The Calm Within: How Meditation Therapy Supports Recovery

A successful recovery is about more than no longer using. In choosing sobriety, someone must make lasting changes to their lifestyle. One new helpful habit to incorporate is meditation. Practicing mindfulness through guided meditation for addiction recovery helps a person cope with the reality of recovery.

Daily meditation for addiction recovery can be simple to incorporate into a person’s schedule. While scholarly research on the subject is still in its infancy, incorporating meditation into the recovery process has great potential to help. Read on to learn about the benefits of meditation for recovery and decide if it is right for you.

What is Meditation?

Meditation is an ancient religious practice in which a person focuses or clears their mind using a combination of mental and physical techniques. Regular meditative practice can lead to decreases in anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder. It can also improve one’s ability to concentrate and adapt to emotional problems.

Not all forms of meditation look the same. For example, it can take the form of body-centered meditation, in which a person focuses on the physical sensations throughout their body. A meditation practitioner might contemplate a question, their emotions, a specific phrase or sound, or even an image. 

There is also moving meditation, in which a person focuses on breathing or performing specific body movements. Finally, in mindfulness meditation, a person stays aware of the present moment, as well as the sensations in their body.

Derived from Buddhist Vipassana meditation by Kabat-Zinn in 1979, mindfulness meditation, in particular, is growing more popular as a technique for treating addiction. As mindfulness practitioners meditate, they acknowledge and accept their experiences instead of suppressing them.

Does Meditation Help with Drug and Alcohol Addiction?

Meditation may help improve a person’s general mental health, but can it really help with addiction? Recent research shows that mindfulness-based treatments such as mindfulness-based relapse prevention (MBRP) have the potential to help individuals in recovery. 

By developing mindfulness through meditation, a patient may become more aware of the nature of their relationship to alcohol or drugs. For example, a person who cultivates mindfulness through meditation may notice that they take higher doses when lonely. Individuals can become cognizant of the negative substance use patterns in their lives.

Researchers have suggested mindfulness serves as a catalyst for long-term addiction recovery.  It can also help limit the avoidance of unpleasant thoughts through substance use by emphasizing non-judgemental acceptance of thoughts. This can also interrupt cravings and self-medication through substance use. 

How to Use Daily Meditation for Recovery

If someone is interested in implementing meditation therapy into their recovery process, they need not worry about doing it correctly. First of all, guided meditations on a variety of recovery-related subjects exist to assist. 

A person can also simply start by incorporating a few daily meditation practices into their schedule. For example, they could begin by taking the time to focus on their breath. As well they could scan their body, listening for its sensations, such as pain or warmth. In tandem, these two techniques allow a person to focus on relaxing parts of their body.

It is also helpful to set aside daily time for meditation. In addition, a person should set up a comfortable place to meditate. By having a dedicated time and space, they can establish a routine and get used to regular meditation. 

“A completely blank mind is not the goal.”

During this process, the mind may wander. In this scenario, it is best to acknowledge the thought, take a moment to pause, and return to focusing on the breath. However, a completely blank mind is not the goal either. By centering breathing in meditation, one has an anchor to keep one’s own thoughts from spiraling into worries.

By making these practices a daily habit or by following guided meditation, a person may experience an increase in mindfulness over time. This can heighten their executive control and thus decrease the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral tendencies that sustain substance misuse. 

Stay Mindful with SoberMind Recovery

While meditation is no replacement for conventional care, it also has the potential to assist in substance use recovery. Through guided meditation for addiction recovery, a person can regulate their emotions, reduce cravings, and better cope with the realities of becoming sober. 

However, not every person will have an easy time adopting meditation or simply beginning the recovery process at all. If you or a loved one is struggling with substance use disorder, SoberMind Recovery is there to help. If you need access to LGBTQ+ sober living or dual diagnosis treatment, Los Angeles may be your next destination. Call our toll-free number, 818-835-9268, today to see how our evidence-based treatment can help you.