During rehab and beyond, there are dozens of treatment methods that can aid in recovery. One of methods that people don’t utilize enough, but is often incredibly effective, is meditation. Explore some benefits of meditation for addiction recovery.
Meditation is the practice of focusing one’s mind on a particular object, subject, or activity. It can be used to calm oneself down, focus energy, and even develop spiritual awareness. Meditation has been around for thousands of years in many different forms. Today it’s being taught by many addiction treatment professionals as a way to help clients have more peaceful, focused lives.
If you would like to know more about how meditation can help the recovery process, call us today at 866.262.0531.
The Physical Benefits of Meditation For Addiction Recovery
Many people assume that mindfulness meditation therapy is exclusively psychological. While there certainly plenty of psychological benefits, meditation for addiction recovery can also be physically beneficial.
To start, meditation decreases blood pressure. During and after rehab, blood pressure is often high, so bringing it down through meditation is a definite bonus. Meditation can also increase serotonin, a mood-boosting chemical critical in the fight against addiction.
Meditation can also impact how clients feel and experience pain or discomfort. In addiction treatment programs, some clients experience ongoing pain. Rather than turning back to addictive substances, clients can eliminate a lot of discomfort by breathing properly, unwinding and focusing less on the pain through meditation.
Meditation Can Help Relieve Stress
Stress is arguably one of the biggest factors in relapse. A lot of people struggling with addiction get overwhelmed with stress, which in turns leads away from recovery and back to substance use. Through meditation, it may be easier to deal with stress in healthy ways.
Stress is an ongoing part of life. However, not everyone deals with stress in the same ways. Some healthy ways to deal with stress might be exercising or finding a hobby.
Meditation encourages relaxation, an empty mind and slowed breathing. For many people, this simple act can reduce stress. For those in addiction treatment, this could be the difference between another day of sobriety or the risk of relapse.
Meditation Can Encourage Spiritual Development
Religion isn’t a necessary part of addiction therapy services. There are plenty of clients who are not religious, but there are also many who find peace and comfort in some form of spirituality. To develop spirituality during addiction treatment, meditation is one viable option.
In fact, meditation is a spiritual practice that many people use to develop spiritual awareness – i.e., developing an understanding of the spiritual world that’s around them. Clearly, meditation is not the only way to develop spirituality. However, it often works in addiction recovery because it helps people focus on something other than their own thoughts about drugs and alcohol.
By teaching meditation to clients during addiction treatment services, therapists can help them stay calm and centered even when they’re thinking about using alcohol or drugs again. It’s also a good way to help clients increase their awareness of themselves and others, and even decrease or eliminate desires for using drugs and alcohol because they’re not as worried about the negative consequences anymore.
During meditation for addiction recovery, participants are calm and thoughtful. They can focus on a higher power, or they can focus on their own goals. Either way, meditation offers a way to be in touch with something bigger than the minutia of everyday life.
Meditation For Rehab Can Add Structure and Routine to Each Day
One of the biggest benefits of meditation is that it’s a concrete part of each day. During addiction recovery, structure is critical. Adhering to the schedule means avoiding addiction and the risk of relapse.
Meditation can be the start or end of each day, helping to kickstart or finalize routine. In recovery, all the following can also be a part of the routine:
• Life skills treatment
• Trauma therapy
• Relapse prevention education
• Group therapy
• Individual therapy
Meditation for addiction recovery is often a key method in helping you to address addiction for good. At Crestview Recovery in Portland, Oregon, meditation is part of a comprehensive approach to lasting recovery. Call 866.262.0531 to overcome addiction and begin your road to a lifetime of health and sobriety.
Since 2016, Dr. Merle Williamson, a graduate of Oregon Health Sciences University, has been the Medical Director at Crestview Recovery, bringing a rich background in addiction medicine from his time at Hazelden Treatment Center. He oversees outpatient drug and alcohol treatments, providing medical care, setting policies, detox protocols, and quality assurance measures. Before specializing in addiction medicine, he spent 25 years in anesthesiology, serving as Chair of Hospital Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee and Chief of Anesthesia at Kaiser Permanente. This experience gives him a unique perspective on treating prescription drug addiction.
