How Meditation, Yoga, and Martial Arts Can Facilitate the Recovery Process

Those who have experienced drug addiction know how difficult it is to kick the habit. The vast majority of the time, professional rehabilitation, counseling, and detox at a trained drug rehab center is necessary to achieve a full, long-term recovery. However, these are not the only techniques used to combat drug use and addiction. Holistic approaches like yoga, meditation, and martial arts are employed to relieve stress, anxiety, and depression. These activities release chemicals that stimulate the brain, to inhabit the place of the unnatural high the drug addict used to indulge in.

According to Project Meditation, taking time out of your day to meditate strengthens the immune system, increases energy and blood flow, and provides a sense of peace and inner-calm. The reduced stress and anxiety facilitates the recovery process because these emotions are connected to drug use and addiction. Other mental disorders that are linked with drug addiction can be helped with mediation as well. Nearly half of all addictions concern an underlying mental illness. Before a drug addict can effectively utilize meditation to decrease urges and symptoms of addiction, they must first check into an addiction recovery facility to rid themselves of all toxins through the withdrawal process. After detox, meditation can be applied to help the individual in the process as well as through the rest of their life.

In addition to the sense of calm that meditation provides, yoga is a great stress reducer and means of vitally important physical activity. Exercise releases dopamine in the brain, which is how drugs create the euphoric feeling you get while using them. Yoga also teaches you to keep your mind in-check and under control. The Addiction Recovery Guide states that yoga not only promotes discipline, but helps the individual become more concentrated and patient, which are desperately needed skills over the long-term drug addiction recovery process. Now, the same goes with yoga as meditation, to effectively practice yoga, drug addicts must go through withdrawal at a substance abuse treatment clinic.

Like yoga, martial arts is a source of physical activity that reduces depression and other mental hindrances that cause drug use, and subsequently, addiction. In addition, exercise “stimulates the brain’s reward pathway and heightens mood-boosting neurochemicals,” writes The National Institute on Drug Abuse. Martial arts is also a fantastic way to vent aggression, rage, and anger. Using martial arts boosts self-esteem, self-reliance, and overall comfortability with oneself. It may be difficult to practice martial arts in a drug addiction recovery clinic without a teacher, but as soon as you leave the facility, a world of captivating, stress-reducing physical sports are at your fingertips.
Overall, these physically immersive tactics are extremely beneficial for everyone, but especially useful for those recovering from drug addictions. If you or anyone you know is addicted to drugs or alcohol, it is imperative that you call Right Path Drug Rehab to find the addiction treatment facility that best suits you.