Addiction Recovery: Meditation for Beginners

 

“Quiet the mind, and the soul will speak.”

– Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati

The practice of meditation may seem intimidating at first but it is actually one of the most powerful and informal therapies for addiction recovery. There are no rules for participating. All it takes is a willingness to embrace the stillness of a quiet, peaceful mind.

Given the vast number of medical and behavioral health benefits, many holistic addiction treatment centers have started to incorporate meditation therapy as part of an overall recovery program.

In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to find diversions to escape from the stress of everyday life. While some methods of avoiding painful emotions can offer short-term relief, they only delay the inevitable confrontation with reality.

In contrast, meditation helps to empower individuals with a personal tool to acknowledge feelings, thoughts and emotions in an effort to break through and resolve barriers to emotional growth.

Why Meditation is Great for Beginners

  • Meditation doesn’t discriminate. Regardless of your age or your physical ability, you can start to incorporate meditation into your daily routine.
  • There are zero investment costs up front. Unlike other forms of stress relief, like exercising at the gym or acupuncture, there are no membership fees or expensive pieces of equipment to purchase. By simply taking the time nurture yourself in solitude, you can reap the benefits without straining your budget.
  • You don’t have to worry about comparing yourself to others. Sometimes it can be intimidating to start a new hobby or exercise program if you’re constantly comparing yourself to others. Meditation is unique in that you can choose to practice by yourself to ensure your energy is focused solely on your recovery.

Getting Started

Meditation may seem intimidating at first, but it’s actually a very intuitive tool for supporting your mental and physical health during recovery.

Want to get started today? Find a quiet space in your home, get comfortable and just breathe.

Get the Help You Need

If you’re struggling with alcohol addiction or drug abuse, 10 Acre Ranch can help you detox. We offer personalized treatment, as well as extensive aftercare support to help you maintain your hard-won sobriety. By emphasizing exercise, nutritional balance, and recreational activities, we encourage clients to develop a healing lifestyle that sticks—during and after recovery.

Call (877) 228-4679 for program details or to discuss your customized recovery program with an addiction counselor.

The Truth About Drinking & the Gym

You wouldn’t think about taking a six-pack of beer to the gym when you train, but you might not give a second thought to partying the night before or after your workout. Unfortunately, the ‘work hard, play hard’ mentality could be ruining your gains at the gym. Here are just a few of the ways boozing can stunt your fitness goals.

Slower muscle recovery. Your body sees alcohol as a toxin, and it takes energy to remove it from your tissue. When you’re focused on fitness, you need those energy reserves for muscle fiber recovery and muscle gain.

Increased cortisol production. Alcohol increases the production of the stress hormone cortisol. High cortisol levels lead to sugar and junk food cravings, along with boosting fat storage in the midsection.

Reduced fat burning. As your liver converts alcohol to acetate, your body prioritizes acetate burning over fat burning. If you are eating while drinking, that means the rest of your meal is stored as fat. Some studies show that moderate to heavy alcohol intake may decrease fat burning by 70 percent or more!

Decreased nutrient absorption. As you’re probably aware, alcohol irritates your stomach and increases acid production. You need nutrients to build muscle and improve your fitness, and an irritated stomach derails nutrient absorption.

Dehydration. Alcohol is a diuretic. Dehydration decreases physical performance, increases fatigue, and depletes energy levels. In addition, dehydration prevents cells from producing ATP, which is a critical source for muscle energy.

And, if all of these reasons aren’t enough, remember that drinking makes your workout feel harder—and nobody needs that.

Treatment for Alcoholism at 10 Acre Ranch

If someone you love is stuck in a cycle of addiction, they are starving their body of the nutrients required to battle harmful toxins. 10 Acre Ranch offers counseling and group meal preparation that teaches the importance of nutrition during rehab. Food is fuel, and proper nutrition restores physical health and supports mind-body balance. Make a radical lifestyle change today! Embrace fitness and healthy eating at our CA men’s rehab facility. To learn more, call 800.266.7044 or reach a team member by email: info@10acreranch.org. Your inquiry is confidential and our compassionate team members are ready to help!

Activity-Based Addiction Treatment for Men

Seeking help for a drug or alcohol problem isn’t an easy step to take. You may think you know what treatment will be like, and that may be the reason you’ve stayed away until now. And if you’re not comfortable sharing your feelings and participating in a group therapy environment, you’re not alone.

Hiking, working out at the gym, playing softball, or spending time with animals doesn’t sound like addiction therapy to most people, but these are some of the activities you’ll enjoy as part of your addiction treatment program at 10 Acre Ranch. Called “activity-based therapy,” this holistic component is part of many top-ranked drug and alcohol recovery programs.

Why is Activity-Based Therapy Important?

Delving into your feelings to determine why you’ve risked your health, job, and relationships to use drugs is tough, especially for men who don’t see themselves as the “sensitive type.” While talk therapy is integral to helping addicts recover, it’s only one small part of a holistic approach.

Activity-based therapy encourages clients to explore other outlets, particularly those that are physical in nature (sports, weightlifting, etc.), to help patients cope with the changes in their lives that occur during addiction treatment. It’s natural to experience anger, frustration, and aggression during recovery. Participating in recreational activities and completing recovery assignments that are less traditional and more free-form allows men work through negative emotions without becoming self-destructive. These distractions may even curb cravings. Having fun reminds patients that joy still exists in their lives—and that their future holds value far beyond a temporary high.

Studies have shown that complementary therapies like exercise and music performance are valuable components of a multidisciplinary treatment program for drugs and alcohol. Activity-based therapy may also lessen the risk of relapse, in some cases.

Activity Therapy and Men’s Drug Addiction Treatment

Residential, outpatient, and drug detoxification programs approach treatment in several ways, all with the goal of maintaining long-term sobriety. Local outings, softball tournaments, group meal preparation, and nature walks are just some of the activities offered to the men at 10 Acre Ranch, in combination with therapy (individually and in a group setting), 12-step integration, and disease education.

10 Acre Ranch Drug & Alcohol Rehab

To learn more about the therapeutic programs, recreational activities, and fitness opportunities available at 10 Acre Ranch addiction treatment for men, dial 877.228.4679 today. Serving men 18 and older, our wide range of programs encourage clients to embrace an active, healthy lifestyle as they pursue sobriety and wellness.

Addiction Transfer: Trading One Habit for Another

photo of TreeA plastic coated card deck beside poker chip and dice gambling addiction concept

Recognizing a drug or alcohol problem and seeking treatment is a life-changing step for any man. Learning to live without the substances that create pleasure sensations (or “highs”) in your brain’s reward center may seem impossible. Once you’ve progressed through the early stages of recovery, being self-aware enough to avoid the phenomenon called “addiction transfer” presents yet another treatment challenge.

Addiction transfer is substituting one addictive behavior for another. People who smoke may find themselves constantly eating; those who were formerly addicted to drugs or alcohol could end up with a gambling problem or become compulsive shoppers. In recent studies, patients who have had weight-loss surgery are becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol in alarmingly large numbers.

photo of TreeA plastic coated card deck beside poker chip and dice gambling addiction concept

The Science of Addiction

It was formerly thought that addicts transferred their behavior from one habit to another (e.g. food instead of alcohol) to fill an emotional void in their lives. This may be true in some cases, and cognitive-behavioral therapy is a common treatment approach to help uncover the root cause of addictive behaviors.

However, researchers now think that the true cause of addiction transfer is a lack of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter involved in many cognitive and physical functions. Drugs, alcohol, and other addictive behaviors activate the brain’s reward center and increase dopamine levels. Lower-than-normal dopamine levels can cause a craving to participate in an activity that delivers the same rush, whether it’s drinking, sex-ting, or surfing the internet to excess.

What’s the Problem?

As you work toward recovery, it’s natural—and even healthy—to distract yourself with other activities. One could argue that a shopping addiction is less dangerous to your health than using drugs, but doing anything to an unhealthy degree is destructive. With addiction, your brain learns to rely on the addictive behavior to feel good, and that’s when your life, work, and relationships begin to suffer.

Anyone can fall into the trap of a behavioral addiction (any non-substance related addiction), but people with a long history of substance addiction may be more prone to this type of behavior.

Addiction Transfer & Men’s Drug Addiction Recovery

Residential rehab, outpatient rehab, and drug detox programs use a variety of treatment approaches with the goal of helping clients attain and maintain long-term sobriety. Participating in a comprehensive addiction treatment program that takes a holistic (mind, body, spirit, social) approach is the best way to avoid addiction transfer. Throughout the recovery process, clients may require psychiatric treatment and individual therapy for co-occurring disorders, mood disorders, or dopamine deficits. In many cases, addicts may not even realize that they are substituting one addiction for another, so family and friends should be on the lookout for this type of behavior.

10 Acre Ranch Drug & Alcohol Rehab

To learn more about the therapeutic programs, life skills classes, and fitness opportunities available at 10 Acre Ranch addiction treatment for men, dial 877.228.4679 today. Serving men 18 and older, our therapeutic group activity setting encourages clients to return to an active, healthy lifestyle as they pursue sobriety and wellness.

The Healing Power of Meditation for Addiction Recovery

Drugs and alcohol can make you feel like you’re on top of the world when you’re enveloped in the chemical high created by your brain’s reward center. But those intense feelings of pleasure don’t last, and sooner or later you crash—and hard. Then the long list of negative feelings arrives: depression, fear, self-loathing, uncertainty, loss of control. Some treatments for substance abuse, such as detoxification, address the physical addiction. Others, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), focus on the psychological side.

As you begin to heal the mind and body, try meditation to heal your spirit as well.

Meditation for Stress Relief

Meditation is a holistic approach that aims to soothe the spiritual face of addiction. As you undergo treatment for your substance abuse disorder, you may be unable to concentrate. The underlying causes of your addiction may make you anxious, jittery, or sad. Emptying your mind of these negative emotions can help you become more clear-headed and motivated to overcome your problems.

Mindful meditation for addiction is the conscious act of focusing on one element, whether it’s your breathing or muscle relaxation. Imagining a safe place is another meditation technique. Quieting your mind through meditation for even a few short minutes can help you achieve a state of calm that has long-term, positive effects on your mental health.

Through meditation, you may be able to see your life and the choices you’ve made more clearly so you’re ready to solidify your commitment to long-term sobriety.

How to Begin Meditating

You don’t need special equipment or preparation for meditation. Wear comfortable clothing and find a quiet spot to start. Close your eyes and relax. Perhaps the simplest form of meditation is to focus on taking slow, deep breaths. Don’t worry when your mind starts to wander; it’s normal. Redirect yourself to your breathing each time until you can focus more easily. The more you practice meditation, the easier it will become and the more easily you can meditate for longer periods of time.

What Does the Science Say?

Meditation for addiction is an alternative treatment that often seems too “touchy-feely” for some men, but there’s scientific evidence to back up its use for drug and alcohol recovery. One recent study suggests that patients who used meditation techniques were more likely to complete residential treatment programs than those who did not meditate. Cravings, anxiety, and withdrawal symptoms were also reduced in the meditation groups.

Meditation for Addiction in Men

Residential, partial hospitalization, and outpatient drug treatment programs are increasingly incorporating holistic treatment approaches. To learn more about the therapeutic programs, fitness opportunities, and recreational activities available at 10 Acre Ranch addiction treatment for men, dial 877.228.4679 today. Serving men 18 and older, our therapeutic group activity setting encourages clients to return to an active, healthy lifestyle as they pursue long-term sobriety.