Meditation
Substance abuse is often driven by complex emotions, stressful situations, and intense cravings that require skills and strategies to manage. One of the most important components of addiction treatment is developing healthy coping mechanisms that you can maintain and use throughout your recovery journey.
Meditation is a heightened state of awareness and inner peace that can help to improve mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. Incorporating meditation into your lifestyle can offer a consistent and effective way to deal with any addiction-related challenges that you encounter. It’s an invaluable coping skill to help you remain calm and sober throughout the ups and downs of everyday life.
What Is meditation?
Meditation is the practice of using certain techniques to clear and focus your mind, training attention and awareness to achieve a calm emotional state. There are many different types of meditation, many of which play a role in spiritual and cultural traditions.
Studies have found that meditation and relaxation techniques can reduce heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure. It may also increase emotional awareness, helping individuals to discover and express repressed thoughts and feelings.
What Is Mindfulness Meditation?
Mindfulness meditation is a meditative practice involving focusing on the present moment and letting go of past and future concerns. It’s an evidence-based technique for relieving stress and pain and reducing anxiety, and it’s become an important tool for mental health self-help and professional treatment worldwide.
How can meditation support addiction recovery?
Meditation is a skill you can incorporate into your daily routine and practice wherever possible. Emotional distress, anxiety, and other negative mental states often trigger substance abuse. You may turn to drugs or alcohol to try to relax or to escape from reality temporarily. However, in the long run, substance abuse only worsens these feelings.
Developing alternative, healthy coping mechanisms for negative emotions is a key part of addiction recovery. Understanding the thoughts, feelings, and mental states that are more likely to lead to substance use helps you take preventative measures to stop a relapse from occurring. Meditation can help calm you in moments of anxiety and emotional distress and can improve symptoms of anxiety and depression, helping you to avoid triggering addictive behaviour.
Life-long recovery is possible and achievable with the proper support and care. Combined with other treatment approaches, meditation can help you to cope with the challenges of recovery without turning back to drugs so you can stay sober for good.
What should I expect from a meditation session at Linwood House?
We incorporate meditation into our recovery programme. Offering group meditation sessions with a qualified instructor, as well as meditative practices within group therapy workshops.
At first, you may find meditation difficult, and your mind may wander; however, this is perfectly normal – meditation is a skill that takes time to develop. We will always be ready to answer your questions or offer personal advice to help you refine the practice.
Meditation, motivation, and support
While meditation can play a key role in your recovery, it is a multifaceted process requiring different types of support.
Two other essential components of successful recovery are motivation and social support. Most people require caring, consistent support from loved ones, professionals, and others around them to get them through the most challenging times.
At Linwood House, our treatment programmes combine a variety of addiction therapies to offer the all-around treatment experience you require. We’ll be by your side during your inpatient rehab experience and offer a year’s free aftercare upon completion. We’re committed to your recovery success.
Contact us today if you or a loved one is living with addiction. We’re here to help.