5 Mindfulness Practices for Addiction Recovery

Acknowledging the addiction you’re recovering from is also not easy in general, so many people tend to avoid thinking about it altogether. However, know it’s important to identify what caused it in the first place and how you can internally heal from and make peace with it. Identifying certain habits and trains of thought can make it easier to pinpoint when you’re starting to crave or feel down. Understanding what triggers your cravings or causes you to feel down is good so you can avoid those habits or thoughts and curate your day-to-day. Remember to be patient with yourself and practice these techniques with a lot of self-grace.

All types of meditation involve being mindful of the present moment, but mindfulness meditation focuses entirely on this concept. In this form of meditation, you work to build your awareness of what is happening right now in your life. Through mindfulness meditation, you will examine your feelings, thoughts, and experiences with detachment and without labeling them. As you breathe deeply, you will allow any thoughts or sensations to pass with detachment – more on mindfulness meditation below. Drug addiction and substance abuse are all about escaping from something. This is why recognizing that pattern and becoming aware of your need to escape is a big part of recovery.

How Do You Begin Incorporating Meditation into Your Journey of Recovery?

Compassion strengthens our ability to build healthy, healing relationships that positively affect our inner emotions. Studies have shown that when we feel emotionally connected, we thrive mentally and physically. Meditation has been around for thousands of years, and you may have practiced it without even realizing—many religions use some form of meditation to become closer to or communicate with their Higher Power. Mindworks goal is simple—we want to help you discover the transformative power of meditation so that you can live your best life. As a 501c3 nonprofit, your support enables us to bring accessible, authentic meditation guidance to a worldwide community. While we have outlined one basic philosophy / form of meditation in the links below, if you already have a proven meditation technique — then we encourage you to combine & enhance it with our audio technology.

Mindfulness-based interventions may be clinically beneficial for treating a variety of substance use disorders, including addictions to alcohol, nicotine, cocaine and prescription opioids. Mindfulness is a centuries-old contemplative practice that can help you develop awareness, clarity and focus in your daily life. Today, therapies based on mindfulness are used effectively to treat addiction. In the context of addiction recovery, mindfulness can be considered a form of mental training. Here, the training is designed to get parts of the brain that have been impaired by persistent drug or alcohol abuse back in shape. MBIs might also reduce addictive behavior by strengthening facets of dispositional/trait mindfulness.

Mindfulness as a relapse prevention strategy versus mindfulness as a vehicle for recovery

Many addicts come into recovery with a history of relationships that they have damaged or that have damaged them. Meditation makes it easier for them to forgive the past and develop healthy relationships.

Our cutting-edge approach combines advanced therapies with traditional methods, ensuring each patient receives the tools necessary for successful, long-term sobriety. Meditation apps can help you learn more about meditation and practice specific techniques for different situations, such as dealing with anxiety or stress during your meditation for addiction recovery addiction recovery journey. Some of these apps even offer guided meditations that will help you focus on your breathing and the present moment by following an audio track. Individuals who are recovering from addiction may experience increased stress and anxiety due to the changes in their lifestyle and the challenges of sobriety.