5 Mindfulness Practices for Addiction Recovery

Addiction limited our ability to connect with others in any meaningful way. Compassion strengthens our ability to build healthy, healing relationships that positively affect our inner emotions. For recovering addicts who are used to partying and having a wild time, sobriety may seem a bit dull. Meditation practice can give them a new source of joy—pleasure in living in the moment and appreciating the simplest of delights. Meditation can also be difficult as it requires a lot of focus, concentration, and quiet. If you feel uncomfortable or restless with all that silence and introspection, you’re not alone, so keep at it.

• We can experience mental exhaustion when practising too frequently, so it is best to begin engaging in this practice on a weekly basis.
• If you are interested in learning more about mindfulness techniques for treating depression, you can look into Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy.
• Sometimes referred to as ‘mindfulness’, the specific kind of self-awareness that meditation aims to achieve is an awareness of the here and now.
• As you continue to practice meditation, you will likely experience more deep and insightful thoughts.

Can mindfulness really help prevent relapse?

A healthy daily routine can go a long way toward alleviating your symptoms and keeping your challenges at bay. Addiction is a serious issue that should be addressed by a mental health professional or an institution that has proven effective in treating addiction. However, there are some mindfulness techniques you can use to supplement addiction management. A meta-analysis in 2010 advocated for the effectiveness of mindfulness exercises on anxiety and depression. The researchers found that mindfulness-based therapy was moderately effective for treating anxiety and improving mood and that the effects lasted beyond the initial improvements (Hofmann, Sawyer, Witt, & Oh, 2010).

Can Opioid Abuse Cause Mental Health Disorders?

Whatever you discover about yourself and however painful your discovery, dramatic breakthroughs are always possible. Research on mindfulness meditation indicates that qualities we once thought immutable that form temperament and character can actually be altered significantly. By retraining your mind through mindfulness practice, you create new neural networks. If you’re aggressive, you can find ways to temper that aspect of yourself, becoming assertive and clear about your boundaries without entering into a competitive and possibly even hostile mind-set that will sabotage you. Meditation apps can help you learn more about meditation and practice specific techniques for different situations, such as dealing with anxiety or stress during your addiction recovery journey.

Meditation and Addiction Treatment

Noticing the little things will ground you in the present moment—the place where you live your life. Meditation and other mindfulness exercises work much the same way, and empower you to intentionally reshape your brain in ways that bring greater control, awareness, and happiness to your life. Although it has many forms, meditation is usually practiced by sitting and quietly observing your body or thoughts. Some people focus on their breath, and feel it swell inside their chest before they slowly exhale.

Download 3 Free Mindfulness Tools Pack (PDF)

Treatment interventions that emphasize mindfulness and meditation may not equally benefit everyone. But mindfulness can also be an activity you engage in on your own time, https://ecosoberhouse.com/ in whatever way feels comfortable and beneficial for you. You may find online videos, classes, or other resources to guide you through mindfulness-based practices.

Mind-body interventions to prevent addiction

• A study conducted in 2010 showed that the participants’ ability to be introspective, or reflective, was correlated with the amount of gray matter in their prefrontal cortex.
• Mindfulness is also showing great success in addiction treatment.
• The authors call for higher quality RCTs to evaluate the effectiveness of MBIs for relapse prevention.
• Build a lifestyle that supports both mindfulness practice and recovery.

They’re sometimes consumed with guilt, shame, and self-directed anger. Explores the reactions to positive, negative, and neutral senses. You can ask questions about our program, the admissions process, and more.

• While doing so, you will scan your body for pain or other sensations, practicing non-judgment, and simply noticing what it feels like.
• For instance, does the acute state of mindfulness attenuate initial attentional orienting to drug cues?
• Ready to take your recovery from alcohol and drug addiction to a whole new level?
• Stillness opens our hearts and minds to the vast potential within us as we move through addiction treatment and into recovery.
• Mindfulness practices can support the goal of being present in the moment and focusing on achieving internal peace.
• These questions can be answered by investigating how mindfulness training influences the time course of neural responses to drug cues.

Trademark Notice

At The Recovery Village, we offer a comprehensive addiction treatment program that includes holistic treatment options, including mindfulness meditation, recreational therapies, self-care activities, aftercare services and relapse prevention programs. Meditation is a valuable part of these meditation for addiction services for interested clients. Contact The Recovery Village to learn about admissions, treatment options and how our programs can help you begin living a substance-free life. Drug and alcohol addiction can make it difficult for people to cope with everyday stressors without relapsing.

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