Tag Archives: recovery

Yoga in Recovery

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Yoga is known for its ability to reduce stress, but did you know that it can also help treat addiction? Several recent studies demonstrate that a regular yoga practice may help reduce addictive cravings. Yoga can provide a sense of fulfillment, well-being, and community. The meditation component of yoga together with its many physical benefits can make yoga the perfect addition to a comprehensive treatment program. The only way to know for sure is to give yoga a try and see for yourself. Here are six reasons why yoga might be exactly what your brain and body need during drug and alcohol recovery.

1. Reduce Cravings

The early stage of recovery is always the roughest period. Post-acute withdrawal syndrome from alcohol and drugs is never a pleasant experience. A little yoga can go a long way towards providing relief from cravings and calming a worried mind. Yoga induces a relaxing buzz similar to alcohol by increasing GABA.

GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain that’s responsible for turning down overactive brain chemistry. As your brain struggles to produce the neurotransmitters that alcohol used to provide, the neurotransmitter glutamate can become overactive. Increasing GABA with yoga can ease the compulsion to use.

2. Reduce Anxiety

Boosting GABA with yoga can do more than just reduce addictive cravings. According to a 2010 study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, a single 60-minute session of yoga can boost GABA levels by as much as 27%. GABA is what anti-anxiety drugs like Xanax act on to treat symptoms. The “yoga glow” that devout yoga practitioners talk about is largely the result of elevated GABA in the brain. Yoga also releases feel-good endorphins that act on peripheral opiate receptors in the body.

3. Reduce Stress

People who frequently drink alcohol can have elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol. In healthy individuals, cortisol is only released during emergencies as part of the ‘fight-or-flight’ response. People with anxiety, depression, and issues with alcohol addiction often have an overactive adrenal gland that produces too much cortisol. Chronically high cortisol levels can make anxiety and depression worse. When you’re stressed, you’re more likely to seek out drugs and alcohol as a way of escape. Studies show that yoga may act on the hypothalamus to reduce stress and lower cortisol production.

4. Yoga and Sleep

Difficulty sleeping can be one of the side effects of adjusting to sobriety. Over time, poor sleep can have a detrimental impact on mental health. Insomnia and other sleep disturbances can lead to worsening anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, and a weakened immune system. All of these things can make you more likely to go out and use. Yoga is proven to improve sleep and treat insomnia. Studies show that four to eight weeks of daily yoga can significantly improve sleep.

5. Pain Reduction

Chronic pain in your back, knees, neck, and head can make a prime excuse to reach for a drink. Yoga can help reduce the temptation to return to using by reducing chronic pain. Chronic joint inflammation is made worse by high cortisol levels. The cortisol-lowering power of yoga can help address pain issues. One study found that six months of regular yoga practice greatly reduced pain in individuals with chronic lower back pain.

Yoga can not only reduce pain on-site but can also reduce your perception of pain. In other words, yoga can increase your pain tolerance. Yoga accomplishes this by increasing levels of gray matter in the brain. High levels of gray matter are associated with pain modulation.

6. Find A Sense Of Community

One of the most challenging aspects of recovering from drug and alcohol addiction is needing to find new groups of healthy people to socialize with. Attending a regular yoga class can help you meet like-minded individuals. People who are into yoga tend to put a heavy emphasis on emotional, spiritual, and physical health, all the things that you should be striving for in drug and alcohol recovery. The yoga community can be a great addition to the bonds you form in group counseling and A.A. programs. Just because you have an issue with addiction doesn’t mean that it has to define you. It’s healthiest to make new friends both in A.A. meetings and in non-recovery related settings like yoga classes.

Finding Which Type of Yoga Is Right For You

Not everyone wants the intensity of a 90-minute hot Hatha session, while others may not have the core strength or joint mobility necessary for the poses done in Vinyasa. Luckily there are a wide variety of yoga styles to choose from no matter what your ability level or health goals.

Yoga is part exercise, part breathwork, and part meditation. Yoga styles vary dramatically. Some styles, like Vinyasa, involve a lot of movement, or “flow.” This style is more focused on improving coordination, strengthening the core, and balancing the muscles while getting diverse movement to the joints.

Other styles, like Hatha, are more meditative. In Hatha yoga, practitioners hold the poses for extended lengths of time with a heavier focus on breathing. Fighting to hold poses forces practitioners to synchronize their breathing with their movement and trains the brain to be less reactionary.

Deciding what you want to accomplish with your yoga practice will help you decide which types of classes to take. Yoga studios often specialize in certain styles, while others offer a wide variety of classes. Some studios are decorated with an aesthetic that promotes relaxation. Others are more geared toward the physical fitness crowd that uses yoga to recover from weightlifting and CrossFit workouts. Many studios offer restorative yoga classes, which for many people are a great place to start. Restorative yoga focuses on holding light poses for several minutes at a time so that you can focus on meditation and breathing.

Yoga can help treat addiction by reducing cravings, stress, anxiety, and depression. One of the ways GABA does this is by boosting levels of the neurotransmitter GABA in the brain. Yoga can also help you sleep more soundly, a component of health that is often ignored. The yoga community can be a great way to expand your circle of health-conscious friends.

If you or someone you know needs help recovering from addiction, the Stonewall Institute Treatment Center is more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Call us today at 602-535 6468 or email us at [email protected].

How to Stay Motivated Through Treatment

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More often than not, people check into a treatment facility with the intention of staying for the average rehabilitation length; 28 days. To think that the recovery process only lasts a month is underestimating the journey you’re about to take. Usually, rehabilitation under supervision lasts up to around 90 days. Yet, it continues throughout the rest of your life.

Maybe you have a loved one entering treatment for their addiction. Or maybe you’re addicted yourself and are looking for a way to handle the process. There are three separate factors that all correlate to help influence addicts stay motivated through treatment.

● Individual engagement

● Facility engagement

● Intensive interventions

 

Through these three factors, your treatment process will not only be successful but also reassure the motivation behind such a life changing decision.

 

Individual Engagement

There are instances where addicts are forced into treatment and, in the end, don’t recover. This has much to do with their lack of individual engagement.

One of the most important steps in recovery is an individual making the decision to quit themselves. If you desire to change your life in this regard, there’s more of an inclination to carry out the steps that proceed.

Addicts who find themselves in a full recovery are often self-motivated by their own ambition. This is why individual engagement is so important.

To ensure a successful treatment, here’s a list of some ways in which an individual can stay engaged:

● Support from loved ones

● Motivated to make a change

● Pressures from outside sources (work, relationships, criminal justice system)

 

Facility Engagement

Though an individual can’t necessarily be held responsible for a facility’s engagement, the facility in question is still your choice. This is why it’s vital for you to pick the right facility for your treatment.

Without the right engagement, an addict may lose faith in their abilities and never recover. When deciding upon a facility, look out for these key factors:

● Cooperative treatment plan

● Clear and concise treatment expectations

● Positive and promising therapeutical relationships with the staff

● Professional resources available (medicinal, social service, psychiatric)

 

Intensive Intervention

One of the most difficult aspects of addiction is an individual is forced to change direct areas of their personality. To go from high to sobriety may be a change in itself, but that change carries along with it a load of minor changes. With this, some individuals get unmotivated to make the change and end up dealing with intensive interventions.

When these situations come into play, those around the individual must know to step up and say something. Whether it be a family member, a faculty staff, a friend, a counselor, or even a co-worker, everyone in the individual’s life must remind him/her that he’s/she’s not on this journey alone. This gives off the impression of care in one’s life and care alone has the ability to motivate someone.

There have been instances where addicts attempt to get out of treatment, even if they had put themselves into it. Often, the change seems too radical for them to handle. It is important that we never let an individual feel undetermined about themselves and to lift them up in times of desperation.

 

 

If you or anyone you know has the desire to make this change, please feel free to call Stonewall Institute Treatment Center at 602-535-6468 for more information on treatment. You may also email us at [email protected].

Detoxing From Alcohol

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Have you ever wondered how long it will take to detox from alcohol? With nearly 17.5 million Americans currently abusing alcohol (according to National Survey on Drug Use and Health), you are not alone on the question.

Before undergoing recovery, it’s understandable to feel some sort of anxiety. The most important knowledge to remember is that the road to sobriety is never easy, but always gratifying by the end.

Detoxing is your first step on this road to recovery. Due to the fact that your body is so accustomed to intaking alcohol, it has adjusted all of its systems and maintenance to coincide with the substance’s chemicals. Now that you’ve decided to rid yourself of these toxins, your body must adjust back to a sober lifestyle.

The first week of detoxing is when you’ll experience the most chemical changes. Admittedly, this is will most likely be the most physically painful step you’ll have to make. But after around ten days, the body usually completely detoxes itself and afterward, you’ll be on your way to sober living.

It should be noted that it’s very important you detox under medical supervision. This assures not only the successfulness of the detox but also your life. With heavy alcohol use, there’s a chance of fatality when detoxing. Being that your body is accustomed to the chemicals, a sudden withdrawal can lead to a seizure, heart arrhythmias, and kidney/liver dysfunction. All of which have lethal potential.

On top of this, you want to make sure your body is getting proper medical care. With a professional’s attention, you can assure yourself that your body will be treated back to its healthy state.

 

What Happens After You Detox?

There are multiple decisions you can make that are completely up to you. However, it should be noted that just because you’ve detoxed doesn’t mean you’ve completely recovered. Though the chemicals are out of your system and your body is feeling normality once again, there’s always the chance of relapse.

To seek out further treatment is to continue on this road towards sobriety. Rehabilitation treatment offers prior addicts to get a sense of who they are and why they’ve made such a strong decision. Most importantly, it’s been proven to eliminate many of the urges telling you to go back to a substance.

If you decide on rehab then you’ll be greatly diminishing your chances of relapsing. The program you find yourself in will have to do with a number of factors:

● Co-occurring conditions you may have

● Your history (and/or family’s history) with addiction

● Other personal needs

● Insurance/payment methods

 

Stonewall Institute Treatment Center

If you have any questions in regards to detoxing or are looking for more resources on where and how to detox, please give us a call today at 602-535-6468 or email us at [email protected]. We’d be more than happy to help.

 

Stonewall Institute-CitySearch

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Stonewall Institute in Phoenix.  Look for us on CitySearch.  If you’ve come out of a residential drug and alcohol rehab and need more support to maintain your sobriety and learn tools for relapse prevention, continued recovery is available at the best outpatient rehab program in Phoenix.  Stonewall Institute offers a surprisingly affordable Intensive Outpatient Program in an upscale environment.  Our drug counselors understand what you are going through and will help guide you through your newly sober life.  See us on CitySearch and read what our clients say about us.  Check out our website at www.stonewallinstitute.com and call us today at 602-535-6468.