by guest writer Brad Krause
Breaking the chains of addiction is difficult and requires hard work and dedication. Inpatient treatment, participation in support groups, and other traditional methods are time-tested and useful recovery methods, but some people suffering from substance abuse have found relief from their addictions through natural means. Since addiction involves unhealthy choices, sometimes the best step toward recovery one can take is adding good activities into your life.
Addiction is complicated and it can have multiple sources, but a substance abuser often drinks or takes drugs to alleviate some source of stress and anxiety. This self-medicating can be in response to mental health concerns, such as in those who use cocaine to treat depression or heroin to delusions and hallucinations. Healthy habits such as practicing hobbies, mindfulness, and yoga, however, are excellent ways to fill our lives with positivity. And these methods help some lift moods and normalize behaviors.
How hobbies fill the void
There’s a good reason that people feel great when they’re involved in hobbies. Hobbies can create new connections in the brain. These new connections feel good to us. They give us a sense of self-worth and reward us with joy in our days. When someone develops skill in playing guitar, the feelings of elation build, and then the hobby keeps filling spaces in with more healthy activity. Hobbies, then, squeeze bad habit opportunities out of the picture and keep them out, since hobbies also help people keep on track. Relapse can result from boredom, which busying activities all but eliminate.
Meditation helps clarify life
Addiction is an unhealthy decision. Meditation is a path for identifying healthy choices. Mental clarity and emotional balance build and strengthen in the calm space provided by reflection. Meditation tells us who we are, and when we are self-aware, we are less likely to look for answers and comfort in a substance. Even temperament means less of a need to “wind down” with a drink or to “tune up” by getting high.
And more importantly, meditation’s ability to get us to know ourselves better helps in staving off relapse as well. A meditator knows the good and bad in themselves and can more readily recognize behavioral warning signs that might trigger a relapse. Mindfulness means clarity and understanding, both of which build strength and resilience.
Yoga lights a fire deep within
Addiction fuels low self-esteem. For many, yoga provides inner power in addition to its muscle-strengthening and flexibility benefits. Where substance abuse knocks us down, yoga lifts us up, creating a change in consciousness that can repair what addiction damages. It makes us feel good. It is deeply relaxing, and can alleviate physical pain and discomfort. Yoga is not a magical cure that can solve the opioid crisis, but some who see its benefit in comforting have used it to walk away from painkillers.
And when those suffering from substance abuse combine healthy activities such as hobbies, meditation and yoga, the results combine as a base of self-care which then help encourage continuing the healthy activities. For some, its progression parallels that of addiction. Drinking or playing guitar can make us feel good, so we want to keep doing it and incorporate other complementary activities. For an alcoholic, that might mean taking drugs, skipping work or gambling, but for an amateur musician, it may lead to reading about music, going to a yoga class and self-reflecting.
These positive activities are perfect complements to other treatments. Each brings a benefit, whether it is a sunnier mood or better physical health, that helps us stay firm in the face of addiction.
Photo credit: Pixbay
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