Can Mindfulness Help With Addiction Recovery?
Thus, mindfulness may help to prevent relapse by increasing awareness of high-risk situations, supporting positive hedonic tone, and preventing a singular lapse from becoming a full-blown relapse. Mindfulness practice may also ameliorate hedonic dysregulation and thereby reduce risk for relapse. By practicing mindfulness to savor everyday pleasant activities, an individual in recovery from a SUD can self-generate feelings of contentment, relaxation, and joy. Consider an individual with cocaine use disorder in full remission who practices mindful savoring when his grandchildren visit on the weekend. By using mindfulness to focus on the positive emotions and the sense of meaningfulness that emerge from spending time with his grandchildren, this individual may feel more satisfied and contented than he ever did when using substances.
Even when total abstinence is achieved, substance-related cues and negative emotional states can continue to trigger relapse.50,58 Thus, interventions are needed to target the manifold processes undergirding substance use disorder and relapse. Founded by George Haas, who is also an individual in recovery, Mettagroup offers mindfulness meditation skills based on 2600-year-old Buddhist teachings adapted specifically for addiction recovery. These skills help to rewire the deep automatic responses of the brain and are focused on living more peacefully, compassionately and wisely. Daily live guided meditations via conference call or archived are available six days a week ($35 per month) as well as one-on-one mentoring via Skype (1/2 hour sessions twice a month for $200 or four times a month for $400). Recovery from addiction is a process; it’s not just about stopping abusing a substance. To stay clean and sober addicts have to examine their past, recognize their mistakes, look into their character, and lead a better life.
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Before she decides to attend the party, she could practice mindfulness to decrease stress and become aware of any craving-related thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. If she chooses to attend the party, she can use mindfulness to monitor and regulate her experience of craving in response to substance-related cues. However, if she notices she is feeling overwhelmed with craving, she could use mindfulness to disrupt the automatic urge to engage in substance use, and then mindfully respond by taking steps to decrease her risk (eg, leaving the party and calling a supportive friend). Substance use disorders (SUDs) are a pervasive public health problem with deleterious consequences for individuals, families, and society.
- If you’re aggressive, you can find ways to temper that aspect of yourself, becoming assertive and clear about your boundaries without entering into a competitive and possibly even hostile mind-set that will sabotage you.
- Meditation can be an effective means of training your brain to observe cravings coming and going without attachment instead of trying to avoid, ignore, or suppress cravings.
- Meditation is the habitual process of training your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts.
- One of the biggest benefits of meditation during withdrawal is how it eases anxiety and depression.
- Naturally, meditation for addiction recovery can be a hugely useful tool in tackling substance abuse.
“Preferably meditate at the same time every morning. That way you’ll establish the habit, and pretty soon you’ll always meditate in the morning, just like brushing your teeth.” This article is based on scientific evidence, written addiction meditation by experts and fact checked by experts. Alternatively, meditation courses and support groups are widely available. Alternatively, consider setting your alarm a few minutes early to take advantage of quiet time in the morning.
What meditation can do for your mind, mood, and health
In mindfulness meditation, the person works to build his or her awareness of the current situation. According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, meditation is a mind-body activity intended to promote calm and relaxation and help people cope with illnesses and improve well-being. It involves sitting comfortably in a quiet setting, focusing your attention and allowing thoughts and distractions to pass without assessing them.
