Many people neglect to consider the importance of mental health when dealing with drug addiction. While improving your physical health is essential, taking steps towards better mental health is equally important. Meditation is one of the best ways to improve your mental health. Meditation is a simple treatment, but it has a huge impact. Addiction is a chronic disorder that has biological and psychological components, which makes it a solid link to mental health. We have compiled a list of the benefits of meditation and information about the various types of meditation that can be used to help with addiction recovery.
What is Meditation?
Meditation is an activity involving the mind and body primarily promoting relaxation and calmness. It also helps people deal with certain illnesses, improve their psychological balance, and increase their overall well-being.
Meditation has many forms, but they share these four main elements:
- Comfortable position – You can sit, walk, or lie down while being at ease in any position.
- Location – You can meditate in any room of your choice, including your bedroom or living room. Meditation is best done in a quiet place.
- Focus – Meditation is only as good as the ability to focus. Without focus, it is hard to meditate effectively.
- Open attitude – Distractions are sometimes inevitable. Therefore, it is essential to have an open mind and allow those things to come and go.
Meditation Can Help With Recovery
A wandering mind can pose a danger to people in recovery. According to Emma Seppala, Science Director at Stanford University Center for Compassion, research has shown that people are happier when they are present and mindful even though they are performing unpleasant tasks. This is especially true if it romanticizes memories involving substance abuse.
Studies have shown that meditation reduces stress and symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Meditation promotes relaxation and positive thinking and decreases the release of the stress hormone cortisol in the body. Meditation can help you deal with stress and create healthier coping mechanisms for past traumas or mental health conditions.
Different Types of Meditation
Meditation can help you recover from addiction, and there are man available types of meditation that can help with addiction recovery.
A recovery center’s staff can help you choose the best type of meditation to aid your recovery. According to
havenhouserecovery.com, these are the most popular forms of meditation:
- Mindful meditation – This type allows you to examine thoughts and situations without having to decide if they’re good, bad, right, or wrong. Deep and rhythmic breathing is used during mindful meditation.
- Transcendental meditation – This form of meditation involves repeating a mantra for a long time until one reaches mindfulness, helping the mind settle down.
- Spiritual Meditation – This type of spiritual meditation is focused on silence. This type of meditation is used to connect with God, often used by many religions, like Christianity, Hinduism, and more.
- Mantra meditation – Mantra meditation is a form of transcendental meditation that involves repeating a phrase or a mantra. This type of meditation aims to help people focus on their environment.
Meditation Has Many Benefits
Meditation is helpful in many ways and can have any benefits for addiction recovery. Meditation is a mental exercise that increases awareness and helps with focus. These are just a few of the many ways meditation can help.
For Mental Health
Meditation has been reported to reduce stress, anxiety, mood enhancement, and stress levels. It promotes relaxation, and it has been shown to be effective in managing mental disorders.
Anxiety and depression can lead to substance abuse. People can cope with anxiety and depression by using meditation therapy.
For Self-control and Self-confidence
It takes self-control to control your breathing. People in recovery from addiction will learn to meditate and then control their breathing. Meditation can help improve self-control over time. It is easy to see why meditation is part of addiction treatment.
Meditation can help people let go of negative thoughts and deal with trauma. This can help people focus on what matters to them most. People recovering from addiction can meditate to help them focus on their strengths and not on their failures, improving their self-confidence.
For Physical Health
Substance abuse can lead to many health problems. People recovering from addiction can start their physical healing by practicing meditation. Meditation can help improve your physical health, such as lower blood pressure and better heart health.
Key Takeaway
It might be frightening when you finish a program from rehabilitation facilities and you are forced to return to the real world. The initial few weeks and months of recovery might be the most difficult since you are navigating your everyday life and challenges without the crutch of your substance of addiction. Many strategies are required to deal with the tensions and disappointments that may have fueled your substance use. Meditation can help you recover by training your mind to manage emotions better, stay focused, and conquer cravings. Meditation is an excellent tool for individuals in recovery since it is accessible and available to everyone at any time. It can provide you with the space and quiet to make long-term decisions rather than reverting to old patterns that will put you back in the cycle of addiction.