Mindfulness meditation is effective in treating a number of conditions from depression and anxiety to impulse control issues to addiction recovery and rehabilitation. Mindfulness is all about recognizing and acknowledging one’s surroundings as well as one’s place in those surroundings. When it comes to addiction treatment, one of the first steps is admitting that there is a problem. This directly coincides with mindfulness and meditation treatments can take this a step further to help a person experiencing substance use disorder to discover the underlying causes of their addiction. This important step gives the person attempting recovery a means to solve the bigger problem instead of simply treating symptoms.
Understand How Mindfulness Can Aid Recovery
Many people experiencing a substance use disorder are dealing with an impulse control issue that preys on a trigger urging them to seek an escape. This is a distortion of the way brain waves normally work and mindfulness meditation can “uncross the wires” and create new neural pathways that redirect that impulse to something healthier.
- Mindfulness practice every day can build a healthy habit that replaces the impulses caused by addiction. This treatment allows a person to replace the impulse of using drugs, alcohol, or participating in other addictive behavior with their meditation practice instead.
- Mindfulness teaches a person to recognize triggers when they happen. A person experiencing a substance use disorder is triggered by something in their life that gives off the impulse to participate in addictive behavior. Recognizing that trigger when it happens allows the person to redirect that impulse instead of falling into old habits.
- Mindfulness meditation can actually create new neural pathways! There are a lot of new therapies that include “re-training” the brain to react differently to certain stimuli. A trigger that leads to the impulses of addictive behaviors is one of these types of stimuli. If the brain can react differently, then the person experiencing the impulse can have some relief and the root cause of the problem is addressed instead of just the symptoms.
Include Meditation in Everyday Rehab Routines
Mindfulness can have incredible benefits to a person in recovery, but only if the person is diligent about including mindfulness practice in daily routines. When seeking rehab facilities in Fresno, California, be sure to look into the possibility of including meditation and mindfulness practice alongside daily therapy routines. Working in conjunction with individual and group therapies, mindfulness can be worked into the recovery process and aid the person experiencing substance use disorder from relapsing after they leave the rehab facility.
Take Mindfulness Outside the Rehab Facility
After a person leaves a rehab facility, they face living in the world again with all the same triggers that led to impulses and engaging in addictive behaviors. Mindfulness practice is something that a person can take with them anywhere. When they leave rehab, they can use the practices learned to continue their recovery and live a purpose-led life.
- These practices are shown to help with all kinds of underlying conditions including emotional stability, focus issues, many mental illnesses.
- Guided meditations can be recorded and used any place a person can listen to music on a mobile device.
- Increased self-regulation, especially when it comes to planning and routines.
Begin Enjoying the Benefits of Meditation Today
When a person has made the decision to seek addiction recovery treatment, they are already open to including mindfulness practice in their daily routines. This decision is the very epitome of awareness and the core of mindfulness meditation. First Steps Recovery in Fresno, California is committed to including tools in the recovery process that people can take with them after they leave, reducing the risk of relapse significantly. Call us today at 844-489-0836 to get started.
