How to Get Sober Through Mindfulness

How to Get Sober Through Mindfulness

Published October 2021

Do you want to change your life? Mindfulness is the practice of living in the present moment without judgment. Mindfulness practices have many benefits, including reducing stress, boosting memory, and improving decision-making.

“When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another — and ourselves.” -Jack Kornfield

Every year, new research confirms the advantages of practicing mindfulness meditation regularly. Mindfulness can be particularly beneficial in the fight against addiction. Mindfulness-based stress reduction, or MBSR, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, or MBCT, and dialectical behavioral therapy, or DBT, are just a few of the therapeutic techniques that have previously integrated it. Adding mindfulness practice to your rehabilitation can help in a variety of ways.

• Mindfulness is the opposite of avoidance.
• Mindfulness helps reduce reoccurring symptoms of depression
• Mindfulness allows you to respond instead of reacting
• Mindfulness encourages compassion

When you stop drinking and using drugs, you are forced to face your issues head-on. This is the only way to find lasting sobriety. But what exactly does it mean to face these issues head-on? You’re not going to be able to see them unless you get sober first and devote a lot of time and energy towards self-discovery. It’s reflective work that takes a lot of time and therapy but is essential if you want to overcome your substance abuse-related issues. That’s why it’s necessary to start practicing mindfulness as soon as possible if you wish for precise results.

When we exercise mindfulness, we are practicing the skill of making room for ourselves — making space for ourselves to think, breathe, and separate ourselves from our responses.

• Mindfulness can help you with self-awareness and acceptance of your feelings.
• Mindfulness can help you build your toolkit for getting sober
• Mindfulness can be a method for staying focused on your recovery

How to Practice Mindfulness in Addiction Recovery

• Please take a seat. Find a spot to sit that is both calm and quiet.
• Set a time restriction for yourself. A modest time frame, such as 5 or 10 minutes, might be beneficial if you’re starting.
• Pay attention to your body. All of these positions are acceptable: sitting on a chair with your feet on the floor, sitting loosely cross-legged, in a lotus posture, or kneeling. Ensure that you are steady and in a posture that you can maintain for an extended period of time.
• Become aware of your breathing. Pay attention to the sensations of your breath as it leaves and enters your body.
• Recognize when your thoughts have wandered. Your focus will inevitably stray away from the feelings of breathing and to other things. Return your focus to the breath when you notice it — in a few seconds, a minute, or five minutes.
• Be kind with your wandering thoughts. Don’t pass judgment on yourself or stress about the nature of the ideas you’re having.

There are a host of negative consequences of substance abuse and addiction. Of course, the most immediate problem is alcohol and drug-related death and injury. But substance abuse also damages a person’s psychological well-being, causing anxiety, depression, neglect, anger problems, and many other issues. This can lead to severe problems in life that may not have been seen beforehand.