Mindfulness Exercises that aid in our recovery

Mindfulness exercises are easy to incorporate into your daily life and provide an essential toolkit that aids in your recovery.

Some of the core mindfulness exercises that can help you get started are:

Be Present

Most recovering addicts abuse drugs and alcohol to get away from the stress and anxiety of day to day life. Being present helps us deal with reality and not with how we imagine or perceive it. Being present starts with paying attention to the everyday things in our lives like the air we breathe in and out and the taste and texture of food as we eat. Being present and mindful means increasing our awareness while opening ourselves to the reality in our life. It can take practice to master being present, but it helps ground us to our present moment – the one where we live our lives.

Be Still

In our day-to-day lives, we believe the busier we are the better. We are in a constant endeavour to get more work done by working long hours and multi-tasking. We admire people who over-achieve and want to be more like them. However, research shows that being still and not involving in any activity can help us realize who we are and give us a meaning to our lives.

Recognising Your Thoughts

Our thoughts are the driving forces behind our actions and feelings. They determine how we see ourselves, connect with people and manage our lives. When we confuse our thoughts with reality, we are prone to assumptions and misconceptions. By recognizing our thoughts, we become more self-aware and are more likely to let go of bad ideas. Start by making a note of your feelings when you feel stressed out or depressed. Investigate what brought upon the reaction and when and what caused it to go away.

Focus on Breathing

The stress of daily life including that of a job, relationship or finance can get to us at any time. We constantly experience a roller-coaster of feelings from being over-whelmed to angry to sad which results in us turning to drugs or alcohol to cope. While in recovery it is essential to keep our mental and emotional health under check. And to deal with such external situations over which we have no control we need to focus on our breathing hereby using our body’s natural healing powers. Take a few breaks in a day to focus on your breathing. Inhale through your nostrils and exhale though your mouth and pay attention to the sensation of the air entering and leaving your body.

Expand Your Circle

Addiction severely restricts our ability to connect with others in a meaningful manner. While recovery it is essential to build healthy and healing relationships that promotes inner peace. Everyone including oneself deserves love and kindness. Start looking at yourself and with compassion and ignore the stereotypes, prejudices, and judgements that promote negative emotions and hate.