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Can Mindfulness Meditation Work for Addiction?

Mindfulness meditation is simply a process of learning how to be. But can mindfulness meditation work for addiction? Staying “in the moment” is critical when you are trying to break an addiction.

Can Mindfulness Meditation Work for Addiction?

Mindfulness meditation has been helping people for centuries. Its teachings can be found in yoga therapy and other practices as well. Mindfulness meditation is becoming a very popular form of therapeutic intervention that can work for addiction.

As an addiction treatment approach, it certainly works to improve how you conceptualize the moment. In each particular moment, you can focus on the moment and your decisions to use drugs or alcohol or not. This is the foundation of mindfulness meditation.

So, can mindfulness meditation work for addiction? It helps you get to the moment right before you pick up a drug. Stopping at the moment before you pick up is critical.

Can Mindfulness Meditation Work for Addiction By Myself?

Practicing mindfulness meditation for addiction should start with a skilled clinician or instructor. You are guided through the process of understanding who you are in that moment before you indulge in your drug of choice. Understanding who you are gives you the option to do different things.

Once you understand and have experience with mindfulness, you can continue practicing a version of it in your daily life without an instructor.

How Mindfulness Meditation Works

Body scans are a tool used in mindful meditation. A body scan is a way of training your brain to check in with different parts of your body while you are focused on the moment. This exercise helps you to stay in that moment. You may suffer from anxiety or other mental health concerns, in addition to your drug addiction. Certain aspects of our mental health are involved in choosing to abuse drugs and mindfulness meditation reduces symptoms of both.

Overthinking a situation, a relationship, or an outcome can lead to drug abuse or alcohol abuse. Learning about the moment can help you understand your feelings during that moment.

How Can Mindfulness Meditation Work For Addiction?

An example cited on the National Institute of Health website demonstrates how mindfulness meditation can work for addiction is in a study done with chocolate. Yes, that’s right chocolate. Mind you, it only works if you love chocolate. Participants were given a piece of chocolate to hold close to their mouths. As a result, they could smell the chocolate they could see the chocolate – until they were asked to close their eyes that is -and they could almost taste the chocolate. It was that close.

The participants were asked to hold a piece of chocolate in this manner for a period of time. This was an exercise to make participants think about cravings. How and where they were when the thoughts of cravings came to them. This is the central point to address can mindfulness meditation work for addiction. This was an exercise on mindfulness meditation. They had to stay in that moment they could not eat the chocolate. Their mind was able to come up with their cravings pathway.

This exercise let their brain practice how it would be to not give into a trigger to use alcohol or substances. It is difficult to get this practice without mindfulness meditation. Having a discussion with the therapist and peers about their feelings of cravings can prove to help them fight triggers and urges in the future when it comes to drugs and alcohol.

Programs at The Ranch

Programs at The Ranch can be combined with the mindfulness meditation program. They can increase the benefits of base addiction treatment programs.

For the best recovery, experts may recommend the following options:

Several of our program approaches incorporate these techniques. If you are still wondering, can mindful meditation work for addiction, feel free to contact The Ranch. We want to help you go triumphantly forward from this moment to experience recovery. Call us at 1.844.876.7680 to continue your recovery.

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