7 Ways Meditation for Addiction Recovery Can Work for You
Are you in the process of battling alcohol addiction?
There are quite a few methods you can use to try to put your addiction to alcohol behind you.
You can spend time speaking with a therapist about your addiction. You can also use certain medications to deter you from drinking. Additionally, there are support groups you can join to get the help you need.
But one of the most effective ways to deal with your addiction to alcohol is through meditation. By using meditation for addiction recovery, you can get a grip on your problem and start to understand it better. It will increase your chances of staying sober in the long run.
There are many ways in which meditation for addiction recovery can benefit you. Here are 7 ways it will make the recovery process slightly easier.
1. Helps Clear Your Mind
When you’re just starting out on the road to recovery, your mind is going to be very busy. There will be a million and one thoughts bouncing around inside of it, and it’ll be difficult to quiet it down.
One minute, you’ll be thinking about how guilty you feel for spending so much of your life drinking. The next, you’ll be wondering how you’re going to live life without using alcohol as a crutch.
It can be too much for some people to take.
With meditation for addiction recovery, you’ll get the chance to give your mind a break. Meditation, when done properly, will clear your mind and allow you to sit in silence without a worry in the world.
2. Allows You to Experience Thoughts in a New Way
One of the things you’ll learn when you begin using meditation for addiction recovery is that your thoughts are just your thoughts.
You aren’t required to take every thought that comes to mind and entertain it. You’re also not required to take any action on your thoughts if you don’t want to.
If you’ve never meditated before, taking this approach to your thoughts will seem foreign to you at first. It’ll feel weird to have a thought cross your mind and not jump to try and make sense of it.
While meditating, your focus will be on your breathing, not your thoughts. This will give you more power over your thoughts over time.
3. Makes It Possible for You to Resist Temptation
As you work your way down the road to recovery, your mind is going to try to trick you into thinking you need to drink. You’ll be tempted early and often by your own mind.
You’ll think:
- “I had a really tough day today. I should have a drink and unwind”
- “One drink wouldn’t hurt! If I just have one, I’ll be fine”
- “I’m really not going to be able to quit drinking forever, so what’s the point of trying? I’m going to have a drink”
Without meditation, it might be almost impossible to sidestep these thoughts. But with meditation for addiction recovery, you’ll be able to resist temptation more effectively by dismissing each of these thoughts and moving on to the next one.
4. Sheds Light on What Triggers You to Drink
Figuring out what triggers you to drink and then avoiding your triggers is one of the most important steps in addiction recovery.
If you aren’t able to find out what causes you to want to drink, you’ll likely have a tough time quitting. Every time one of your triggers presents itself, you’ll be tempted to drink, and you might not always be able to say no.
Meditation will help identify your triggers over time. You’ll slowly be able to see what makes you want to drink so that you can deal with your triggers head-on.
5. Gives You a New Appreciation for Your Body and Mind
Those who spend years of their lives drinking usually don’t have much respect for their bodies or minds.
Meditation will change that for you. When you’re meditating, you’ll be forced to focus on the way your body and mind work.
By paying close attention to something as simple as your breathing, you’ll gain an appreciation for your body and mind that you didn’t have before.
6. Sends You on a Spiritual Journey
Over time, meditation turns into a spiritual practice for most people. They explore the beliefs and values that they have and take things to a spiritual level while doing it.
This often helps addicts come to terms with their addiction and move past it. The spiritual connection they feel while they meditate gives them the strength and motivation they need to walk down the road to recovery.
Learn more about how your faith and spirituality could be the key to your sobriety success.
7. Provides You With Something to Do With Your Newfound Free Time
Your alcohol addiction likely consumed most of your life before.
That means you’re going to have lots of time to fill throughout the course of a day now. Those who aren’t able to fill it with something meaningful sometimes find themselves turning back to alcohol because of boredom.
Meditation doesn’t have to take up too much of your time if you don’t want it to. You can meditate for just a few minutes every day and reap the rewards of it.
But you can also do it for longer stretches of time if you have the time to spare. You’ll have no problem filling the extra time in your day once you start doing meditation for addiction recovery.
Start Using Meditation for Addiction Recovery to Your Benefit
Using meditation for addiction recovery is one of the smartest decisions you’ll make when you’re fighting to get and stay sober.
It’ll provide you with all the benefits listed here. It’s also been shown to provide other benefits. It can reduce stress, make it easier to concentrate, increase happiness and self-awareness, slow aging, and so much more.
You’ll look and, more importantly, feel better when you meditate on a regular basis.
Read our blog for more information about the power of meditation and how it can help those in addiction recovery.