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The iconic Buddhist monk and civil rights leader, Thich Nhat Hanh, said, “Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.” Mindfulness is about being in the present moment and happily healing at the cellular level “one day at a time.” This also embodies the essence of holistic approaches to addiction treatment.
Holism has to do with the interconnectedness between the mind, body, and soul. When one is negatively affected, the other two will ultimately follow. The good news is that the same is true when one part becomes healed.
This is what the holistic approach to treatment is all about. It is about recovering individual parts of the self so that one’s entire being may flourish.
The holistic approach to treatment also focuses on natural aspects of healing. Examples include yoga, meditation, acupuncture, tai chi, reiki, massage, and aromatherapy. While these holistic modalities focus on natural healing, they are also now often used as supplemental treatments to pharmacological and psychotherapeutic modalities.
A holistic approach to addiction treatment is going to look individualized and comprehensive. It is also going to engage the individual to grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
A holistic approach to treatment is also going to look like a long-term plan rather than a short-term “fix.” Thich Nhat Hanh said, “You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life of peace, you inspire hope for a future of peace.”
Mindfulness practices are aimed at giving us an opportunity for continued growth. After all, addiction recovery is about the journey, never the destination.
Yoga is quickly becoming popularized in the recovery realm. According to the International Journal of Yoga, “A 3,000 year old tradition, yoga, is now regarded in the Western world as a holistic approach to health and is classified by the National Institutes of Health as a form of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). The word ‘yoga’ comes from a Sanskrit root ‘yuj’ which means union, or yoke, to join, and to direct and concentrate one’s attention.”
Many people may be surprised at all of the benefits that yoga can offer, many of which are essential benefits for addiction recovery. The following are just a few of the benefits:
Meditation is a practice used to calm and quiet the mind. Like other holistic practices such as yoga and acupuncture, mediation is quickly becoming a prominent holistic approach to addiction treatment.
Entering a world of addiction recovery means we must slow down and be present. This is why the phrase “One day at a time” is so often used. We must live today because, especially in recovery, tomorrow is never promised. Thich Nhat Hanh said, “We will be more successful in all our endeavors if we can let go of the habit of running all the time, and take little pauses to relax and re-center ourselves. And we’ll also have a lot more joy in living.”
According to the peer-reviewed journal Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation, “Mindfulness training [including mindfulness meditation] is a promising intervention option for SUDs and relapse prevention. Mindfulness can be conceptualized as a state, trait, and practice. The state of mindfulness is cultivated during mindfulness practice and is characterized by a non-judgmental, non-reactive, present-centered attention and metacognitive awareness of cognition, emotion, sensation, and perception.” The following are just a few of the benefits that can be gained from meditation for addiction recovery:
There is a saying often used in recovery that goes, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Addiction recovery is about much more than merely putting down the drink or the drug. It is about establishing a way of life that we are excited about and proud of. This is what here at Painted Desert Recovery and a holistic approach to addiction recovery have to offer.
Thich Nhat Hanh said, “When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. That is also our objective here at Painted Desert Recovery: to be present and to love our clients until they learn to love themselves.
Holistic approaches to addiction treatment focus on treating the whole person, not just the symptoms of addiction. This method considers the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects of an individual’s life. For more information about how to recover from addiction, please contact Painted Desert Recovery today at (844) 540-0353.