Treatment for substance abuse and addiction changes with each passing year. Research brings new therapies and methods to light as being helpful for people seeking long-term sobriety. These methods fall under one of three categories of treatment approaches, including traditional, alternative and complementary. Yoga therapy is an additional health practice proven to help people achieve and maintain a sober life naturally.
You don’t practice yoga in rehab in place of traditional therapies. Instead, you use yoga in addition to evidence-based practices, medications, and other substance abuse treatment methods. Your yoga therapy helps you feel balanced, self-aware and focused. Because of these benefits, you perform better in all areas of your life, including during rehab treatment.
About one in 15 Americans practices yoga. The physical exercise holds such popularity because it helps you connect your mind, breath, and body. You understand your physical being better and relate better to the world around you. For people in rehab and sobriety, it also helps keep stress, triggers, and temptations leading to substance abuse controlled.
What is Yoga Therapy?
Yoga therapy is a focused practice of yoga for substance abuse or other health problems. A yogi or therapist leads your yoga sessions during which you assume physical postures. You undertake these postures, called asanas, along with deep breathing, meditation, and relaxation.
Yoga helps empower you to improve your physical and mental health, as well as to gain well-being. Scientific evidence supports the use of yoga in addiction treatment because of its health benefits. Anyone can safely practice yoga, and your ability to enter the poses gets better with practice.
Short and Long-Term Benefits of Yoga
Yoga provides many benefits, including learning to calm and soothe yourself without using drugs or alcohol. This is only one of many mental and physical benefits. This therapy also relaxes you and lowers your stress levels.
Meditation used in yoga triggers physical changes called the “relaxation response.” This response lowers your heart rate, cortisol stress hormone levels, blood pressure and adrenaline. This enables you to control your anxiety and depression, with regular practice helping you stay upbeat and positive during early abstinence from drugs and alcohol.
Yoga also helps people cope with trauma. Some practices help people with PTSD, in particular. By regularly practicing yoga, your mind calms, self-awareness improves, and you sleep better.
One major benefit for people in sobriety is exposure to the drug-free setting and people in yoga classes. You instantly surround yourself with positive-minded, healthy people when you attend yoga outside of rehab. This expands your social circle with new friends to build up your healthy socialization.
Another significant effect of practicing yoga is the physical fitness aspect. The yoga postures do not seem to strain your body like aerobics or weightlifting. So many people feel surprised by their physical fitness, flexibility and strength improvements gained through the practice.
Finally, yoga’s biggest benefit is how easily you can incorporate the activity into your life. You can perform yoga anywhere without the need for special equipment or other people. Whenever you feel stress, this exercise quickly and easily soothes, calms and centers you.
How Does Yoga Help You at Morningside Recovery?
Yoga therapy at Morningside Recovery provides a judgment-free place to de-stress and focus energy inward. As you practice yoga in therapy, you quickly block out people around you and tune your mind and energy into what your own body is experiencing.
At Morningside Recovery in Garden Grove, CA yoga provides just one method of achieving and maintaining a sober life. Other therapies and rehab programs of this dually-accredited inpatient drug rehab center in CA include:
- Supervised detox
- Residential and inpatient rehab
- Intensive outpatient treatment
- Adventure therapy, such as ziplining, hiking, and camping
- Experiential therapy, including art, yoga, and music
- Holistic therapy and evidence-based therapy
- Aftercare
For your strongest chance of lasting sobriety, call Morningside Recovery now at 855-416-8202. Learn more about yoga therapy and how it can help you achieve recovery today.
