One benefit of meditation involves helping people break unhealthy habits and stay on course with these lifestyle changes. As you progress in recovery from alcohol dependence, practicing meditation can be an effective tool in your determination to stay clean and sober.
Why Meditation Helps With Recovery
Meditation is known for numerous benefits, many of them are helpful in substance abuse recovery. Some of these include becoming:
- better able to manage troublesome emotions
- more peaceful throughout the day
- less anxious
- less judgmental about yourself and others
- more effective at handling stressful situations that once might have led you to drink
Mindfulness is an important aspect of meditation as it relates to recovery from substance abuse. As you practice meditation once or twice each day, you learn to observe your thoughts and let them go without judging them. You learn that thoughts tend to disappear if you don't fixate on them.
Soon, you're able to do this even when you're not meditating. If you feel a mental craving for alcohol, you simply observe the thought without attaching any meaning to it. You don't try to suppress the desire or to fight it off with other thoughts. Instead, you stay in the present moment, knowing that this yearning feeling is normal and that it will dissipate.
Relevant Research
Studies confirm the usefulness of meditation and other mindfulness strategies for substance abuse recovery.
The importance of the ability to accept rather than suppress thoughts about alcohol was confirmed in a study published in 2007. Participants practiced a form of meditation known as Vipassana, which focuses on accepting unwanted thoughts. They correspondingly reduced their substance use more than participants who received standard alcohol abuse treatment.
In addition, participants of a preliminary study published in 2009 reported that meditation helped them cope with cravings for alcohol and gain stress-reducing skills. Participants who completed an eight-week meditation course experienced significant reductions in anxiety, stress and cravings.
What You Can Do Now
Get the help you need from an alcohol treatment center if you know you're physically addicted to alcohol or if you have been unsuccessfully trying to quit. Meditation alone may not be enough to help you break this habit and get clean and sober. Nevertheless, it can be an extremely useful method for staying on the recovery path and empowering you to move past temptation. Investigate some online meditation classes and find the one that is the best fit for your journey. To learn more, contact Portland Mindfulness.
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