Spirituality is part of addiction recovery
Recovering from an addiction can be hard on your body and mind, especially if you’ve been using drugs for a long time. A person’s health must be addressed in various ways to learn how to live permanently sober. You have to focus on your mental, physical, and spiritual health to get better.
Spirituality and Sobriety
Spirituality is an integral part of treating addiction because it gives people a sense of purpose and meaning. Being healthy in all aspects of your life entails connecting with your spiritual side and feeling like you have a place in the world. If a person believes life has no meaning and no spiritual side, they are more likely to revert to their old behaviour.
It’s important to know that getting in touch with your spirituality during recovery doesn’t have to be tied to a particular religion. People usually associate spiritual practices with Christianity or going to church, but everyone can find their spiritual path. People in recovery can choose organised religion if it appeals to them, but it is not required to be spiritual.
What Exactly is Spirituality?
Twelve-step programs ask people to recognise a higher power above them. That does not have to be God in the traditional sense, but rather a power greater than oneself. This is a way for people suffering from addictions to look beyond their problems and feel more connected to life and the spiritual world.
Spirituality is fundamentally a personal quest for meaning and connection in all things. It does not have to follow a pre-existing path outlined in religious texts; it can be something you design for yourself. Individual experiences can influence a person’s concept of spirituality and help them gain a new perspective on life.
People require spirituality because it is difficult to connect with people other than oneself without it. Spiritual beliefs give us a sense of connection to everyone and everything in the universe. Most spiritual practices, whether religious or not, are founded on love and compassion.
Problems with Addiction and Spirituality
One of the reasons spirituality is so crucial for sobriety is that addiction can rob us of our spirituality. It can make people feel self-centred, disconnected, and preoccupied with their pleasure or avoidance of pain. People who are addicted may feel spiritually connected to others because of their isolation.
People addicted to a substance believe their only purpose in life is to continue using. It becomes so intensely focused that there is no room for them to explore their own inner lives, beliefs, and abilities to connect. Because their routine is centred on obtaining and using drugs, addicts may find it challenging to grow and change in a way that helps them develop spiritually.
Not being able to keep close relationships is another way addiction can hurt a person’s spiritual life. Connecting with others is essential to human existence and our spiritual life. Addicts frequently lose relationships and distance themselves from the people in their lives, making it difficult to connect with anyone other than themselves and their drug use.
Establishing a Spiritual Practice
To stay sober, an addict in recovery must begin to develop or reconnect with their spirituality, which may have been harmed. They can start investigating new types of spiritual beliefs, ideas, or feelings about spirituality. There are many different ways to be spiritual, and figuring out what works best for you can take some time.
As people in recovery look into different spiritual beliefs, they should start building their spiritual practice to keep them grounded and connected. A spiritual practice can be as simple as daily meditation or writing about spiritual thoughts in a journal. It entails devoting some time during the day to your spiritual life and reflecting on your connection to everything around you.
Being spiritual can make the experience of recovery and life more meaningful in general. A spiritual practice can help you reconnect with your sense of purpose if you feel disconnected from the reasons you chose to be sober. For example, practising gratitude through meditation can help you stay on track during your recovery.
If you are in addiction treatment, talk to your therapist or another type of mentor about spirituality and how you can get involved in a spiritual practice to help you stay sober.
If you or a loved one is struggling with an alcohol problem, call Freephone 0800 140 4044
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