Everyone experiences negative thoughts and feelings sometimes. However, substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health disorders can exacerbate unhealthy thoughts and feelings. Thus, difficulties processing your emotions can impede your ability to self-reflect and build healthy coping strategies. However, utilizing recovery tools like therapeutic meditation can help you develop more self-awareness through mindfulness to process your thoughts and feelings.
Here at Insight Recovery Center, we know there is no one-size-fits-all approach to recovery. Therefore, we believe in the value of holistic care to address the roots of your co-occurring disorders to support long-term recovery.
What Is Therapeutic Meditation?
According to an article from the BMJ, meditation is a practice that utilizes various techniques like listening to your breathing and mantras to focus your attention and create a state of self-awareness. Whereas therapeutic meditation typically takes place in a therapeutic setting and uses a multitude of techniques like mindfulness and transcendental meditation to support your well-being.
While different forms of therapeutic meditation utilize different techniques, their goals are similar in creating space to reduce psychological distress and engage more self-awareness of your body and mind. As noted in the article “Meditation” from Mental Health America (MHA), meditation, in its many different variations, has long been an invaluable tool for self-awareness and stress reduction.
Forms of Meditation
As noted by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), listed are some common forms of therapeutic meditation practices:
- Mindfulness meditation
- Mind-body practice
- Acknowledge thoughts and feelings
- Nonjudgmental
- Mindful awareness
- Mind-body practice
- Transcendental meditation
- Mantra driven meditation
- Internal repetition of a mantra
- Perform mantra for a certain length of time
- Mantra driven meditation
Moreover, these forms of therapeutic meditation have been used to support mental health and SUD recovery. Many co-occurring disorders impede your ability to regulate emotions, recognize negative thinking and behavior patterns, and break those unhealthy patterns. However, understanding the process of meditation highlights how meditation can support your well-being.
Process of Meditation
According to an article in the International Quarterly Journal of Research in Ayurveda, in the process of meditation, there are three aspects that make up human beings:
1. Physical body
2. The working consciousness: constantly changing
- Mind
- Process of sensory perceptions
- Intellect
- Analyze, discriminate, make decisions, and judge
- Ego
- Doership and experiencer
- Chitta
- Stores all memories and impressions of life
3. Deep inner self: nonchanging pure consciousness
- Knowledge
- Intelligence
- Creativity
Moreover, the deep inner self activates the working consciousness, which activates the physical body to create a feedback loop provided by meditation. Within this meditation feedback loop, a conscious connection is made with your deep inner self. Thus, the conscious connection with your deep inner self gives room for self-awareness and introspection to build healthy coping skills.
Physical and Psychological Benefits of Therapeutic Meditation
Furthermore, as noted in the article from the International Quarterly Journal of Research in Ayurveda, the practice of meditation can have a profound impact on your physical and psychological wellness. Listed below are some of the health benefits of therapeutic meditation:
Physical
- Increased energy
- Less pain
- Lower blood pressure
- Reduced cholesterol
Psychological
- Stress reduction
- Decreased anxiety
- Improved memory
- Decreased depression
- Increased efficiency
Therefore, the development of deeper self-awareness and self-insight fostered by therapeutic meditation can support mental health and SUD recovery.
Benefits of Therapeutic Meditation for SUD
As noted in an article from Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation, mindfulness meditation utilizes mindfulness practices to connect with the conscious and unconscious self. Thus, mindfulness practices work to focus your attention and monitor your thoughts, feelings, and sensations while acknowledging and letting go of distractions.
The cultivation of mindful traits through mindful practices can help reduce unhealthy coping behaviors like substance use. According to Clinical Psychology Review, participating in mindful practices in your daily life can increase trait mindfulness, which can include:
- Higher life satisfaction
- More agreeableness
- Increased conscientiousness
- Higher self-esteem
- More empathy
- Improved vitality
- Increased sense of autonomy
- Improved competence
- Increased optimism
- Improved attention and persistence in tasks
- Enhanced ability to let go of negative automatic thoughts
Moreover, the value of self-awareness and self-insight in mindful practices gives you the tools to deepen your understanding of your SUD. When you understand the reasons for your substance use, you are more equipped to recognize your triggers and cravings to increase relapse prevention for long-term recovery.
Recovering With Holistic Care at Insight Recovery Center
At Insight Recovery Center, we know SUD and mental health disorders often co-occur, which can make the recovery process more difficult. We believe long-term recovery means treating the whole person in mind, body, and spirit. Therefore, we are committed to providing holistic and integrative treatments to address and support co-occurring disorders.
With a dual diagnosis treatment program, you can dismantle negative thinking and behavior patterns and learn healthy ways to cope with stress. Moreover, therapeutic meditation as a holistic approach to care gives you the space to rediscover your recovery and build an individualized plan of care to support your long-term recovery.
Contact Insight Recovery Center Today
Substance use disorder and mental health disorders can make it difficult to self-reflect and build healthy coping skills. However, therapeutic meditation can help you practice various meditation techniques to engage in building more self-awareness. Through the mind-body connection, you can support your physical and psychological well-being by actively acknowledging your thoughts, feelings, and sensations without self-judgment. Therefore, engaging in mindful practices in your daily life can support mindful traits to reduce unhealthy coping behaviors. At Insight Recovery Center, we believe in the importance of holistic care like meditation to treat the whole person in mind, body, and spirit for long-term wellness. To learn how therapeutic meditation can support your recovery, call 828.845.8325 today.