Mindfulness and meditations are helpful therapeutic tools used in rehabilitation centers. It aims to restructure the individual’s reward centers of the brain to bring a change in behavior. These two practices involve diverting your awareness and attention to the present moment with a non-judgmental perspective to cultivate deeper self-awareness and love.
What Are Meditation and Mindfulness?
These two therapeutic tools are complementary approaches alongside most rehabilitation centers’ healing and rehabilitative approaches. Meditation is used to power mindfulness. However, there are slight differences in approach, duration, focus, and intention.
To start your recovery today through meditation and mindfulness, you need a deeper understanding of these two tools and their role in therapy. This article provides you with all the details and roles of meditation and mindfulness.
Definitions of Meditation and Mindfulness
Meditation involves guided techniques designed to cultivate calm and create awareness in an individual. These involve both physical and emotional control and insights. During guided Meditation, individuals are encouraged to sit quietly and focus on an image, breath, or thought.
Mindfulness can be defined as being present and aware of all your daily activities, such as walking, eating, and running. Mindfulness exercise includes paying close attention to your surroundings, self-acceptance, and living in the moment.
What Is the Role of Mindfulness in Rehab?
Meditation and mindfulness creates a deeper awareness and openness of a person’s daily routine and behavior. This radical change improves a person’s mental and physical health.
They help individuals increase their self-awareness, enabling them to control their current situation and feelings. Meditations bring about structural brain changes that result in behavior change.
It also helps individuals change from the autopilot state of mind—where they are unconscious of behavior to a more cognitive state.
It increases spirituality and helps keep you in touch with your identity and well-being.
Meditation mindfulness helps individuals to alleviate stress and anxiety that acts as triggers that can cause relapse.
Addicts can control and let go of solid substance use urges through urge surfing attained through mindfulness.
Through mindfulness and meditation, addicts can build on their value clarification through acceptance and self-love.
The two techniques act as a good addiction substitution. Whenever addicts feel the urge to relapse, they can substitute it with meditation.
Approaches to Meditation and Mindfulness in Rehab
Mindfulness-based relapse prevention focuses on making our mind conscious of our daily autopilot state, destructive habits, and triggers. This helps individuals to keep note of daily activities and prevent relapse.
Walking and breathing meditations: These techniques focus on alleviating stress and anxiety. The methods are suitable when addicts are struggling with addiction caused and triggered by anxiety and stress.
Practicing mindfulness and meditation through breathing and walking while consciously aware of each step and breath allow individuals to have triggers that affect behavior, which is essential during recovery.
While applying mindfulness and meditation techniques, it’s essential to note the following:
- The type of approaches
- Social and educational background of the participants
- Specific clinical disorders targeted
