Healthy Living Archives - Page 6 of 19

Why You Should Start A Meditation Practice This Spring

Written by Enlightened Recovery on April 12, 2018. Posted in Alternative Therapy, Healthy Living. No Comments on Why You Should Start A Meditation Practice This Spring

Spring cleaning is a major part of the spring season and cleaning out stress from your mind and body should be a part of that process. Meditation is more than a trending buzzword in the Western world. Eastern cultures and ancient religions have been practicing some form of meditation for thousands of years. Today, meditation is recognized as a period of time dedicated to focused breathing while trying to calm the mind. Meditation does not necessarily mean clearing the mind to nothingness, as Zen meditation suggests. Acknowledging your thoughts and learning to release your attachment to those thoughts is a more widely accepted approach to meditation called mindfulness.

Both mindfulness and meditation have been intensely studied in recent years as they have gained popularity in Western culture and treatment. Volumes of research studies have concluded that mindfulness meditation is extremely beneficial to the mind and body. Some studies have gone so far as to suggest mindfulness meditation can be a replacement to other treatment methods often relied upon. For those in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, mindfulness meditation is strongly suggested as part of a personal program of recovery for stress management. Stress is the number one underlying cause of relapse. In recovery, stress can come in many different forms and trigger the recovering brain’s most familiar stress response: drug and alcohol abuse. Research has proven that mindfulness and meditation can reduce stress on a molecular level, ridding the body and the brain of the harmful effects stress creates.

Spring is the perfect time to start a meditation practice because of the thematic focus on cleaning out, renewal, and starting fresh. Meditation is like a spring cleaning for your mind, body and spirit every day. Science has proven that just five minutes of meditation can leave you feeling better, more relaxed, and stress free. As a result, meditation helps you feel refreshed and renewed. Try taking a few deep breaths right now. Stop all your thinking and analyzing for one second, right now, close your eyes, and focus all your attention on a deep inhale, a quick pause, and a large exhale. You may not believe it, but the very molecules in your DNA are already feeling better.

The best move to make for recovery from drug abuse is the quickest move by calling and asking for help immediately. Recovery is possible and healing will take place in mind, body, and spirit. Enlightened Recovery Solutions offers a holistic based, 12-step inspired, clinically proven program for alcoholism and co-occurring disorders. Call (844) 234-LIVE today for information on our partial care programs.

5 Ways To Open The Heart Chakra

Written by Enlightened Recovery on April 11, 2018. Posted in Alternative Therapy, Healthy Living. No Comments on 5 Ways To Open The Heart Chakra

Opening our chakras and making sure our energy flows effortlessly through them is not a one time spiritual surgery. Our recovery is a daily program of maintenance. Included in that program is living a holistic lifestyle which supports a healthy flow of energy through open chakras. If you have noticed that your heart chakra seems blocked, there are activities you can incorporate into your life which will contribute to opening that sacred energy channel and allowing the flow of the universe to run through you once more.

Chest-opening yoga poses

Yoga can be focused on opening specific chakras, like the heart chakra. Since the heart chakra sits in the chest area of the body, look for chest-opening yoga poses. You don’t have to do a full yoga class to get heart-chakra opening benefits, though they do exist. Simply do an internet search for chest-opening yoga poses, or, heart-chakra opening yoga poses and you will be met with many options to create your own flow or just practice individual asanas. For an easy stretch, simply tilt your head back and push your chest forward, rolling your shoulders back. Mindfully focus on this practice a few times a day to start releasing tense chest muscles.

Heart chakra-focused meditation

Each chakra has a mantra associated with it. The mantra for the heart chakra is YAM. Many meditations exist online which guide you through visualization practices for opening and balancing the chakras. On your own, you can practice taking deep inhales and on your exhales, sounding out the YAM mantra, like you would do with OM.

Color therapy

Green is the color of the heart chakra. Color therapy can range from incorporating a color into your wardrobe, carrying more stones of a color, or even cooking with that color. Green is an especially healing color because it is a color of nature. Spend time in green spaces or buy plants for your home. Cook with lots of green ingredients like leafy greens, green vegetables, and green fruits. Make green smoothies, green soups, and green sauces. Try some art therapy using only green shades of mixed media. In all of the things you do, set your intention and energy toward your heart chakra.

Sound therapy

Did you know that sounds have frequencies and that chakras have frequencies? Sound frequencies can be tuned to match the frequency of the chakras. Tibetan singing bowls or crystal bowls, for example, can be constructed in a way which tunes them specifically for the heart chakra. There are also songs and recorded meditations which include heart chakra frequencies.

Reiki

Reiki is an energy healing practice which focuses on removing blockages from the chakras and helping enhance the flow of energy. A reiki practitioner will likely be able to tell that your heart chakra is blocked. However, you can let them know this is what you specifically want to work on and they can focus on your heart chakra.

Should We Be Told To Love Our Bodies?

Written by Enlightened Recovery on April 5, 2018. Posted in Healthy Living, wellness. No Comments on Should We Be Told To Love Our Bodies?

We receive thousands of messages a day which instill ideologies about our body image. These messages tell us how we should feel about ourselves, which is usually some form of negative perspective. We could always be better. We can always do more. We should be better and we should be doing more in order to be better. Consequently, we never feel like we are enough because we don’t feel like we are doing enough to feel good enough about ourselves. The result has been generations riddled with eating disorders, poor self-esteem, body image issues, and complex mental health problems.

The body positive movement which has steadily been rising on social media platforms is a long awaited and necessary revolution in body image. Rather than promote negative messages, the body positive movement promotes positive messages of acceptance and self-love. However, the movement does make an assumption: that we should love our bodies and that loving our bodies is better. On the one hand, the assumption is logical. Positivity and self-love must be better than negativity and self-criticism. There is a place for both. Truly holistic living understands that there is a balance between both, embracing both the yin and the yang. Should we be told to love our bodies. Arguably, what we should be hearing is to meet ourselves exactly where we are without any kind of aversion. Perhaps we don’t have to be negative or be positive but recognize the fact that we are being– and that our being happens within our physical form.

Body neutrality is a budding buzz term for the body image movement. As cited by New Zealand’s Stuff, cllinical psychologist Bryan Karazsia explains that “Body neutrality goes a step further [than body acceptance] to as an important question: Why all the fuss about the body?” Instead of focus on being body positive as an antidote to body negativity, body neutrality means practicing equanimity. Equanimity is a largely Buddhist concept which broadly means creating a foundation from which you cannot be shaken by either good or bad. Being present in your body can mean mindfully acknowledging moments which feel either negative or positive, but do not let either define how you feel or see your body. It is easier said than done, however, it isn’t said enough by advocates for transformational body image.

Clean Eating Is Healthy Unless It Becomes A Problem

Written by Enlightened Recovery on April 2, 2018. Posted in Healthy Living. No Comments on Clean Eating Is Healthy Unless It Becomes A Problem

Clean eating is all the rage in the health and wellness world. Organic lovers and those lucky enough to be educated on the necessity of eating whole foods as opposed to genetically modified or processed foods, have been eating clean for decades. For millions of others, however, the boxes, bags, cans, and containers lining grocery store shelves have sufficed. Today, thanks to the internet and some successful documentaries like the groundbreak Food, Inc, there is a wealth of information available on how to eat clean. Clean eating means maintaining a diet that is as free as possible from allergens, harmful chemicals, genetically modified ingredients, preservatives, and other ‘junk’. Mostly focused on whole food ingredients, clean eating reduces sugar and additives by focusing on nutrients, vitamins, and minerals instead. Eating clean can be as simple as eating more fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, clean eating can become incredibly complicated, full of rules and strict regimens. “Orthorexia” is a term which has been created to describe when someone becomes unhealthily obsessed with clean eating. Clean eating is healthy and better for you unless it becomes a problem and starts taking a toll on your health.

Addiction swapping is a risk for anyone who enters recovery for a drug and alcohol addiction. The brain deeply craves the pain and pleasure caused by addiction. Needing to fixate and obsess, almost anything can step in as a new addiction. Recovery comes with a focus on health and wellness, particularly in the areas of diet and nutrition. Learning how to nurture the body through food is both a life skill as well as a form of self care. However, the pleasure of eating clean, losing weight, getting into shape, and feeling good can trigger old obsessive patterns in the brain.

Signs to look out for

If you’re concerned you or a loved one might be getting carried away in the clean eating lifestyle, here are a few warning signs to look out for.

They verbally emphasize what food is “good” and what food is “bad”
They won’t admit to “restricting” their diet because they are “eliminating” or “staying away” from certain foods
They display peculiar behaviors toward food or food situations which they believe threatens how clean their body has become
They do not feel good about themselves unless they are adhering to their diet
They eliminate entire food groups from their diet
They use unsubstantiated arguments like allergies or intolerances to avoid certain foods
They experience anxiety or discomfort at the idea of dining out or eating in areas where they can’t be in control of their food

Anxiety Lives In The Body As Well As The Mind

Written by Enlightened Recovery on March 30, 2018. Posted in Healthy Living, Mental Health. No Comments on Anxiety Lives In The Body As Well As The Mind

Anxiety can cause muscle tension, which can wear down on the body overtime. There is a reason we seek out therapeutic treatments and practices which help us stretch out and relax our muscles. Muscles are not supposed to be tense all the time. Massage therapists let us know which areas of our body are too tense as an indicator of what we should pay more attention to. Likely, we tense up specific areas of our body as a response to stress. Muscular stress can be caused by anxiety as stress hormones produced by the fight or flight response coarse through the body.

Stress caused by anxiety can manifest in different ways other than the muscles. For example, the skin. People mistakenly believe that skin conditions are a reflection of diet and hygiene. Sometimes this is true. Other times, acne is a manifestation of unacknowledged or unregulated anxiety. Acne can also be a disorder of its own.

Acne can develop as a result of poor sleep, which is a common symptom of anxiety. Anxiety makes sleeping difficult when it keeps the brain up with ruminating thoughts. If the body is tense for most of the day due to anxiety, it will have a hard time fully releasing in order to fall into a deep, restful sleep. Lacking in sleep weighs on the nerves. If nerves are already pressured by anxiety, a lack of sleep worsens the situation.

When anxiety cannot find anywhere to go or manifest, it can come out through unhealthy behaviors. Anxiety is a leading mental health disorder in the United States, affecting more than 18 million adults a year. Many adults are ill-equipped to handle their anxiety so they turn to self harming behaviors instead. Anxiety is highly co-occurring with alcoholism and drug addiction. People turn to drugs and alcohol to numb their anxiety, help them escape their anxious mind, or create so much extra energy that the anxiety finally has somewhere to go.

If you are seeking transformation and looking for a dual-diagnosis treatment, our facility’s amazing program could be the answer you’ve been searching for! Enlightened Recovery offers a clinical, holistic and 12-step approach for the addiction recovery process. For more information call today: 844-234-LIVE.

Anger Management Is Hidden In These Everyday Activities: Part Two

Written by Enlightened Recovery on March 29, 2018. Posted in Healthy Living, Mental Health. No Comments on Anger Management Is Hidden In These Everyday Activities: Part Two

Recovery is a holistic process, meaning that we have to tend to our minds, our bodies, and our spirits in order to stay sober. Emotions are a holistic experience that we have every single day. We most often believe that emotions only live in the mind. Yet, we describe emotions as feelings, frequently as physical feelings. Emotions manifest in the body as much as the mind. Just like we live a holistic lifestyle to honor our sobriety, we live a holistic lifestyle to honor our emotional experiences, like anger. In our previous blog we discussed how getting better sleep and eating a healthy, balanced diet can lead to better anger management. Here, we’ll look at two more everyday activities where anger management is hidden in plain sight: exercise and meditation.

You’ll manage your anger better if you exercise more often

“A smile is one workout away!” professional trainers and athletes often quip charismatically. There is some science behind their claim. Exercise can produce endorphins which are feel-good happy hormones produced in the brain. Engaging in exercise means engaging the mind and the body at once. Anger can be all consuming. Thankfully, so can exercise. We can use our angry energy toward our exercise. Anger can be part of the fight or flight response and produce stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol as a result. We feel hot, heated, energetic, and fired up when we’re angry because our survival mechanism is activating in order for us to take action. Exercise expels our energy and helps us regulate stress in our mind. We are less prone to angry outbursts when we are consistently engaging our body in holistic activities which create momentum and peace.

You’ll manage your anger better if you meditate

Meditation is a scientifically proven spiritual practice for stress management. Anger is a reaction of stress, among many other things. Just five minutes of meditation a day has been shown to reverse the impact of inflammation caused by stress. Additionally, daily meditation helps the brain grow grey matter and synapses, ripe for obtaining and storing more knowledge. We feel less stressed, more calm, and more in touch with our feelings when we practice meditation. As a result, anger can no longer take control over us the way it once did.

Anger Management Is Hidden In These Everyday Activities: Part One

Written by Enlightened Recovery on March 28, 2018. Posted in Healthy Living, Mental Health. No Comments on Anger Management Is Hidden In These Everyday Activities: Part One

Anger is as much a natural response as it is a choice. Through treatment and recovery, we learn that our emotions are choices. Anger isn’t something that happens to us. We can choose to lessen our anger by regulating and managing it in other areas of our life. There are four everyday activities which can help us manage our anger. Here we discuss two of them. Look to our next blog for the other two daily activities which can help us better manage our anger.

You’ll manage your anger better if you get good sleep

We can sleep many hours of the night but not sleep restfully. Few things are as frustrating as waking up after a night of poor or little sleep. Sleep is critical to emotional regulation and balance. Our bodies and our minds need to rest for at least six hours and as many as ten hours a night in order to function at their highest capacity. The effect of sleep on mood is no more evident than in toddlers and young children who rely on naps. Young children need naps in order to keep themselves regulated. When a young child misses their nap time, or keeps themselves awake to avoid their nap time, they become emotionally exasperated. Temper tantrums, flowing tears, and other signs of exhaustion go on dramatic display as a result. Adults are not much different. With too much of too little sleep, adults are prone to the same emotional imbalance created by the same need: a good nap and some good sleep.

You’ll manage your anger better if you eat a healthy balanced diet

Research into gut health and the microbiome suggests that our mood and emotional state might be directed more by our stomach than our mind. We are, quite literally, what we eat. What we eat dictates how we feel. Feeding our bodies and minds with junk means we will probably feel like junk. We don’t pour sweet sticky juice into an engine which needs lubricated gears to grind. Our brains are complex machines which need the right vitamins and nutrients to function properly. The food we eat matters in helping our brains run smoothly. Look to foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains as better options for your diet.
If you are seeking transformation and looking for a dual-diagnosis treatment, our facility’s amazing program could be the answer you’ve been searching for! Enlightened Recovery offers a clinical, holistic and 12-step approach for the addiction recovery process. For more information call today: 844-234-LIVE.

Grounding Techniques For Spring

Written by Enlightened Recovery on March 22, 2018. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Healthy Living. No Comments on Grounding Techniques For Spring

Grounding is a practice for connecting to the earth. The earth is beneath us all the time. Yet, when we are bustling through our lives, on floors, in cars, wearing shoes, we can forget that the earth is right there waiting to connect with us. Grounding helps us cut through the distractions of everyday life and connect to our natural selves by connecting to planet earth.

Get into a garden

Connecting with the earth directly is the best way to practice grounding. Dirt has energy. Digging your hands in the soil and working with the subtle miracles of nature, like planting seeds or pulling up a harvest, is being involved with the cycle of life. Nothing brings you back down to earth like getting tangibly involved with the earth. Springtime is primetime for gardening. Winter crops are blossoming. Spring flowers are blooming. If spring is coming late, there is still an opportunity to plant for late spring or summer crops. Even if there is still snow on the ground, you can tend to a garden. When temperatures are subzero, build a garden insight. Growing your own herbs and tomatoes is easy to do indoors as is keeping flowers and plants.

Walk around barefoot

On those warmer days when winter is transitioning into spring, take off your shoes and socks. Connecting to the earth through your feet is connecting to an ancient practice. Our ancestors didn’t have shoes, sidewalks, or modern living. They were completely connected to and dependent upon the earth. An efficient way to get grounded is to just connect your feet to the ground, whatever kind of ground it is. You’ll find that your energy shifts, your nervous system relaxes, and your spine even settles differently.

Take a hike

Depending on how much rain there has been through the winter, wildflowers could start to appear as early as march. Local hikes offer you a glimpse of the beautiful changing of the seasons. Seedlings and small flowers peek through the frozen ground, triumphant in their metamorphosis despite winter conditions. Though your feet aren’t touching the ground, you’re surrounded by nature which instantly helps you ground. Breathe in the fresh air and take in the elements. All of it is connected to you in this very moment.

How To Handle Trauma On TV

Written by Enlightened Recovery on March 21, 2018. Posted in Addiction, Healthy Living. No Comments on How To Handle Trauma On TV

On Valentine’s Day, February 2018, tragedy struck our nation once again. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in a town called Parkland, Florida, was the site of another school shooting. A young man opened fire on his previous campus with an assault rifle, taking the lives of 17 people. Many more were injured. Hundreds of students were deeply traumatized. The tragedy has maintained headlines and news for weeks as the young people of the school have become focal points of not just the event but a growing revolution in talking about gun control, policy reform, and trauma. The teenagers and parents involved in the tragedy have spoken outright about their experiences coping with the shooting and the trauma they are facing.

People who go through a tragedy like a school shooting are not the only ones who face symptoms of trauma. When live video, carnage, tears, details, and information are being broadcast 24/7, viewers at home can suffer trauma as well. Research has found that trauma can be third party. Consuming large amounts of media regarding mass shootings can induce symptoms of trauma in people. Difficulty sleeping, disturbing thoughts, anxiety, depression, and more manifest as a result of trying to process something unfathomable. Empathy is critical for doing what one can to try and help a situation out of their control. When empathy becomes problematic and weighs on your mental or physical health, it is time to take a step back.

Professionals suggest doing a social media and news “detox” to limit your intake. Avoid the news for a few days or a week altogether. If you feel you must stay up to date, do so in small segments. Set a timer, set restrictions on your smart devices, and abide by your limitations.

Talk to your loved ones and support network about what is coming up for you. You may have experienced trauma in your life which is not yet resolved. Seeing others suffer can be triggering. There may be themes of the trauma which trigger other untouched themes from underlying issues in your life. Open up to those around you and be honest about your experience.

Spend extra time in self-care wherever possible. Survivor’s guilt is a common symptom of trauma. Even though you weren’t there, you might feel guilty that other people have to live through such horrible tragedies. As is the case with the Stoneman Douglas shooting, there are numerous ways to get involved and support the survivors. However, it is important to recognize you can only do so much from where you are. In order to do anything, including maintaining the responsibilities of your own life, you have to be in good health. Take care of your mind, body, and spirit, through self-care practices which keep you centered, grounded, and balanced. Get plenty of sleep, eat a healthy and balanced diet, and do the things you love to do.

Everybody’s Got Something

Written by Enlightened Recovery on March 19, 2018. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Healthy Living. No Comments on Everybody’s Got Something

We use a term in treatment and recovery called “underlying issues”. Addiction is never just about addiction. There are few people in the entirety of the world who simply had a drug or alcohol problem without having a single other issue in their life. As a result of their drinking or drug use they might have developed problems in their life. Until then, however, things were relatively normal. For most, on the other hand, this is not the case. Most everybody in recovery has some kind of something that they experienced, that they felt, or who they were, which contributed to their drinkings. Anything from ADHD to a parent’s divorce, from getting bullied to feeling a pressure to be perfect, the tiny little “flaws” in a person’s history and make up predisposed them to addiction. Years of our life might be spent thinking we’re the only ones to have these life experiences. Through treatment, therapy, and recovery, we learn that everybody’s got something.

Discovering underlying issues is considered a necessary part of the treatment and recovery process. If there were a leak in the house that was causing the floor to flood would you merely lay down some towels or would you find the source of the leaking water? Underlying issues are like breaks in the pipes. Some might be small and cause a tiny leak while others are large and significant, causing big leaks. Since addiction is addiction and comes with a wealth of shame, stigma, and stereotype, the leaks get ignored. For too many years, treatment programs have focused on the flood on the floor- that is, the most obvious issue at hand. Treating the addiction alone left people with leaks, breakages in mind, body, and spirit. Sadly, many people relapse because they never confront their underlying issues.

Addiction is easy to blame. Drugs and alcohol are easy to pinpoint. “The Big Book”, Alcoholics Anonymous, best describes underlying issues when it states that for alcoholics, “our liquor was but a symptom.” We uncover our recovery, our true recovery, when we uncover our underlying issues. Recovery is, as the metaphor goes, like peeling back the layers of an onion. The more layers we peel back, the further away from addiction we get.