When you attend a program offered at drug addiction treatment centers, you can expect to undergo one-on-one counseling, learning how to cope with your addiction, finding triggers, etc. You will be taught how to live a healthier lifestyle which will include dietary and exercise changes. Drug treatment centers also focus on other forms of treatment including yoga. Yoga is a form of exercise that has been proven to naturally enhance the mood of the patient as well as provide a way to release tension and aggression. Many 12-Step programs have integrated yoga exercises as a way to help patients achieve their sobriety goals. But how does yoga help exactly?
Provides New Mechanisms for Coping
The main reason an addiction takes place is the inability for the individual to cope with the emotions they face or difficult situations. With yoga, the patient is taught how to focus, with skills provided so that new ways of coping with stressful situations are found. Controlled breathing is part of yoga exercises which helps the individual to gain control of emotions and thoughts.
Achieve a Sense of Peace
For most drug addicts, there is no sense of peace. Thoughts go around and around in the head, such as feelings of guilt or anger. Individuals use drugs to escape and feel at ease. The individual must find their sense of peace once again. This can be done with yoga exercises. There are exercises that promote acceptance which is something that an addict must do during a treatment program, accept their failures.
While practicing yoga, the patient will be able to learn deep breathing with physical movements. These exercises take physical as well as mental concentration. Once the movements and breathing have been mastered, the individual begins to see inner and outer peace which can bring about clear thinking and help sustain a quality way of life without drugs or alcohol.
Create a Spiritual Connection
With the practice of yoga, meditation and prayer are an integral part. For individuals who need a sense of faith or something to believe in, the spiritual connection can be helpful in the sobriety process. Make a connection with something bigger than yourself as you practice yoga movements and breathing.
Self-Discipline
When you begin a program at drug treatment centers, part of treatment will focus on self-discipline. With any addiction, you must have self-control to avoid using the drug or alcohol. With yoga, you have a way to learn self-discipline through exercise. Most individuals who take part in a rehab program have impulsive tendencies. Programs for treatment provide concrete actions to help individuals develop a plan for addressing hurt and anger from the past as well as planning steps for the future.
When you are in recovery, you must find a way to override any negative impulses with an action to the positive. Yoga will help support such goals by giving you the tools you need to change emotions to the positive.
The practice of yoga has only just become a popular option for drug and alcohol treatment in the past ten years. It is not unusual now to see the exercise as a common practice be it in individual classes or group sessions. The practice of yoga is thousands of years old and we are just now learning the full benefits of the exercise. Patients have found that practicing yoga during treatment can assist in helping the individual form a new life that is free from drug and alcohol abuse. Seek out treatment programs that incorporate yoga to try the exercises and see how the movements and breathing can affect your new sober lifestyle.
