" ways the mind tries to protect you, yet asks a piercing question: "Do you put more value on your doubting mind than you do on the reality of what is always present?" For anyone wrestling with cravings, self-judgement or the fear of relapse, that question lands close to home.

The conversation moves from theory to lived experience when a woman from a Zen retreat shares a shift in consciousness, followed by a full-blown panic over finding a tick on her body. Even in the middle of the panic, she notices "it's not a problem" at the deepest level. Gangaji acknowledges this recognition and talks about honouring such moments without turning them into mere memories or spiritual trophies.

There’s lightness here too: the same woman bursts into song, sharing "I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free", bringing humour and warmth to the discussion of fear, personality and spiritual practice. Throughout, Gangaji keeps returning to one simple invitation: be willing to be still, to "not know", and to recognise what remains steady beneath the busy, suffering mind.

If doubt, fear and the need for control are part of your relationship with substances or recovery, this conversation might prompt you to ask: what do you value more than survival, more than information, more than self-doubt itself?