Alternative Therapy Archives - Page 7 of 9

Nature for Recovery

Written by Enlightened Recovery on October 27, 2017. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Alternative Therapy. No Comments on Nature for Recovery

One might find that being out in nature is that of being with God. Those who struggle with addiction or mental disorders live a life full of fear. When there is fear, there is no faith and this faith can be disguised in many different ways. While in the disease nothing matters as much as staying numb to the world outside. Alcohol and drugs will hinder the addict’s ability to see true beauty in mother nature. While in early recovery it’s essential to spend time outside. There are multiple reasons besides the fresh air. It’s a natural remedy for mild depression as well. Addict who had been isolating will find that they begin to feel more energized and optimistic about the future. The addict who embraces the outdoors will find a sense of calm and ease that only life outside can give forth. Being outside always gives way for activity and that alone will promote a new healthy lifestyle.

Gardening is a way to connect with mother earth. Treatment centers encourage patients to become responsible for the plant’s outcome. Learning to take care of and respect another living thing is a step in the right direction towards the addicts growth process. Taking proper care of a garden also gets the addict out of their head. The mind will keep running if you let it, and if you give it that choice it will. Gardening can be therapeutic and meditative. Focusing on something other than the self is the same concept as an addict helping another addict. Self-absorption is what drives addiction. Caring for a garden can give the addict the opportunity to be nurturing and this brings out emotions from deep inside that must come out to move forward in life.

Besides all of the wonderful therapeutic advantages of being outside, it’s a simple, easy way to relax. Nature helps release happy hormones, which means we’re reminded what’s good for ourselves just by taking a hike. Staying in the day is sometimes difficult for addicts to comprehend, but once again, being outside will help with this as well. Addicts need to keep in mind that there is no time like the present, and it’s unnecessary to stress about the future. An addict shouldn’t plan to be sober a year from now, just for the next day, maybe an hour, or minute. It’s a journey and addicts can easily forget what life has to offer while in the disease. Being outside truly brings the addict back to the basics. Life has its simple pleasures and that doesn’t include drinking or using.

Enlightened Recovery believes in grounding an addict’s chaotic lifestyle. Our holistic approach guides our patients to find peace through the simple pleasures in life. Call 833-801-5483 today for information on our partial care programs in New Jersey.

Different Kinds of Energy Healing

Written by Enlightened Recovery on October 26, 2017. Posted in Addiction, Addiction Recovery, Alternative Therapy. No Comments on Different Kinds of Energy Healing

There are many types of healing modalities that you can engage to influence the energetic field that contains your life. The idea that every person has a circle of energy that surround them beyond the solid matter of their body is crucial to deeply understanding the potential impact of holistic modalities. Embedded in this concept is the acknowledgement that individuals can influence the lives of each other simply by how they are being in life. This is found in the spaces where our energetic fields overlap with each other. If you regard this concept as true, you likely agree that practicing energy hygiene, or the cleansing of the energetic field, on a regular basis is just as important as tending to the physical and emotional aspects. There are many different modalities and practices to engage daily maintenance of your energetic or auric field:

Chakras: the chakras are 7 energy centers along the centerline of the body from the root at the pelvis to just above the crown of the head. Each chakra has unique properties and they can be enhanced or muted engaging a variety of practices. Some practices include: chakra holds – place hands at different chakras in specific combinations; gems can be engaged to influence chakras in different ways.
Sound and Light: these carriers of energy can be engaged to influence the state of the field. Both move through wavelengths and these can be harnessed to shift the quality of the energetic field.
Visualizations: By engaging a visualization that soothes the emotional state, the quality of the energetic field can be transmuted.
Movement: as with sound, the energetic field can be transmuted simply by engaging any kind of movement. The vibration will create movement in the energetic field and transform its current state.
Aromatherapy: this involves taking the oil of a plant and diffusing its properties into your field. The qualities of the plant become integrated into an individual’s energetic field and transmute the state of it.
Earthing: this can be many things that involve engaging the natural world to alchemize the state of your energetic field. Common examples are feet on the ground or in the sea for a brief period of time.

If you are struggling with addiction, alcoholism, and/or mental health, know that there is hope. There is a solution. Harmoniously fusing together the best elements of clinical care, holistic healing, and 12-step philosophy, Enlightened Recovery has created a program of total transformation for men and women seeking recovery. Call 833-801-5483 today for information on our partial care programs in New Jersey.

A group laughs during outpatient rehab in new jersey.

The Spiritual Malady of Addiction

Written by Enlightened Recovery on October 24, 2017. Posted in Addiction, Addiction Recovery, Alternative Therapy. No Comments on The Spiritual Malady of Addiction

Many people who are in need of recovery resist it knowing that the solution is spiritual. The desire to avoid connection with the spiritual aspects of the self are embedded in the nature of addiction. The avoidance of spirituality keeps the addict in addiction long after the desire to return to whole and healthy living is sparked. It is in this essence of anticipation of the future, and what it is imagined to hold, that stops so many from living the purpose they were born to live.

First things first, if anticipation of the future and what holds spiritually is alive, lay it down. Addiction must be tended to on the physical realm, or at least, this is the primary focus initially. When anticipation of the future consumes potentially healthy actions of the addict, this is simply another way that the addiction is dominating the healthy self. The worried or rebellious anticipation of the future is a cue to bring the focus back to seeking physical abstinence and motivations for doing so.

Once physical abstinence is attained, the addict will cultivate a lifestyle of recovery through the insights revealed through the 12 Steps. The steps that particularly bring awareness to concrete examples of the spiritual malady of addiction are discovered in Steps 4 and 5. These steps outline the emotional patterns which have a tendency to the block the ‘sunlight of the spirit’. As the steps are taken, it may be seen that resentments function to create separation from the people that the addict loves and the whole of life. It is through emotions and thoughts about them that the addict creates isolation from their relationships. This isolation sets the stage for return to emotional escapism through addiction.

Addiction is often referred to as a disease of perception as addicts have a tendency to creating extraneous narrative around the experiences of their lives. Since this additional narrative often consist of perspectives that causes the addict to feel separate, this is where the spiritual malady lives. It is through the daily cleansing of perception through the process of the steps and the sharing with another addict that the addict is able to return to living as an integrated part of the whole of life.

A group of people enjoy Outpatient rehab in New Jersey.

3 Interesting Ways to Incorporate Chakra Therapy into Daily Living

Written by Enlightened Recovery on October 20, 2017. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Alternative Therapy. No Comments on 3 Interesting Ways to Incorporate Chakra Therapy into Daily Living

The chakras are 7 energy whirlpools that vibrate at various points between the base of your spinal column and the top of your head. Each chakra has unique spiritual properties and focusing on any one will elevate the functioning of all. However, there are times that it is beneficial to focus on a specific chakra with alignment to the unique challenges being presented by life. Following are some examples to enhance your spiritual experience by engaging your chakras:

Food: there are many ways to engage food as chakra therapy. Some examples: eat root vegetables to address to the insecurities that may be experienced in one’s physical safety; consume strawberries to balance your sacral chakra which holds the energy for creative and sensual expression. The way that these foods become therapy is by focusing on the intention as you consume them.
Sleep: as bedtime approaches, you can have a short dialogue with a specific chakra. An example could be to focus on the heart chakra and invite the heart to use sleep as a period of healing instead of hiding from the pains of life. This practice is amplified by sleeping with a green stone on or near the heart so that the intention is being held safely by it as you release consciousness.
Exercise: to focus on bringing more power into your life, an individual may focus on running from their solar plexus, located at the midpoint between the pubic bone and the belly button. Imagining a yellow surge of energy that allows the runners stride to lead from this location of the body. Through this visual, both the quality and color of this chakra is engaged. Another way to engage this practice is through intention while dancing. If there is a need to elevate sensual energy in your life, you can dance with a heightened awareness of moving through the hips and pelvis combined with visualizing the color orange in this location.

How Sound Therapy Works

Written by Enlightened Recovery on October 16, 2017. Posted in Alternative Therapy. No Comments on How Sound Therapy Works

Sound therapy is rooted in the concept of energetic vibrations. To understand the power of sound therapy, consider this in the context of each person’s energetic field. This is the idea that each person has a circle of energy that extends beyond the solid matter of their own body. Since every person is surrounded by their own energetic field, it is understood that these fields, permeable matter, overlap with the fields of others. It is through this overlap that the interconnection of life can be explored.

Sound therapy is the exploration of how different frequencies of sound can influence the quality of a person’s energetic field. There is an optimal frequency state for each individual associated with their balanced state of physical, emotional and spiritual presence. This frequency may be different for different people. When a given person is out of balance in any one of these states, physical emotional or spiritual, the energetic field is also affected. Since there is an overlap between people, when one individual is out of balance, their energetic field may influence the field of those people with whom they come into contact. The frequency of sound is one method to calibrate your field to its optimal frequency. This application of sound therapy, and other practices, is sometimes referred to as ‘energy hygiene’.

When you begin your journey with sound therapy, remember that individuals function at different frequencies, so the different frequencies of sound my influence some people positively and some people negatively. It is advantageous to explore sounds when in a neutral state to discover which sounds are soothing. This discovery process from a neutral state allows one to identify which sounds will be most effective when a distressing incident occurs.

Making Sound Therapy Work For You

The process of identifying advantageous sounds to support an individual’s equilibrium reflects the journey that different individuals take in recovery to discover a higher power of their own understanding. While some people have a higher power that does not resonate with other people in recovery, the process of building a relationship with that power is replicable in spite of the difference in concepts. The same is true for the sound journey – surrender to the exploration of sound and discover which audible vibrations are soothing. Trust these sounds in your spiritual toolkit, even if they do not have the same impact for others.

How Somatic Experiencing can Help with PTSD

Written by Enlightened Recovery on October 13, 2017. Posted in Addiction, Alternative Therapy. No Comments on How Somatic Experiencing can Help with PTSD

There are many ways Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can affect the life of an alcoholic. Often, symptoms are overlooked and the trauma persists to keep its hold. First, it’s important to find out what’s actually causing the PTSD. Symptoms can be caused by dangerous life-threatening situations that require any means to survive. For example, those in the military, dealing with the effects of being at war. There can be negative childhood trauma that is caused by something like bullying or being misunderstood. This can include seeing parents go through a divorce, death in the family, and other difficult times in life. There are those too who suffered through a sexual assault, mental or physical abuse and other events that no one should ever have to experience. With each of these traumatic events, those affected may not have been able to process what had happened thoroughly. At this point, if and when the victim gets triggered by the identified event, a feeling of unease unexpectedly begins reliving the trauma all over again. It doesn’t have to be this way and it is impossible to move on from such trauma.

Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a holistic therapy of “resetting” the nervous system. This is done by reestablishing the nervous systems rhythm, meaning that there must be a break in the natural flow. This kind of treatment should always be executed by a professional with a background in SE. Going through the experience and pinpointing each feeling for what it is will allow the patient to recognize what is going on in their bodies. The doctor conducting the session will ask that the patient embrace the fear with respect. The act of letting the body physically feel what’s happening instead of mentally can establish a new reaction. The stimulation that is brought on by triggering the PTSD, with time, will regulate. The differences between the ups and downs will show signs of improvement, settling back down to the baseline.

Once the patient can become at peace with the identified event there will be less of a physical and mental response to the PTSD. This gives way to new feelings and new events to take place. Lacking the ability to move forward stalls the growth process. This will become a never-ending cycle of reacting out in an unhealthy manner each time a trigger occurs. If there is a break in the cycle there can be many aspects of life that will be interrupted as well. This includes appetite, sleep, digestion, and other main body functions that a person needs to survive. When new situations arise, as they will, the only way to push forward in this process is to complete the old. It’s not about forgetting what had happened but letting the body heal properly. As humans, we don’t get to erase the past, but we can let go of the power it has over us.

Our holistic approach at Enlightened Recovery gives our patients coping mechanisms and insight into painful past or events. Processing trauma is a key factor in moving forward and we are here to help. For more questions call: 833-801-5483.

Can Crystals Help Anxiety Attacks?

Written by Enlightened Recovery on October 12, 2017. Posted in Alternative Therapy. No Comments on Can Crystals Help Anxiety Attacks?

Anxiety is a common experience of addicts entering recovery, especially in the earliest stages of recovery. It is one of the feelings that addicts are seeking to mask with substances. Anxiety is the escalation of excitement. Excitement has risen to an intensity that causes distress. Crystals are a simple yet powerful tool to support the ability to be present with this, and other, emotions.

One of the primary ways that crystals support with anxiety is to have a grounding effect on the escalating energy. Rocks, in general, can help root down energy that is rising. The rooting down of this energy can keep it at manageable levels for the addict.

Being in contact with a gem also activates the senses. Anxiety, and the escalation of any emotion, is simply the intensification of the amount of attention on a triggering event. Any amount of attention currency that can be placed elsewhere will soften the intensity of the emotion. The senses are one of the most accessible ways to shift the attention.

Crystals have very long lives and they have been holding energy for the planet throughout. They can also be engaged to hold energy for the addict in recovery. When there is a specific challenge present, it is possible to release some, or all, of this energy to the crystal through a meditation practice. The crystal can hold this energy for you until the full moon comes. On the eve of the full moon, you can place the stone in the full-moon light and this will transmute and release the energy. You can also achieve this by submerging it in water with sea salt at any given time. Remember to express gratitude to the gem for processing the energy for you as well as any other earth resources involved in the release process.

When beginning a journey with crystals or other gemstones, remember to trust the process. The mind will want to know all the facts! Allow yourself to be in the mystery of the unknown with these ancient healers. Explore intuition when choosing a gem to guide healing. Let in the gentle reminder that these rocks hold the ancient wisdom of the life of the planet.

5 Critical Reasons for Taking a Holistic Approach to Treatment

Written by Enlightened Recovery on September 19, 2017. Posted in Alternative Therapy, Healthy Living. No Comments on 5 Critical Reasons for Taking a Holistic Approach to Treatment

In many ways, the journey from the prison of addiction to the authentic self is inherently holistic. Addicts have lost their internal sense of belonging because they have become excessively focused on self. The pathway to recovery is paved with methods for returning as an integrated member of their communities, our families, circles of friends and professional associations. They heal by getting out of the cycle of physical dependencies and taking actions to be reunited with others. Holistic approaches can support these challenges with greater success by bolstering the recovery process.

Recovery is really hard, so why not do it once.
Getting clean and sober is one of life’s greatest challenges. Holistic treatment can support greater success in staying clean and sober at the first attempt.
Getting beyond survival and into thriving.
When the whole person is not considered, recovery can sometimes become about getting back to grind. With holistic approaches, the patients are given access to the wholeness of their internal self. They can engage with their creative and visionary self, creating a more fulfilling life for their recovered self.
Every person is here for a reason, so live it.
Fundamentally, every person is born to live out some certain societal contribution. When we get lost in an addictive cycle, we lose touch our purpose. A holistic model can support you in getting free from the addictive cycle. It can also support reconnection to this deeper sense of purpose that lives in the union of body, mind and spirit.
There’s a lot to make up for, so go for the greatest vitality.
Many people in recovery have lived in their addictive cycles for a long time. Holistic models of treatment offer the opportunity to elevate the health and well-being to previously unknown levels. In many ways, this part of recovery, as we make amends to all aspects of ourselves.
There’s one life, that we know of, so live it as fully as possible.
In many cases, when someone enters recovery, they are not only discovering freedom from addiction, they are also on the journey of breaking intergenerational cycles. Holistic models offer opportunities to re-learn some of the core behaviors that have been learned in our families, facilitating new possibilities for future generations as those in recovery teach what they learned.

Enlightened Recovery Solutions offers a harmonious approach to holistic treatment, bringing together the best of evidence-based, alternative, and 12-step therapies. Call us today for information on our transformation programs of treatment for addiction and alcoholism: 833-801-5483.

A individual therapy session during Partial hospitalization program in New Jersey.

Yoga as a Spiritual Lifestyle

Written by Enlightened Recovery on September 8, 2017. Posted in Addiction, Alternative Therapy. No Comments on Yoga as a Spiritual Lifestyle

Yoga has diverse ways of being expressed in the lives of people. In simplicity, yoga is usually a framework of physical movements called postures. They function to offer the practitioner, yogi, to have a spiritual experience breath, body, focus and senses. Many people will practice yoga fashioned after the philosophy of a specific spiritual teacher. There are people who become devoted to one philosophy of yoga and others who study many forms of yoga and integrate them into a personal expression. Both are authentic avenues of yoga as a spiritual lifestyle.

When beginning the journey of yoga as a spiritual lifestyle, it is supportive to take classes at a yoga studio after treatment. The structure of classes, experience of community and relationship with a teacher will allow yoga to become an integrated experience. Overtime, the student may discover that yoga came alive in their life and the decision to maintain these structures will become optional.

When this transcendence occurs, one may find themselves reflecting on what it means to take the yoga practice off the yoga mat and into the world. The student may return to reflect on these core principles: breath, body, focus and senses and play with them in everyday non-yoga contexts. For example:

Breath: be deeply connected to your breath in the rhythm of walking to the bus stop.
Body: discover internal connection to your upright spine as you sit at your laptop sending email.
Focus: playing with the dimensions of seeing and listening as you have a social conversation that is not optimally enthralling to you.
Senses: explore ways that you can experience layers of taste with appreciation of the healthy meal that you prepared.

In addition to exploring yoga off the mat, you can also consider Karma Yoga which is the way that bring what you have learned onto the mat into the lives of others. Sometimes this is sharing your practice or the way it has influenced your life. Other times, it is simply being of service to the needs of the community that may seem unrelated to yoga. With all of this woven together and adapted to, one has become a yogi.

Healing the Physical Effects of Addiction with Eastern Practices

Written by Enlightened Recovery on September 6, 2017. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Alternative Therapy. No Comments on Healing the Physical Effects of Addiction with Eastern Practices

The eastern world largely refers to Asia and India in terms of spirituality. In contrast, the concept of the western world is referring to the US and the culture birthed as it was settled. Each of these worlds has unique gifts to offer and it is valuable in recovery to learn how to harness and integrate them in their lives.

In many ways, the eastern hold the most ancient spiritual wisdom. The spiritual practices of this region have sustained themselves over many hundreds, even thousands, of years. The practices are the very essence of the idea of tradition. The spiritual practices of the western culture, much younger,have shorter lives before evolving into something new. They bring forward spirit of innovation.

These principles, tradition and innovation, bolster our recovery as we integrate them into our lives. As we embark on the healing of our individual life from addiction, we are the settlers traveling to a new, unknown land. We feel as though we are leaving our ancient selves behind and sailing for new territory. Some aspects of who we were will always be present, although, those parts of us will express in entirely new ways.

With this invitation of a new journey, carrying forward the tradition of the past, and allowing it to evolve into a new form, play with one of these practices:

Chakra meditation

The chakras are seven energy centers, root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye and crown, in your body. To explore one, find a seated position and connect to the center of your chest to your heart. Envision a pulsing green light beginning as a small circumference, the size of your fist. With each inhalation, imagine a contraction. With each exhalation, an expansion leading to a greater circumference. Continue this practice until you have filled the room with a pulsing green light.

Earthing

This indigenous practice is the ancient wisdom of the western world pre-settlement. It can be as simple as allowing yourself to be led to a tree, ideally in bare feet. Placing a hand on the tree and breathing in cohesion with this life-sustaining member of the natural world.

Chanting

This practice also comes from the ancient world and some people engage changes in the ancient languages from these practices. However, you can also apply this practice to mantras in your own language. Often, it is ideal to choose a simple mantra that can be matched to inhalation and exhalation. For example, Thy Will (inhale), My Will (exhale).