Mindfulness involves two key components: Awareness and acceptance. You may not be aware of your feelings, your thoughts and not want to examine them or accept them. You might further find that drugs, alcohol, food, gambling, binge-watching TV or surfing the Internet become your way to find comfort and escape. At first, it’s great but then turns into problems that are overwhelming. The “fix” alleviates the pressures and harsh realities, with a heightened state of temporary awareness that later sinks into a dark hole.
The light of mindfulness offers a healthy pathway out of the dark. Replacing the euphoria, as the brain produces a cocktail of dopamine, serotonin, endorphins and oxytocin. This mix of good chemicals can help overcome physical ailments, like chronic pain (see http://www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com ). And, they primarily are effective in relieving psychological and emotional pressure. To help let go, accept and enjoy your experiences in the present moment.
Moment-by-Moment Awareness
Mindless drinking, drugging, sexing, spending, internet surfing or any behavior that bypasses your pain works, for a while. If it helps you to feel alive and survive trauma and grief it works. Our bodies, minds, emotions and spirits desire health and wellness. But, what starts off as normal pleasure-seeking behavior later develops into dependence, destructive behaviors, destroying the very foundations of our lives. Mindfulness allows you to fully enjoy life’s natural pleasures without the risks associated with brain-altering addictive substances.
Acceptance of Thoughts and Feelings
Drugs, alcohol and other addictive substances and compulsive behaviors work. But only temporarily, to escape from unpleasant feelings, thoughts, and circumstances. Don’t feel good, take a pill, have a drink, eat a quart of ice cream, score a bag of dope, get high, But your high wears off, leaving you worse than before, desperate to get the next fix. There is nothing that using can’t make worse.
Mindfulness practices, especially with the help of a trained mindfulness coach, can help one work through and release your emotional baggage and show up for the adventure that presents itself. You can stay high forever, but if you want a way to achieve that high on life. To get the peace – without negative side effects, Mindfulness practice offers a step, by step, breath by breath approach to gain insight and foresight into a new way of being.
Consider the advantages of mindfulness:
- It’s free and you can take it anywhere and everywhere
- It’s organic, natural, and no side effects.
- Anyone can do it at a basic level without training.
- More advanced techniques are widely available, for no, or low cost.
- It can easily be incorporated into any therapy program (CBT, DBT, and others already incorporate it)
With benefits like that, it’s easy to see why mindfulness has been practiced for thousands of years and why it will continue to be an essential part of addiction recovery and relapse prevention programs for years to come.