Are Yoga And Meditation Worth Pursuing During The Recovery Process?

Drug and alcohol rehabilitation is one of the most difficult tasks that one can go through. Patterns of addiction are both mental and physical, and specific action steps must be taken to overcome years of conditioning that have been destructive to body, mind, and spirit.

Breaking the cycle….once and for all

The majority of people seeking recovery from drugs and alcohol enter traditional inpatient or outpatient programs–these programs are a combination of medical, psychological, and therapeutic interventions designed to get to the roots of addictive behavior and change those thoughts, actions, and behaviors that contributed to the cycle initially. For many, it is a very effective way of putting themselves on the pathway to better health. Others may require a more comprehensive approach to care that involves renewing the mind and spirit, and placing an emphasis on healing these aspects of the self.

East meets West: Bringing in yoga and meditation to traditional inpatient treatment

Meditation and yoga are still largely considered alternative therapies when used in rehabilitation programs. Alternative therapies such as these provide a way of managing symptoms without medication, and thanks to the thousands of patients who have had success with both, we perhaps need to take a look at why they have been implemented into rehab centers across the country, and what their benefits are in successfully treating patients.

Meditation: Calming the mind

Mindfulness meditation is the training of the mind to focus on the here and now, thus calming obsessive and worrisome thoughts that may contribute to the cycle of addiction. Someone caught in the throes of addiction may have adopted a habitual mental cycle—-obtaining, using, covering…..obsessive thoughts work in tandem with this pattern to keep the addict stuck and going back for more.

In mindfulness meditation, one learns to retrain their mind to focus on the present moment. Allowing thoughts, feelings, memories, and even emotions to float through your consciousness without grabbing onto anyone’s experience is the key to observing your change without being actively caught up in a cycle of anything. The mind becomes free to “be”. People who practice mindfulness meditation report clearer thinking, a more efficient ability to regulate emotions, and more peace. All of these can contribute to a more effective rehabilitation experience.

Yoga: Mastering the body

Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years; through its spread into other cultures and time periods, it has retained a sense of integrity and honesty that few other disciplines have. Yoga uses specific postures and controlled breathing to bring a state of inner peace and calm to the body.

Yoga provides a structure and a requirement of self-discipline; this newfound skill can be assimilated by the patient and brought over into other areas of life, making it easier to accept life’s challenges with grace and success. From a physical standpoint, it improves circulation, tightens, and tones muscle, and promotes weight loss. Yoga students report greater flexibility, a greater sense of inner calm and peace, and increased awareness of the flow of life as it happens around them.

The use of yoga and meditation, along with traditional rehabilitation therapies such as group therapy and nutritional counseling, have proven to be very successful in providing comprehensive healing and better health for patients. One added benefit of incorporating these modalities into care is that they can be participated in with a group or individually. Students of meditation and yoga are not required to “keep up” with others, as it is very much an individual journey of health and healing.

Getting to the heart of the matter

Many patients initially seek treatment to deal with symptoms of withdrawal and the underlying anxiety and chronic stress that they cause. As time passes, they realize that the reason addictions develop in the first place is due to unresolved anger, stress, or pain that have made real life unbearable. With the implementation of meditation and yoga into a traditional therapy program, the roots of addictive behaviors are almost always revealed, giving true insight and awareness of those actions, attitudes, and behaviors that need to go in order for lasting healing to take place.

Ready for lasting change?

Rehabilitation is a courageous step toward the creation of a bright new future. Through comprehensive practices and a commitment to self care like never before, you will uncover the roots of your addiction and put it behind you, once and for all. Ready to get started? Call us today at 772-266-5320 for a new start and a new lease on life; you deserve it!

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Essentials mission is to renew lives impacted by addiction through personalized and complete behavioral healthcare. Our main purpose is to provide services and education to the client and family that will support long lasting recovery of mind, body, and spirit.