In the early months of addiction recovery, you may experience a bit of mental haziness. As your mind adjusts to sober living, it can be quite a struggle just to think clearly. With such erratic emotions, it is easy to relapse if you are not able to cope with such challenges.
Mindful meditation is a wonderful tool through every stage of addiction recovery. It provides you with increased control over your emotions while enhancing mental clarity.
Advantages of mindful mediation
With mindful meditation, you must focus on the present – be aware of emotions, feelings and thoughts in the here and now. It involves observation without judgment.
Traditionally, it has been an interest of those on a spiritual path. Recently, it has also become popular with others that do not consider themselves to be spiritual pursuers. The reason for its increasing popularity is the health benefits that come with practice, including:
• Increased ability to handle stress
• Reduced feelings of anxiety
• Treating and preventing depression
• A greater awareness of physical and mental functions
• Increased ability to manage pain
• Increased ability to fight disease
• A greater awareness of thoughts, which leads to making better decisions
• Easier management of strong emotions
How mindful meditation aids sober living
Becoming sober involves facing a wide range of challenges, so any tool that you can use to help is of tremendous value. Building a sober home is like riding a roller coaster in the early moments. Mindful meditation practice will help you feel more in control. This will allow you to handle the highs and lows of this time much better.
During addiction recovery, cravings will continue to creep up on you. Through meditation, you will be able to observe your cravings without allowing them to take control of you. While you may not be responsible for such thoughts, you do not have to be victimized by them either.
Mindful meditation makes sober living more enjoyable. In fact, you will find that even the smallest things bring you more pleasure than you ever thought possible. Interpersonal relationships will become more manageable, especially if you have damaged relationships that you need to work on during your recovery.