Yoga is an age-old practice that is known for its powerful benefits. While many associate the practice with physical health and well-being, the holistic practice’s abilities are helpful in addiction recovery. It helps keep the mind and body aligned as the individual undergoes recovery treatment.
Recovery centers like Villa Oasis addiction treatment have been using this approach to help individuals find meaning in their lives while leaving behind substances and alcohol. Yoga, as a recovery tool, makes it possible for individuals to tap into areas in their lives they haven’t explored yet, allowing them to eradicate trauma and work towards their betterment.
Here’s how yoga helps during recovery treatment:
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Ensures relaxation
Yoga is incredibly effective in managing stress. It allows the body to regulate breathing and the sympathetic-parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for the fight-or-flight response).
As a result, one can gain a sense of complete relaxation and emotional control. The practice also lowers cortisol levels, eventually reducing the stress an individual feels throughout the day.
Stress is a major contributing factor to anxiety, depression, dependency on alcohol and substances for relief. With lower levels of cortisol, you can shift your focus on identifying triggers contributing to stress and work on improving them.
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Increases willpower
Substances and alcohol severely hamper an individual’s ability to think clearly as they affect the psychological registers of the nervous system. The willpower eventually takes a hit, making it challenging for an individual with addiction to find motivation to correct their habits on their own.
Yoga paired with adequate recovery treatment methods allows an individual to gain control over themselves, curb their habit of depending on substances, and become self-reliant. Another notable benefit of yoga is that it helps relax the body, releases muscle tension, and lowers blood pressure and heart rate.
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Detoxifies the body
Yoga encourages mindfulness and reduces stress in addiction recovery. These aspects help control cravings for substances and alcohol and avoid relapse. The practice utilizes different breathing techniques, helping calm down the mind and significantly reducing anxiety.
Moreover, the mental clarity one experiences due to yoga enables individuals to navigate complex emotions and feelings while focusing on the present moment. Also, yoga involves different twisting movements and stretches that promote pushing out toxins from the blood concerning the body’s circulatory, digestive, and lymphatic systems.
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Improves mood
Yoga is a low-impact exercise that lightly stretches the body and increases the production of endorphins and GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), known for their ability to uplift mood. Additionally, combining soothing music during the practice can further intensify the experience of calmness and relaxation.
Making yoga a part of one’s lifestyle can be beneficial in fighting against age-related decline in cognitive function and keeping physical well-being intact. Also, as yoga helps develop focus and concentration, it helps center oneself while practicing, preventing judgment, stressors, or opinions from causing distractions or disturbances. As yoga is a non-competitive exercise, you do not have to worry about being the best.
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Increases self-awareness
Taking care of oneself takes a backseat when a person heavily relies on alcohol and substances to go through their day. Yoga enables people to shift their focus back to themselves through various methods, including meditation, holding postures, and deep stretching.
The practice involves extensive breath work, enabling individuals to observe their thoughts and feelings instead of acting on or engaging with them.
Today’s lifestyle has made it difficult for individuals to take time out from their lives and do something that helps in grounding them, allowing better regulation of the body. Yoga promotes stillness while creating a pathway within the body to reconnect with itself, allowing a person to gain more awareness about self and their potential.
Bottomline
Yoga is known for bridging the disconnect that often occurs between the mind and body as a result of addiction. It allows the mind to attain a state of calmness while attending to one’s physical and emotional needs through acknowledgment and acceptance.
While the recovery process is different for everyone, yoga paired with modern methods can help with grounding, eventually increasing awareness and appreciation of oneself.
