For those that are battling an addiction, traditional medical and psychiatric treatments alone are often insufficient to provide comfort or restore true balance to their life. This is why yoga therapy and other holistic approaches to treatment at a group therapy program in Mclean VA are becoming more common in drug treatment facilities as a supplemental way to treat the whole person during the period of recovery.
What Is Yoga Therapy?
Many who are unfamiliar with this alternative treatment for addiction will ask what is yoga therapy and how is it going to help someone attain sobriety? In brief, yoga is described as a way to use changes in physical posture to educate the practitioner in the connections between the mind and the body using stretching, controlled, breathing, and mindfulness.
The goal is to focus attention away from what is troubling the individual and create awareness of the self. This can be especially important for people struggling with addiction because for a certain interval of time their sense of self was dominated and controlled by chemical dependence and substance abuse.
Benefits of Therapeutic Yoga
Yoga is a form of low-impact exercise that can be for by people of all ages. When performed properly, it has a number of tangible benefits to the process of recovery including:
- Reduction of stress and anger
- Increased health, flexibility, stamina, and strength
- Holistic pain relief, and better sleep and relaxation
- Higher energy levels
- Maintaining emotional balance
- Improvement in self-image
The goal of including yoga as a part of a treatment program is to give clients a healthy coping mechanism that can make their experience better as well as put them in a position to prevent relapse once the program has ended and they are once again dealing with conditions of daily life that may have contributed to addictive behaviors in the first place.
How Does Yoga Therapy Work?
Yoga is a discipline that can be practiced virtually anywhere there is a flat surface and doesn’t require expensive equipment like many other methods of exercise. When a practitioner engages in yoga it is equal parts exercise and meditation.
While it has a spiritual dimension for many practitioners, it does not require belief or adherence to a religion. Studies have shown that yoga has an effect on the neural pathways of the brain that may have been altered or even damaged by persistent drug use. These pathways often control how a person can experience pleasure, emotions, or even physical sensations.
During the period of abstinence from drug use, the brain has an opportunity to heal and rebuild these pathways. As it is trying to do so the process is immensely aided by stimulating these areas.
Psychologists also have come to regard mindfulness therapy like yoga as a way to process and cope with the trauma that has been experienced by the mind or body during a period of addiction.
Come Visit Us!
Do you or someone you love have a problem with drugs or alcohol? Mindfulness is just one component of the holistic treatment model employed to help people like you at Sagebrush’s group therapy program in McLean VA. If you need help, please call us at 866.488.1156 and we will be happy to answer all of your questions or schedule you for a consultation for yoga therapy.
