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What Are The Benefits of Meditation in Recovery?

There are many avenues you can take on your road to sobriety, but chances are whichever path you choose will involve some sort of mindfulness or meditation. Meditation, although an ancient practice, has many practical benefits that support addiction recovery.

Addiction is a tri-fold disease that impairs the mind, body, and spirit. Holistic drug rehabs in West Palm Beach incorporate mindfulness meditation into the recovery process to help heal the mind and strengthen the spirit. When used alongside evidence-based treatment techniques, mindfulness meditation can be an effective coping mechanism and a healing approach for people in recovery.

If you’ve ever meditated before, you probably know how relaxing this practice can be. But what are the other benefits of meditation in recovery? Let’s take a look.

Benefits of Meditation in Recovery

Reduced Stress and Anxiety

Stress and anxiety are common emotions that everyone has to learn how to deal with. However, years of drug and alcohol abuse can hinder your ability to cope with these feelings in a healthy, sober way.

Meditation involves focusing on your breath, obtaining stillness, and letting go of unproductive worries. As a result, meditation can greatly reduce stress and anxiety, making it a great way to cope with difficult times in sobriety. It can even teach people to become less reactive to stressful situations, and how to recover from stress quickly.[1]

“The addictive mind can often be stuck in a fearful mode. Sometimes, out of fear, the mind distorts reality and suggests that change may not be possible, or that things to be exposed during the healing process may be too painful to bear. The ongoing, deliberate practice of retraining one’s mind through mindfulness meditation actually creates new neural pathways and networks in the brain, decreasing stress responses and anxiety.” – Mandala Healing Center

Better Sleep and Decreased Fatigue

If you are struggling with falling asleep, staying asleep, or low energy levels throughout the day in early sobriety, you are not alone. It takes the body and mind time to adjust to not having drugs or alcohol in the body, so sleep may not come easy for you.

The good news is that meditation can help promote sleep and decrease fatigue. And, since it reduces stress and anxiety, it may make it easier for you to fall asleep on days when you are stressed out or anxious.

Improved Mental Health

While one of the benefits of meditation in recovery is stress and anxiety reduction, meditation can also improve your overall mental health. Studies have shown that meditation can play an important role in treating anxiety, addiction, anger, suicidal thoughts, depression, PTSD, and more.[2]

Even if you don’t have a formal mental health diagnosis, meditation can help you feel calmer, happier, and more balanced. The more you practice meditation, the more in-touch you will be with your feelings, thoughts, and emotions, and the better equipped you’ll be to cope with troublesome times.

Increased Ability to Deal With Cravings

Researchers have looked at the different benefits of using meditation in recovery and believe this practice may be an effective adjective therapy for relapse prevention.[3] By providing you with skills to reduce stress and cope with anxiety, meditation can also help you cope with drug or alcohol cravings and triggers. And, the best part is that there are no adverse side effects or events reported from meditative practices.

Heightened Self-Awareness and Spirituality

Spirituality is an important part of recovery for many people. 12-Step programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA), have a spiritual foundation that encourages members to rely on a Higher Power to stay sober. One way to connect and build a relationship with a Higher Power is through meditation.

Spirituality means so much more than just a Higher Power, though. It can also mean an increased sense of self-awareness that allows you to overcome obstacles without the use of drugs and alcohol. Meditation can help you get more in-tune with your mind, body, and spirit, therefore, promoting a heightened sense of self-awareness and spirituality.

Additional Health Benefits of Meditation

There are many additional benefits of incorporating meditation and mindfulness into your recovery. These include:

  • Decrease chronic pain
  • Reduce blood pressure
  • Boost immune functioning
  • Improve cognitive functions (learning, sensory processing, decision-making, memory, etc)
  • Improve blood flow

Lastly, studies have shown that meditation can enhance the overall therapeutic outcomes in psychotherapy patients, meaning it could increase your chances of completing rehab and staying sober afterward.[2]

Experience The Benefits of Meditation in Your Recovery Today

At Mandala Healing Center, our clients are taken on a journey of healing through complete immersion into evidence-based clinical modalities, multifaceted alternative therapies, and expert medical management, allowing them to fully detox and recover from drug and alcohol addictions. Meditation is only one of the tools we will teach you that will help you stay sober.

To learn more about our West Palm Beach rehab program or to enroll yourself or a loved one, contact one of our dedicated treatment professionals today.

References:

  1. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/mindfulness-meditation-may-ease-anxiety-mental-stress-201401086967
  2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2719544/
  3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4106278/