The idea of mindfulness practices often invokes visions of yoga classes, meditation, or groups of people sitting in a room with lit candles and hypnotic music. Although yoga and meditation are indeed important elements of mindfulness, there is so much more to mindfulness that can help you on your road to sobriety and recovery from substance used disorders. Mindfulness is a state of mind and a more profound sense of awareness of self. When someone is mindful, they are more aware of their external surroundings, inner experiences, and their responses to external triggers. Understanding what mindfulness is can help you learn more about how mindfulness-based recovery can help you as part of your addiction recovery.
What Is Mindfulness-Based Addiction Recovery?
When mindfulness practices are incorporated into or mentioned as part of an addiction recovery program, many wonder how mindfulness will help them overcome addiction. As previously mentioned, mindfulness can help you develop a deeper understanding of self which, in turn, can help you better understand how substance use may be a reaction to negative triggers in your environment. Many studies have shown that mindfulness practices as part of a substance abuse treatment program effectively prevent relapse and reduce the frequency of substance use.
Mindfulness practices such as meditation can help strengthen parts of the brain that are vital to behavior and self-regulation. These are the parts of the brain that are adversely affected when someone has a substance use disorder. When one regularly drinks or uses drugs, the parts of the brain that govern decision-making, pleasure, and reward response are altered. Mindfulness meditation can help to “rewire” these parts of the brain, which can change your response to triggers.
Mindfulness can also improve your ability to respond to unpleasant emotions. Mindfulness practice helps you become more aware of what is happening in your mind and in the environment around you. This leads to significant and beneficial changes in how you think about unpleasant experiences that once lead you to drink or use. Mindfulness can help you learn and practice safer, healthier ways to respond to stressors.
Research has shown that mindfulness reduces reactive behaviors and encourages thoughtful responses to addiction relapse triggers. Actively incorporating mindfulness practices into your addiction treatment recovery program may lead to the improved ability to react to relapse triggers in a way that significantly reduces relapse potential. Similar research studies indicate there are many benefits to mindfulness addiction treatment, including reduced pain, stress reduction, improved focus, decreased emotional reactivity, increased emotional resilience, and enhanced cognitive flexibility.
How CRC Treats Addiction
At Cal Recovery Center, our team of treatment professionals will work with you to design a comprehensive addiction treatment program focused on your unique treatment needs and goals. Addiction is a personal struggle. Although two people may struggle with addiction to the same substance, the symptoms and difficulties they will experience on their journey to recovery will inevitably be different. For this reason, it is essential to utilize treatment models and methods specifically selected for the person, not the addiction.
Mindfulness-based addiction recovery is “whole person” addiction recovery. Long-term recovery and relapse prevention depend on one ability to reduce habitual behaviors. Mindfulness practices enhance your ability to understand and focus on your thoughts and impulses without acting on them.
Reach Out to Cal Recovery Center Today
If you would like to learn more about how mindfulness-based addiction recovery can help you create healthy, safer habits and responses to rely on in the face of relapse triggers, reach out to the admissions team at Cal Recovery Center. Our holistic, whole-person recovery programs can help you or your loved one take the first steps on their journey to sobriety and lasting addiction recovery.
