Yoga Therapy for Addiction in New Jersey

If you’re concerned about the drug and alcohol use you (or a loved one) is experiencing, you’re probably considering an addiction treatment program. The levels of care at many recovery programs include medically assisted detox, individual therapy, family programs, residential treatment, partial hospitalization, and outpatient programs. Some rehab programs are beginning to incorporate some alternative methodologies, such as yoga therapies, which can also help you achieve longterm recovery.

What Is Yoga Really About?

The origin of yoga is less concerned with bodily exercise and more with harmony of mind and body, and for spiritual seekers, a union with the Universe or higher power. It began in India thousands of years ago, and the word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word meaning “union” or “join”. Though it started as a Hindu belief, these days many different people of different religions practice yoga.

In the modern world, yoga is about balance – mind, body, and spirit. When you’re “on the mat” (practicing yoga), you’re connecting movement with mindfulness. Benefits of yoga include the ability to stay in the moment without spiraling out of control back to your substance abuse addiction, connection of your mind and body, more flexibility (both mentally and physically!), more serenity, and a happier outlook on life. 

For anyone who’s been suffering from drug and alcohol abuse, it’s a good way to remind yourself that you deserve to get better and to live free of substance abuse. Whatever type of yoga you prefer, it’ll support your sober living goals.

How Yoga Therapy Helps with Addiction

Typically, substance abuse is a symptom, not the disease itself. There may be a dual diagnosis such as an underlying mental health issue or trauma, or something else that needs to be resolved for long term recovery. Yoga is one additional way to treat the behavioral health issues that underlie the drug or alcohol abuse. The practice of mindfulness in substance abuse treatment helps you stay in the present moment. When you’re in the middle of a yoga practice, you’ll forget about what’s happening in the outside world. Any cravings you might be having disappear when you focus on your movement and your breath.

Yoga therapy programs can help you rewire your brain to be more positive and have more clarity, which are big factors in relapse prevention. During your substance abuse your mind was clouded by the drugs and alcohol, and a clear mind helps you move toward your goal of long term recovery. The holistic approach of mind body and spirit improves your behavioral health outcomes. 

Yoga’s Effects on the Brain

The benefits of yoga on the brain specifically go far beyond your rehab program. It helps strengthen new, healthy connections and improves things like memory, attention, thought, and language. Just as you keep practicing lifting weights to make your body stronger, a yoga therapy program and regular yoga practice keeps your brain in shape too. It makes you sharper and can help you lift your mood, both of which will help you on your sober living journey.

Healing Your Addiction at Quantum Treatment 

We have more personalized levels of care to treat your substance abuse addiction, or that of a loved one, since we are a smaller recovery center. In addition to medically assisted detox, partial hospitalization and inpatient treatment programs, we offer intensive outpatient programs as well. If you have a dual diagnosis with mental health issues, we’ll treat those as well. 

Our addiction treatments also include alternative therapies alongside traditional rehab programs, such as yoga therapy for addiction, meditation, and art and music therapy. We treat the whole person, not just the drug addict or the alcohol addict. You deserve a customized recovery plan so you too can live free of substance abuse. Call us today at (609) 993-0733.