Nurturing the connection between the mind, body, and spirit is key to a happy and healthy life. Those who struggle with addiction may have childhood trauma or personal conflicts that are unresolved, causing them to feel detached from themselves and unhappy. Disconnection can also lead a person to start abusing substances to fill a void. Finding a facility that offers holistic modalities to incorporate alongside traditional methods is a vital part of an authentic recovery.
What Is the Mind-Body-Spirit Connection?
The mind, body, and spirit are sometimes spoken about as if they are entities that can be separated from one another and still function.
Eastern cultures and 12-Step programs have long recognized their interdependence. As 12-Step programs explain, addiction is a three-fold disease comprised of a spiritual malady, mental abnormality, and physical allergic reaction.
Empirical evidence is starting to demonstrate support for this intuitive claim.
There’s Proof in the Pudding
Research shows strong associations between medical conditions and poor psychological health. For instance, studies have found that depression is a predictor of coronary artery disease. Somatic conditions have also been traced back to traumatic experiences and mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD).
In other words, what happens in the mind can impact the body and vice versa. You can also struggle emotionally when the spirit is unfulfilled or broken. Holistic treatments aim to recover the connection between these three elements.
What Causes You to Disconnect?
People have different reasons for becoming unrooted from themselves and the world around them.
Some have encountered painful situations in the past that continue to cause psychological distress. Others have rocky interpersonal relationships or struggle with low-esteem and confidence. These issues can make each day a challenge to wake up to. Ongoing stress and discontent can lead a person to substance abuse, pushing them further away from their whole selves.
You Could Be Stressed and Distracted
It could also be the case that the stress and business in life have distracted you, causing you to neglect your mental, physical, and emotional requirements. Ask yourself the following:
- Have you been engaging in spiritual and/or religious practice?
- Have you been getting proper nutrition, exercise, sleep, and sunlight?
- Have you been spending enough quality time connecting with friends and family?
- Have you been carving out alone time to contemplate and reflect on your purpose and progress?
- Have you been checking in with yourself to ensure all your basic needs are met?
Continuously returning to the present can help you identify when you are starting to lose ground. Mindfulness-based practices like meditation are used to help improve self-awareness.
Signs You Need to Reconnect
You may need to start caring for your needs if you are:
- Restless
- Abusing substances
- Feeling empty and sad
- Codependent on a partner
- Always trying to feel something
- Lacking purpose and motivation
- Dissatisfied when you shouldn’t be
- Struggling with mental health issues
- Using material things to find happiness
- Feeling emotionally, physically, and mentally drained
What Holistic Modalities Are Offered
Many people have a skeleton or two in the closest, but keeping them there won’t make them go away. Deeply buried issues will start to rot under the surface of what seems to be a put-together and happy life. The mind, body, and spirit cannot heal when drugs or alcohol are used to cope with these issues.
At West Coast Recovery Centers, clients are given a number of holistic treatment options. As a principle, we believe that a comprehensive, client-centered approach to treatment allows individuals to determine their own path to recovery. By integrating holistic therapies into their treatment plan, clients can begin to forge the missing connections between the mind, body, and spirit.
Some holistic modalities offered at West Coast Recovery Centers are›:
- Yoga
- Guided imagery
- Guided meditation
- Walking meditation
- Somatic experiencing
- Mindful self-compassion
- Deep breathing exercises
- Mindfulness-based stress reduction
- Sound healing (e.g., sound bath therapy)
- Experiential therapy (e.g., adventure therapy)
- Creative arts expression (e.g., music therapy, art therapy)
Finding Yourself Will Be a Breath of Fresh Air
It can be easy to get bogged down in the happenings of life. Drugs and alcohol can feel like the only way to catch a break. As your needs start to fall to the bottom of your to-do list, anxiety and depression may begin to surface, indicating it’s time to make a change.
If addiction and mental health disturbances have got you fighting to stay above water, holistic therapies may help you find the relief and deep healing you’ve been needing. The mind, body, and spirit need nourishment to support you in your pursuit of happiness and success in life.
The mind, body, and spirit share a critical bond. What happens to one element can affect another. When a person is confronted with the trials and tribulations of life, it’s important that they turn inward and ensure they are meeting their emotional and physical needs. This doesn’t always happen, and substances are used to block out the pain. West Coast Recovery Centers is an outpatient treatment facility for adults struggling with addiction and co-occurring mental health conditions. Addiction is often the byproduct of detachment from yourself and your environment. Addictive behaviors tend to surface when the mind, body, and spirit are out of tune. Alongside clinical treatments like psychotherapy, we offer holistic treatments to help restore that balance. Our clinical team can help you get back in touch with your authentic self. If you are ready to discover your true power and potential, call (760) 492-6509.