How Yoga Can Beat Drug And Alcohol Addiction

How do you make that significant shift from a life of addiction to a life of practicing yoga? There have been numerous programs involving yoga for recovery, but very little is known about how it does its magic. 

While this Eastern tradition of healing may improve physical health, it has also become a great way to help find mental, emotional, and spiritual healing. This is the reason why a lot of institutions incorporate yoga and meditation for recovery.

Yoga For Addiction Treatment

It would help if you introduced yoga and mindfulness meditation into your recovery program early on. As you progress, yoga and meditation therapy should become a part of your regular practice. When you are ready to return to your normal life, not only will you have recovered from your drug or alcohol addiction, but you will have found a practice that will help you deal with the stress of the real world.

Everyone Can Benefit From Yoga

Early recovery for addicts can bring about perilous times, which means it could likely put a person in a situation where he suffers a relapse. This is when yoga, as a form of treatment, can become truly useful.

With the practice of yoga, people will be able to find it in themselves the strength they need to resist any temptation. It is vital that they have a way to say no to what could lead them back to the life they do not want. Yoga can undoubtedly make them say no to their addictions. 

Understanding The Gift Of Yoga

Every recovery journal reveals a different story. While people may be under the same recovery plan to help them overcome their addiction to drugs and alcohol, every story unfolds a certain way. 

Some people are lucky to get help and support from those who care about them. Their support system is strong enough to see them through the rough patches of recovery. In their dark times, they can turn to those they love for help and comfort.

But then again, when a recovering addict goes through a challenging time in recovery, some feel alone. The negativity of the situation gets to them. They feel like nothing they do will ever take them out of the situation they are in. 

This is where yoga for addiction recovery proves to be helpful. With the meditation practice of yoga, people who are in the process of recovery can turn to themselves for help and comfort. They won't need other people to reassure them that they are doing the right thing. 

Because yoga teaches people how to become more mindful of the situation, recovering addicts will be more focused on their recovery process as opposed to worrying about what has happened to them in the past.

Yoga is an ancient practice of meditation that originated from India. It is believed to have been around since 3000 BC. However, in the past decades, Western civilization has embraced the practice as if it were their own.

Yoga has become a way to promote holistic health covering all the aspects of a person. Not only does it help people improve their physical well-being, but it also targets their mental and emotional strength.

In truth, yoga is a practice that leads to the spiritual path. The word "yoga" is literally taken out of the Sanskrit word yoke, or to bind. This means that yoga yokes together or binds together the body, mind, and spirit.

Yoga is known for the exercise postures that it lets the practitioners do. And yet, what people fail to see that the exercise part is just one aspect of the whole practice. In fact, yoga comes with eight parts; they call them the eight limbs of yoga.

Yama

This refers to the ethical principles of the practice that every yoga practitioner must adhere to. These principles include the practice of restraint in behavior, non-violence, and not stealing anything—in thought or things. Yama also requires people to only speak of the truth and to always try to avoid feeling jealous.

Niyama

These are spiritual practices that encourage people to surrender their worries to a higher power, practice cleanliness at all times, and study sacred scriptures. Through the learning of the scriptures, one learns the value of contentment and other spiritual austerities. 

Asana

This aspect covers the most popular yoga poses that the practice is known for. It helps create a bond between the body and the mind.

Pranayama

These refer to the different breathing techniques that are associated with yoga practice. It teaches people to become more aware of how the air comes in and out of their bodies.

Pratyahara

This is the aspect that covers the concept of withdrawal of the senses. The practice comes in many forms, but most of the time, it is associated with meditative absorption. The yogi or yogini embraces the spirit of the practice and surrenders everything to the higher Being above.

Dharana

It is that intense one-point concentration that a person develops only after the thorough practice of meditation. 

Dhyana

This is similar to Dharana'sDharana's concept, but instead of focusing on one focal point, it allows the energy to flow through the body smoothly. 

Patanjali

It is a meditative state where the person is able to transcend himself from the physical to the spiritual realm. At this point, a person feels nothing less than pure ecstasy. 

Final Thoughts

It is not necessary to practice all the limbs of yoga every time you practice. You can still benefit from yoga even if you decide only to practice one aspect of it at a time. 

While most people practice yoga for strength and clarity, this list only shows that you can get more out of yoga than you think. It is no surprise that yoga has become part of several recovery programs for addiction. 

After all, the asana poses' simple practice can make a huge difference in a person's life. At this point, all you need is to believe in making things happen.