Drugs and alcohol are often used as a form of escape. You might be uncomfortable in social gatherings until you have a beer or two. Maybe you’re uncomfortable just being present in your current headspace.
Anxiety, depression, stress and a variety of unpleasant feelings can make sober thinking painful. Many recovery programs are finding that meditation can be one of the answers for learning to be comfortable when clear-headed.
What is Meditation?
Some people may associate meditation with a sort of religious experience. While it can promote spiritual awareness and health, anyone of any or no denomination can enjoy the benefits. Meditation is a technique or practice that hones mindfulness, including your attention and awareness. It can be used to tune out all outside distractions to attain a higher level of consciousness.
The Benefits of Meditation
Meditation offers an endless list of benefits including relaxing your body and mind and helping you become more self-aware. Meditation also triggers changes in brain activity, respiration and heart rate, which leads to:
- Reduction in anxiety and stress
- Boosts in mood
- Improved immune response
- Relief from chronic pain
- Increased attention span
- Better quality sleep
- Decreased blood pressure and improvements in heart health
- Improved memory
The Importance of Meditation in Recovery
Another area meditation can help is with self-control. As you become more in touch with your feelings and reactions to situations, you can be more prepared for potential relapse triggers. Meditation can help you fight off harmful impulses and cope with difficult emotions in a calmer, healthier manner.With these tools, you can experience the cravings for drugs or alcohol and recognize them as the temporary pulls that they are.
Studies have also shown that meditation can induce a natural high. Similar to the endorphin rush experienced during substance use, meditation can release those feel-good chemicals throughout the body. Fortunately, this high isn’t followed by the painful crash from substance abuse.
Evidence-Based Treatment for Addiction
At Footprints Beachside Recovery, we prescribe a holistic approach to treating addiction. This disease impacts your mind, body and soul, so proper recovery should aim to heal the damage caused in all these areas, as well.
Each client and addiction is evaluated in order to customize our treatment approach with the right mix of evidence-based and alternative treatments. If you have concerns about paying for treatment or what rehab is like at Footprints Beachside Recovery, our knowledgeable staff is standing by ready to assist you.
Start your recovery journey and contact us now.
