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Yoga at Rehab During Addiction Treatment

Yoga at rehab can be one of the more pleasurable parts of recovery which is often a long and arduous process for addicts. Because women have unique physical needs, it can be more difficult for women to rehabilitate themselves after long years of substance abuse and yoga at rehab can help.

But as the cliché says: as long as you’re alive, there is always hope. And your most effective help in rekindling your hope is yoga. At New Creation Detox, we offer a holistic approach to treating substance abuse and mental illness. By including this eastern practice in your rehabilitation program you will be able to learn and use new strategies to reduce your cravings and tap on your inner strengths.

Yoga at Rehab – Its Nature

Most people think that yoga is just a system of physical exercise involving body stretching. Actually, it is more about establishing balance in your body through the development of flexibility and strength.

And for the purpose of drug rehabilitation, the Sanskrit meaning of “yoga” – unity – is more applicable since the union of your mind, spirit and body will spell the doom of your drug addiction. Isn’t that what you’re after?

“The most important pieces of equipment you need for doing yoga are your body and your mind.”
– Rodney Yee

The Physical Benefits of Yoga at Rehab

When you perform yoga postures and poses, your flexibility and strength will definitely improve. For this fact alone, you should consider performing these exercises.

Your body has taken the toll of your months, if not years, of substance abuse. It is craving for a healthy physical regimen that will rehabilitate its worn out nerves and muscles.

With yoga, you can invigorate your bodily systems and recover your body’s former flexibility and strength. This alone is enough reason for you to take up the practice of yoga. But physical rejuvenation is only part of the benefit you can get from this contemplative form of exercise.

How Yoga Benefits Drug Addiction Treatment

You can consider yoga as a holistic form of rehab since it will positively affect the three most important elements that make up what you are – your mind, body, and spirit.

“Yoga has a sly, clever way of short circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety.”
– Baxter Bel

Here is how this style of exercise will positively impact your recovery from drug or substance addiction:

  • It will heal your mind. Roy King, an associate professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stanford University conducted a study on the impact of yoga on the body of a drug addict.  He found a connection between a person’s capability to inhibit the surge of dopamine while using drugs and yoga. In addition, King also found out that Kundalini, or the intensity patterns of yoga breathing release the body’s endorphins – its natural pleasure-producing brain chemicals. He concluded that yoga exercises are able to reduce addictive behaviors and restores the function of the dopamine in a person’s brain to healthier levels.
  • It will reduce your stress. The practice of yoga involves stress reduction techniques and the use of willpower.  Therefore, if you are a recovering addict, you will learn how to effectively control stress, fight temptations and control the cravings of your body. There are different forms of yoga exercises, each one emphasizing a certain aspect of the practice.  One of them is Bikram yoga, another is Vinyasa yoga, and there is also the Yin Yoga. Each of them has their own intensity levels and you can choose which one is adapted to your current physical condition.
  • Your spirituality will be enhanced. In yoga, you will learn how to slow down, how to exercise mindfulness and how to accept things as they are.  This will result in a healthy mental outlook and a vibrant spiritual life which are very important in long-term recovery.