When you are ready to recover from alcohol or drug addiction, you get to know new ideas and treatments that can make your recovery more successful. Though, everyone has their own unique experience with the treatment of addiction and recovering from it. Many people also went through a similar path during the recovery journey. However, finding out what works best for you is a part of an individual journey. From several recovery treatment options; mindfulness practice is a common and effective tool that helps people during their recovery journey.
Physical withdrawal signs are popular during recovery, but mental and emotional withdrawal symptoms are pretty challenging to deal with. If you are coping with alcohol or drug addiction, you might have to work with mental and stressful situations. In short, during recovery, your primary aim should be to find out healthy ways to cope up where mindfulness enters.
Definition of mindfulness:
Being mindful means to be actively aware of your feelings in the present which means to be neutral and notice your feelings without judging them. Moreover, mindfulness can also be defined as living in the moment.
For those in addiction recovery, mindfulness can help them manage their emotions and thoughts in a good way. This action reminds you to be aware of the situation that targets you and causes relapse.
Mindfulness is an ancient discipline, and it was meant to create awareness for oneself and the world around you. These practices can reshape your brain and promote a positive outlook on yourself and the world around you. One can also consult with substance abuse counselors for better results.
How Can Mindfulness Help in Addiction Recovery?
Not only mindfulness helps in addiction recovery, but it also provides many health benefits, among which the primary service is better management of stress. Its practice also promotes better self-awareness. Let’s say if you are mindful, then you are likely to tune with your body. Mindfulness also allows you to understand when something is not right with your physical health.
The foremost benefit of mindfulness is that you can practice it anywhere and at any time. Below we have mentioned five critical practices for mindfulness meditation in recovery.
- Focus on the present-
It can also be explained as being present. Now, you might wonder if you can be somewhere without being there physically, and the answer is yes definitely. Let’s take an example- you can watch Tv while talking on the phone. So, is it your mind in the present while doing either task? Focusing on the present moment is precisely that.
So how does this help in recovery? It would help if you remembered that people struggling with addiction earlier used drugs and alcohol to escape from the present situation. Focusing on the present and not running is necessary for recovery because it teaches coping and not fleeing.
- Focus on breathing-
Stress can be caused because of many reasons, and it can occur everywhere. When the pressure reaches a specific limit, it can be overwhelming and can make you look for an escape. However, the mindfulness response is to focus on your breathing. You can control your breathing either by pausing it or taking a deep breath loudly.
During recovery, this helps restore a feeling of control necessary when you are trying to ignore negative thoughts. You can start this mindful practice by taking breathing breaks during the day when you breathe through your nose and breathe out through the mouth.
- Observe your thoughts as they are-
You might often think that your thoughts are just background noises. But you do not realize that your thoughts drive your emotions and actions. Moreover, believing your negative thoughts can be a chasing force behind negative actions. Here mindfulness teaches you to observe damaging thoughts and not to trust them.
- Search a moment to be still-
It is a common practice to balance being busy with being productive and doing something positive. Though, part of mindfulness is finding a moment to be still. To be in the moment, you need to search for a mindful exercise through meditation and yoga.
- Developing compassionate connections-
During recovery connecting with others is extremely necessary. Here mindfulness in fastening means watching others with compassion without being judgemental or stereotyped. At the same time, addiction is likely to limit your capability to connect with others. However, understanding to communicate with others during recovery will help you develop strong and healthy relationships.
Meditation techniques for addiction recovery:
To rewire your addicted mind, you will need to choose a treatment option that will heal your body and your brain. Above, we have explained some of the best mindfulness practices to recover from addiction. But we would also like to mention some meditation techniques which you can include in your mindfulness techniques. These meditation techniques are as follows-
Mindfulness meditation-
However, it is one of the simplest, but it is still very effective. The aim here is to boost awareness and notice your thoughts and sensations. Here are steps to follow mindfulness meditation-
- Sit straight such that your spine, neck, and head should be in one line. Put your hands in a comfortable situation.
- Close your eyes.
- Sit quietly and still. Let your thoughts wander in and out.
- You can open eyes if you want.
- If you could not concentrate on your thoughts, then focus on your breath or any object.
If you have tried any yoga poses or stretching, you might feel comfortable in the traditional cross-legged postures.
Breathing meditation-
Breathing meditation aims to calm the mind and develop inner peace.
- Sit in the same position as mentioned in the first technique and close your eyes.
- Focus on breath, inhale deeply and exhale slowly.
- Now, relax down your muscles, grab the energy your brain spends on thinking about your cravings and divert it to your body.
- Be focused on your breathing; try to feel the air coming in and out through your nostrils.
- Even if some thoughts distract, then return to your breathing.
Conclusion:
Mindfulness can help you a lot during the treatment and recovery through a variety of techniques. Practice mindfulness practices daily to fasten the recovery process.
Author Bio:
Emily is a health & lifestyle blogger who spends her entire day writing quality blogs. Also, she is a passionate reader and loves to share quality content prevalent on the web with her followers. To know more about her, visit https://navishealth.com/
