The combination of yoga and meditation promotes healing and relieves stress in men and women. These powerful approaches are a set of physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines designed to help improve mood and sense of well-being. These activities use body postures, breathing modulations, and meditation techniques to boost physical strength, relaxation, and spirituality. These techniques have reduced risk factors for diseases such as high blood pressure and heart disease.
Many individuals recovering from substance abuse or addiction feel they have lost connection with their mind and body because addiction serves as a way to disconnect from your mind and body.
However, meditation and yoga, when used in treating addiction, are considered alternative therapy. Alternative therapies provide a natural, non-medicated way for those in recovery to manage their signs even after leaving the rehab. Studies have suggested that yoga and meditation can become crucial techniques for people affected by addiction to help handle cravings and reduce the risk of relapse.
However, many rehab centers offer holistic addiction treatment and recovery, which includes traditional and alternative therapies. So, let’s see how yoga and meditation can help with addiction recovery?
How does mindfulness meditation work?
Earlier, meditation techniques were taught in informal meditation centers. Many people being introduced to mindful meditation were initially doubtful about the whole idea of meditating. But in recent years, many addiction centers have incorporated therapies into traditional treatment models to provide a natural and holistic treatment.
Mindfulness meditation is the intentional and non-judgemental focus on things happening in the present. During the whole guided meditation session, people are taught to focus on their emotions, sensations, and thoughts.
How to practice meditation to heal addiction?
In the addiction recovery process, with the help of meditation, there are many meditation forms that you can practice to pull your mind away from thoughts that distract you. Though all meditation techniques are beneficial for slowing down an overactive mind, you need to find one style that vibrates with you best.
Mentioned below are some forms of meditation to choose from:
Instructed meditations
These are guided meditation techniques that are often taught in yoga classes while gazing meditations encourage you to have your eyes open and concentrate on a single object. You can also listen to the guided meditations to anticipate positive outcomes in your life or reduce your stress levels while entering into a deeper state of relaxation.
Body relaxation scans
A body relaxations scan helps calm your physiology and bring awareness to different body parts that help improve your self-awareness.
Nature walks
Walking silently in nature is also a form of meditation.
Primal sound meditation
This is the form of meditation that various recovery centers use. It encourages individuals to sit with closed eyes and concentrate on a sound or mantra to drag their minds away from thoughts and quiet the mind.
Meditation is among the powerful techniques used in recovery because it can help you detach from thoughts and impulses that may increase addiction cravings. Moreover, meditation teaches that an addiction’s desire is only a thought, and no one is under an obligation to act or respond to it. Instead, you can bring alertness to your breath and allow these thoughts to pass rather than react to them.
How does yoga work for addiction recovery?
Yoga proves to be another essential tool in addiction recovery as it can help you deal with stress and bring a balance to your life. The word ‘yoga’ means to unite and strengthen the connection between your mind, body, and spirit. Yoga can help to boost strength and improve flexibility. Like meditation, yoga can also help reduce stress, lower the heart rate and blood pressure, reduce cortisol levels, and eliminate anxiety and depression.
Stress and anxiety are connected to addiction, and studies have suggested that a plurality of people coping with addiction challenges use addictive substances as a way to deal with anxiety. However, yoga can increase a naturally occurring brain chemical that helps to cope with stress and pressure better.
Addiction to drugs or alcohol reduces the amount of gray matter in the brain. It is responsible for many of your brain’s functions, such as learning skills and memory. Gray matter also affects self-awareness and how you observe the world around you. Luckily, yoga increases the gray matter volume in the brain’s section.
The frontal and hippocampus sections of the brain control learning and memory. However, a higher level of gray matter helps better control the Amygdala, which signals and responds to fear, anxiety, and stress. Yoga helps those in recovery overcome compulsive, reactive behavior patterns by learning, memorizing, and adapting better and healthier thoughts associated with cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Basic yoga poses:
- Child pose – reduce stress and fatigue, relaxes front body muscles.
- Corpse pose – relaxes the body, clams brain and relieves mid depression, reduces headache and fatigue, and lowers blood pressure.
- Cobra pose – elevates mood and increases flexibility
- Lying down twist – brings deep relaxation to mind and body
Conclusion
When yoga and meditation are combined with healing addiction, the benefits can increase. Daily yoga and meditation can help those coping with addiction to overcome unpleasant feelings and sensations, release anger and increase positivity. All these benefits contribute to establishing a healthy mind and body, which is the basis of successful addiction recovery.
Photo Credits
Meditation Image by Ben Kerckx from Pixabay
Yoga Image by Chuck Herrera from Pixabay
Guest Author Bio
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston is a health & lifestyle blogger who spends her entire day writing quality blogs. She is a passionate reader and loves to share quality content prevalent on the web with her followers.
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