Natural Health Strategies has teamed up with Recovery Pride! Recovery Pride is an organization that works to shine a light on the accomplishments and strengths of those who have overcome their addictions. The journey to sobriety is not one of shame, but of pride. Which is why Recovery Pride showcases stories and victories that can inspire people going through addiction recovery. For those who are still working to overcome addiction, keep reading to learn holistic approaches to addiction recovery.
Holistic Approaches to Addiction Recovery
Going through addiction recovery is tough, but there are ways to forge ahead and make positive changes throughout your life. Not only are you making the best decision of your life by getting clean, you can make some other, smaller decisions that will help support your main goal. Getting healthy is more than just quitting drugs and alcohol. It’s about taking a holistic approach to your body, mind and lifestyle.
Using drugs and alcohol can do damage to your overall system, so getting it back to health is an important part of the recovery process. How have you been eating? Exercising? Sleeping? If you went to rehab, hopefully some of these issues will have been addressed there. An acronym that many treatment programs believe in is HALT. Don’t let yourself get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired, all things that can trigger a relapse.
Vitamins & Minerals.
If you’ve been abusing drugs or alcohol, your body may be depleted of essential vitamins and minerals. A Naturopathic Practitioner can test for various vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Afterwards, your Naturopathic Practitioner will be able to recommend specific foods, herbs, and supplements to help get your body back to optimal levels.
Diet.
Of course, the best way to get nutrients is to eat a healthy diet. Focus on eating a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Those who are recovering from alcoholism may find they have sugar cravings after detox. The body converts alcohol into sugar, so without the alcohol, the blood sugar levels drop. Fluctuations in sugar can make you feel anxious or depressed, which can lead to relapse.
Yoga.
Yoga is a great complement to any addiction recovery program because it helps people reduce stress, which is a trigger for relapse. One yoga instructor who battled addiction said in an interview with the Huffington Post: “Yoga allows me to physically process disconnection and discomfort. It teaches me that I can survive discomfort. In active addiction, there was a chasm between my head and my heart. I knew drugs were addictive, but my psychological pain was so great, I didn’t care. All I knew was that substance X made me feel better, and made existing in my own skin bearable. I hope to show other addicts the power of yoga to connect head and heart and body, so that substance X can’t gain a toehold.”
Prayer and Meditation.
Alongside yoga, prayer and meditation can be a healthy coping mechanism for those recovering from addiction. Research shows that prayer offsets the negative health effects of stress and increases self-control. While meditation helps you focus on living in the moment instead of reliving the past or worrying about the future. Both methods help you to calm yourself when life becomes too stressful.
Acupuncture.
While it’s not fully understood, acupuncture can help those in recovery, and many rehab centers use it to enhance treatment. Ear acupuncture — placing small needles into points on the outer ear — can help reduce addiction cravings. Acupuncture treatments are believed to curb the positive reinforcement properties of drugs by lowering the amount of dopamine released when the drug is used. Without the increase of dopamine, the “high” is diminished.
Exercise.
Many studies have shown that exercise is key in addiction recovery. Exercise helps boost serotonin in the brain, which improves your mood and makes your whole body feel better. It can even ease aches and pains. Even if you have to start small, work to incorporate exercise into your recovery lifestyle.
Now that you’re clean and on the path to a new life, remember that you only have one body. You’ve given it a tough time for a while, so now it’s time to pamper it. Feed it well, move it well and improve your mental health. When your body and mind improve, your spirit will, too.
