Working through addiction goes far beyond the weeks spent in a rehab facility. As you begin your lifelong journey of recovery, you’ll see that sobriety is a lifestyle, not a destination. Many people in recovery are realizing how beneficial yoga as a regular practice is to their new sober lifestyle.
Curious to try it for yourself? Consider the following benefits:
1. Yoga Offers Consistent Physical Exercise
As a physical practice, yoga serves as an opportunity to keep the body moving on a regular basis. Similarly, exercise is an excellent way to keep the body feeling its best without having to rely on any addictive substances. The serotonin released during physical exercises is a natural high that is a significant part of overcoming the desire to relapse.
Similarly, having regularly scheduled yoga practices helps to keep one’s schedule full. This will keep boredom at bay, another trigger that can lead to relapse. Resources like The Arbor will help you to keep on a healthy routine.
2. Yoga is a Spiritual Outlet
Many people in recovery often turn to a “higher power” as a way to believe in something that is bigger than them. By practicing yoga, you’ll be able to tap into its spirituality, helping you to feel like you are apart of something more. This is especially true for someone that is enrolled in a yoga class. Instead of feeling like they are just an individual, having other classmates to rely on encourages a sense of unity and support.
3. Yoga Inspires You to Look Inward
Yoga practitioners are encouraged to take a look inward to understand their own consciousness. This is a way to better observe one’s emotions, as well as any underlying triggers that led to addictive behavior. This is a huge step forward for anyone attempting to heal as they are in recovery. By using yoga as a way to meditate on their rehabilitation process, one will be able to have a better sense of self, ultimately becoming more empowered.
4. Yoga Encourages Peaceful Living
The most essential part of yoga is breathing. When one practices yoga, they must focus on how they breathe. This focus on the way one breathes allows them to lower their blood pressure and heart rate, ultimately resulting in a calm feeling that expands to all other aspects of their life. For many in recovery, addiction can trigger the urge to relapse. However, through yoga, one can really tap into their ability to stay calm and focus on what really matters. This sense of peace is essentially what stands between sobriety and relapse.
5. Yoga Helps with Peace of Mind
As yoga brings its practitioners peace in their lives, it also helps to quiet their minds. With regular yoga practice, one will ultimately develop a strong connection between the mind and body. Thus, as the body is encouraged to be at peace, so is the mind. Armed with a clear mind and a sense of peace, others pursuing recovery are able to keep moving forward in their attempts to stay sober.
6. Yoga Develops Your Resilience
When one first attempts a pose in yoga, it can be challenging to maintain. However, over time, the body acclimates to this stress so that one can eventually perform the same poses without experiencing any of their initial struggles. Through this physical exercise in perseverance, once will learn to develop resilience in all areas of their life.
As yoga becomes a regular part of your life, you will be able to see how the lessons learned through this practice help to aid in recovery. With yoga’s unique connection of the body and mind, you’ll see that over time you are able to regain self-confidence, resilience, and a new determination to stay sober.
To learn more about drug addiction, have a look at The Recovery Village website.
