Addiction is a condition were we are habitually involved in something,whether we like it or not.Alcoholism,gambling,food, sex, drugs are examples of Addiction.Recovery is the process of bringing our life back to normalcy.It is an up hill task to lead a normal life with a body recovering from heavy doses of intoxication.This article tries understand the role meditation can play in addiction recovery.
Challenges before an addict during Addiction Recovery:
- The withdrawal symptoms of the drug makes the addict crave for it.
- Depression and low self esteem during recovery are normal.
- Adaptability to a healthy life style requires time.
- Sometimes social stigmas also act as a hurdle in recovery.
Role of meditation in Addiction Recovery:
- Buddha said that the root cause to all our sufferings is our desire.
- Addiction according to Buddhism is desire gone mad.
- Meditation is a potent tool in dealing with addiction challenges.Its regular practice can make meditation itself an addiction,termed by therapists as “Positive Meditation”.
- Meditation can provide us new insights about what makes us crave for the drugs.
- It intuitively guides us towards the means that can help us dissolve the root causes of the craving for the drug.
- It helps us gain control over our immune system and deal with the other physiological and psychological urges with composure.
- Self control coming from a relaxed state of mind and self confidence because of high degree of success in recovery in short span of time fastens the process.
- A report was published by American Counseling Association in Oct 2007 on a study conducted on the role of meditation in addiction recovery.
- According to the results of that report,experts found that meditation proved to be a powerful means for dealing with addiction recovery.
- It helped in successfully dealing with addiction-related life challenges and developing coping skill with some ever present perils of addiction.
