Eckhart Tolle, in The Power of Now, says, “What characterizes addiction? Quite simply, this, you no longer feel that you have the choice to stop.”
With substance use, one tends to live in one’s mind, either using or planning to use, isolating oneself from friends and family. The body goes through its suffering.
Alcohol and drugs affect the organs of the body, the muscles, irregular and unhealthy eating habits result in nutritional imbalance, the tone of muscles lessens, weakens, bones weaken, there is a generalized imbalance and disharmony that develops.
Addiction is a disease of being unable to manage or deal with one’s emotions realistically; one’s inability to cope with pain results in looking for quick fixes in substance use. Which are only a temporary fix, and problems resurface, and so does the hormonal imbalance continue.
In using and not using, in the early days of recovery and during full-blown addiction, the individual lives in a constant state of anxiety, fear resentment, depression, sorrow, etc. In these circumstances, the hormones that are affected and go haywire in the body are cortisol, adrenaline, dopamine, GABA, etc. The chronic high levels of hormones like cortisol and adrenaline prove toxic to the body and the general nervous systems.
Years of habitual ways of reacting to situations and considering them to be normal. This however results in many blocks in the body, of energy and emotions ,resulting in repeated self – destructive behaviours or continued using, against one’s wishes too.
The body and mind is one unit. What affects the mind affects the body and vice versa.
In addiction, the personality becomes identified with the intoxicated thought process, which is not real. There is a disconnect between thoughts, speech, and actions when the addictive thought process is predominant.
Yoga, comes from “yuj” meaning “union” is aimed at integrating the personality, bringing a balance into the body and mind.
Yoga is a way of living a balanced life and includes asana or poses, contemplation, and meditation. The 8-fold path of Yoga or Ashtanga marga is also applicable to living a healthy and happy sober and clean life away from substances, including alcohol and drugs.
Yama (Abstinence)
Accepting help / entering a voluntary therapeutic system begins with abstinence from all substances.
Niyama (Self-discipline)
In treatment one learns to take care of oneself that had been neglected during active addictive using like cleanliness, maintaining hygiene of mind and body, feeling contentment in being sober, surrendering to the process that is new and strange to oneself but one endeavours through persistent self-discipline that evolves through getting to know one’s true self -the good the bad and the ugly sides.
The Yoga Asana/Poses
- Enable the body to balance and regulate the hormones in the body.
- Holding a pose brings balance, tones the muscles, and improves core muscle strength
- It develops discipline, the ability to be present, using the body to be patient with oneself
- It is seen to do away with insomnia and induce peaceful sleep.
- Meditation works tremendously in releasing and dissolving suppressed and repressed emotions, enabling one to be more present and aware of one’s thoughts, words, and actions.
- It reduces the speed of the torrent of thoughts running through the mind, making the mind calmer
- The evident effects are that the anxiety reduces, the ability to be calm despite the same external stressors improves, and fears and resentments reduce.
- This is the outcome of the amygdala growing smaller in size with regular yoga poses and meditation practice. This is the area in the brain controlling the primitive responses of fear, fight, and flight, and causes the emotional responses to stressors.
- Sensitivity to oneself and compassion to other grows within as the hippocampus, the area of the brain that generates this size, increases.
[Ref research by Sara Lazar, PhD, Harvard University]
Some of the Asanas that are very useful in recovery are
- Vajrasana (Sitting Mountain), variation
- Balasana (Child’s Pose)
- Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward Bend)
- Baddha Konasana (Butterfly)
- Viparita Karani (Legs-up-the-Wall Pose)
- Apanasana (Little Boat Hugging Knees)
- Jathara Parivartanasana (Knee-Hug Spinal Twist)
- Savasana (Corpse Pose)
Pranayama
In addiction our breathing goes haywire, which creates havoc in the mind and body- corrective and right breathing techniques enable one to stay in the present and calm.
Pratyahara
This is the introspective journaling that we practice at Anatta, shifting focus on oneself, assuming responsibility for one’s addiction and its consequences and fallout.
Dharana
Contemplating oneself, sharing with experiential counsellors enables one to get the right perspective of reality and life beyond addiction and one’s addictive traits.
Dhyana
Practicing various meditative and awareness practices helps release suppressed and repressed emotions, thus being very psychotherapeutic.
Samadhi
Working thoroughly on oneself with honesty brings about a transformation of the individual, wherein they have the tools to deal with all the trials and tribulations of life, yet remain sober through it all and live a happy, contented life.
A small 2007 pilot study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, funded in part by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, demonstrated that yoga may be able to change brain biochemistry. The study compared sessions of reading to sessions of yoga and concluded that the yoga sessions resulted in increased levels of the neurotransmitter GABA in the brain, while the readers experienced no change. Low levels of GABA are associated with anxiety and depression, conditions often considered to underlie addiction.
In Addiction treatment, in the initial days of detoxification, yoga poses enable the person to be calmer and act as mild exercise regimes. These are adjuncts to detox medications, enabling a shorter detox time.
At Anatta, we customise the asanas, pranayamas, and meditative practices as per what is optimum for each client.
Today, Yoga and Meditation form an integral part of addiction treatment facilities across the globe that have a client-specific and /or single client-based system of treatment that incorporates voluntary, non-medical, holistic treatment programs.
At Anatta Yoga is an integral part of its therapeutic program, making the client healthy, aware, and balanced.