Why Does Meditation Help With Addiction?

There is so much more than meets the eye with addiction recovery. The recovery path takes on the challenge of changing the substance use and helping you repair the mental damage done. It is difficult when struggling with substance use because it consistently fluctuates your focus and the ability to reason. 

However, addiction recovery treatment has evolved over the years, providing more holistic, modern options to address mental and physical concerns through any stage of recovery. Meditation is one of the holistic options practiced as a way to manage various mental health conditions and addiction.

The Form of Meditation and Rehabilitation

Meditation and rehabilitation go hand-in-hand as meditation is a standard modality that encourages a more mindful treatment approach without judgment. Meditation gives you the ability to line yourself together by focusing on your body sensations, your spirit, and how you breathe. 

For centuries, meditation has been a part of local tradition worldwide as a healing modality. Still, it recently emerged to become more of a direct positive approach to address different areas of your brain.

In addiction recovery, using other modalities and activity-based practices of meditation can give you the ability to be more focused on your thoughts and emotions for ultimate healing. Additionally, meditation helps you focus on what is happening in the moment, rather than focus on potential scenarios in the future or unfavorable circumstances. 

How Meditation Affects Your Mindset

Meditation affects your mindset and brain by helping it regain balance and stop wandering. It can quiet down your body and teach you how to remain calm. Meditation is an excellent resource for naturally producing structural plasticity and enhancing cognitive processing. When going through residential or outpatient drug treatment and using meditation, you have the chance to resolve unresolved issues and focus on the root cause of the substance use to progress your healing journey further. 

The holistic healing modality helps relieve withdrawal symptoms and anxiety while regulating and promoting a more substantial stress threshold. In addition, it helps you maintain a path of recovery with meditation to focus on overcoming triggers by releasing natural dopamine.

How Does Meditation Help With Addiction?

Sitting down for a few moments to observe your mind can be a struggle, as it is common for the brain to wander. However, you have to focus on your breathing and intuition to slow down the thought process and see clearly when using meditation. By getting past the wandering stage, your brain creates room for clarity to set in. 

Meditation is not something gained overnight but is a practice that requires dedication and discipline. After learning meditation works and practicing it, you become more aware and discover a higher sense of who you are. You will dive into what constructs your substance disorder and find a way to eliminate it. Meditation teaches you to develop a deeper understanding of yourself and expand the recovery process. This is an essential tool to overcome addiction, particularly the mental damage it causes.

It is common to struggle to believe that meditation is a practice that helps with substance use disorders. However, studies and research have proven that meditation contributes to enhancing physical health, spiritual health, and well-being. In addition, when you learn to reduce your life stress and anxiety and find outlets other than substance abuse. 

Clearing your mind from the world outside by reducing distractions and noise is accomplished through meditation. Through the holistic healing of daily meditation, you are essentially realigning your soul for extended healthy healing options.

Engaging in Holistic Healing Options and Meditation to Help You With Addiction

Your brain works in mysterious ways. In fact, you can tap into the “inner you” when you use meditation. With the ability to tap into your brain while in recovery, you can rise above addiction without a dark cloud around you throughout your day. 

Rehabilitation programs use meditation to incorporate mindfulness practices to help you begin your day with self-care and rejuvenation. Additionally, since stress is built up from the day, try meditation before bed to learn to let go and center your thoughts on your recovery goals. 

Once you become more skilled at practicing meditation, the technique can take as little as 15 minutes to encourage and better a healthier lifestyle. One of the best things about meditation is that it can be done at any time during the day, so do not limit yourself. You owe it to yourself to try this technique and see how much of a difference it can make in your addiction recovery journey.

Meditation Teaches You To Be Kind To Yourself

Meditation is great to engage in as it helps you enhance your awareness of self-acceptance and compassion, both of which are fantastic resources to help you maintain abstinence. One of the first things you learn in addiction recovery is acceptance and understanding. Meditation dives into your brain’s mechanisms, allows you to open up, and teaches you how to be more kind with yourself.

The Forge Treatment Center makes use of a wide variety of treatment modalities to treat drug and alcohol addiction, including meditation. Learn more today and contact us.

Written by

Brian Moore

Content Writer

Reviewed by

Jeremy Arzt

Chief Clinical Officer

May 9, 2022