Meditation for Addiction Recovery - Mindworks Meditation

The problem of addiction has reached epidemic proportions in our society. While most of us occasionally engage in activities that aren’t exactly healthy—think binge-watching that new series, finishing off that pint of ice cream, having an odd night out at the friendly neighborhood bar—for addicts, the substance or behavior they’ve become addicted to is the main focus of their lives. Can meditation help with addiction?

Recent studies have looked at questions such as “Can meditation help with alcohol addiction? With drug addiction? How about addiction to gaming, tobacco or gambling?” When we practice meditation, especially mindfulness, we train in remaining present and recognizing all feelings, from discomfort to joy, with equanimity and goodwill. And then we let them pass. This is one way meditation helps people work with addiction. Research confirms that meditation has been proven to counter addiction issues especially when combined with psychological methods, as in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Mindfulness-based practices can also be very effective in helping prevent relapse. Guided meditation is also recommended.

How to Live in the Present & Overcome Fear

2019-05-24T19:51:46-07:00By Tokpa Korlo|

Overcoming the Fear of Now: A Journey from Addiction to Meditation Regardless of where we come from or who we are, we all have our own path to live. I was born into a family of meditators. I had a wonderful upbringing and caring, loving parents and yet I still found the need to [...]

Forgiveness Meditation Practice

2019-06-03T08:59:23-07:00By Joseph Rogers|

Healing relationships is key to addiction recovery Without relationship, there is no practice, there is no recovery. Finding a way to heal relationships and the pain that can get in their way is core to our recovery. That’s why we begin our meditation by recognizing what was done and the pain that it caused. [...]

The Psychology of Addiction

2019-05-24T19:47:54-07:00By Stephen Dansiger|

The intersection between modern trauma theory, addiction & mindfulness The problem of addiction is not just a problem for people struggling with addiction. It’s a problem of the ages, and at one point or another, just about every person involved with addiction—especially those in recovery—comes to a point where he or she looks around [...]

Mindfulness and Addiction Recovery

2019-06-20T14:22:30-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Meditation as a path to understand addictive behavior Mindfulness is a centuries-old contemplative practice that can help you develop awareness, clarity and focus in your daily life. Today, therapies based on mindfulness are used effectively to treat addiction. In the context of addiction recovery, mindfulness can be considered a form of mental training. Here, [...]

Alcohol and Meditation

2019-05-24T21:31:59-07:00By Mindworks Team|

Like other forms of addiction, addiction to alcohol causes great harm to those who are dependent and everyone connected to them. While there are many possible definitions of addiction and alcoholism, one that may sound familiar comes from Alcoholics Anonymous. It proposes that alcoholism is a threefold disease comprised of a physical allergy that [...]

Can You Quit Smoking Through Meditation?

2019-05-24T19:56:54-07:00By Mindworks Team|

We all know someone who is addicted to smoking – a family member, a co-worker or friend, or maybe even you yourself. Once you start smoking and develop a habit out of it, quitting can be extremely challenging. Nicotine, the active compound contained in cigarettes, is one of the most addictive drugs there is. [...]