addiction Archives - Page 25 of 27 - Enlightened Solutions

Lavender Should be Everywhere in Early Recovery

Written by enlightened solutions on September 13, 2017. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Recovery. Leave a Comment

Lavender is a vital herbal support for anyone in early recovery. It can bolster early recovery process through medicinal, self-care, mindfulness and spiritual applications. Like many herbs, it can be explored in its living plant form, dried herbal form or also as an essential oil. When engaging the essential oil, remember to mix it in a carrier oil, such as coconut or almond, to avoid sensitive skin reactions.

Medicinally, lavender can support many of the physiological challenges that the body faces as it begins to detox and restore itself. Some of the medicinal properties of lavender are anxiety reduction, digestive support and as a support to insomnia. In herbalist terms, lavender is an analgesic, anti-allergenic, antibacterial, antirheumatic, antispasmodic and a central nervous system sedative.

Lavender can also be engaged in soothing self-care practices which are essential to early recovery. A significant layer to the healing journey of the addict is to learn to be peacefully with their internal self and self-care practices are a safe way to explore this. Self-care practices that can be engaged with lavender are to take a warm bath with some drops of lavender essential oil. Another application can be to mix some drops of lavender oil in with some oil and practice self-massage. Massaging the feet can be especially powerful to support the grounding and calming effect of lavender.

Lavender as an essential oil can become a mindfulness practice. Mindfulness is the practice of slowing or stopping the mental chatter and more fully occupying your body and senses in the present moment. The simple act of smelling the lavender essential oil will expand your mindful presence. It is powerful bridge to our mindfulness that we may not be able to access without this important tool.

If possible, also get to know lavender in its living plant form. There are many varieties and they often have some kind of beautiful soft lavender bud on a gentle green stem. Sometimes, the buds will have tiny, darker purple flowers on them and are velvety to touch.Lavender represents the softness that we seek on this healing journey and models powerfully the practice of pruning and new growth that is available through it.

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.

Why You Should Consider Eating Organic if You’re in Recovery

Written by enlightened solutions on September 11, 2017. Posted in Addiction, Addiction Recovery. Leave a Comment

Recovery is a challenging yet beautiful quest to returning to one’s wholeness. It is a journey of physical, emotional and spiritual healing. All of these layers of healing are critical to arrive to a state of true recovery. Yet, in early recovery, it is valuable to bring some extra attention to physical healing as it is the foundation necessary to have the resources for the intense process that is engaged in emotional healing and spiritual discovery.

The recovery process can be intense for many people on the physical plane. In many cases, the body has been subjected to long-term and often daily ingestion of toxins through the addict’s drug and alcohol use. When this ingestion stops, the body will undergo a multi-phased process of healing itself. It has an extraordinary capacity to heal itself, given time and adequate resources, to complete the healing process. It is critical to understand that the body has a finite amount of resources to both, continue sustaining itself and to heal itself. It can be helpful to think of this as an energy currency.

When we make the decision to heal, we can empower the body with more resources for the healing process by choosing what we ingest for our food resources. Our bodies require a certain amount of currency to run the daily systems to sustain life from one day to the next. The food choices we make more resources available for the actual healing process. This is especially true with organic foods. Organics do not have pesticides and other toxins that non-organics contain. The absence of chemicals in the food means that there is less work for your liver, kidneys and digestive system to do in making nutrients available for the rest of your bodies functions. It creates more resources for your body to heal itself.

Organics are sometimes more expensive than non-organic foods due to the absence of toxicity and what this means to the cost to farmers in the agriculture process. If cost prohibits one in purchasing organics, consider purchasing organics on foods that do not have a thick outer peel or shell. For example, lettuce, berries, etc are more exposed to toxins than an avocado or banana. Organics will support someone in early recovery in feeling better sooner and lay a solid foundation for the life-changing emotional work that lies ahead.

Yoga as a Spiritual Lifestyle

Written by enlightened solutions on September 8, 2017. Posted in Addiction, Alternative Therapy. Leave a Comment

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.

The Mental Cost of Eating Disorders

Written by enlightened solutions on September 7, 2017. Posted in Addiction, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

Eating disorders can express in a variety of ways: anorexia, bulimia, overeating, just to name a few of the expressions that this condition can take on. The manifestation of eating disorders will typically involve obsessions about food, about the body and being able to become free from these obsessions.

Culturally, it can be easy to minimize eating disorders as less serious addictions than those struggling with substance abuse addictions. However, the deeper truth is that individuals struggling with eating disorders are living with the same loss of authentic self as those struggling with other addictions. The vacillation between obsession and compulsion is a loss of choice which can lead to profound health consequences, even including the loss of the physical life. At its heart, the loss of the spirit is present in this loss of choice, regardless of what substance or behavior the choice is related to.

The natural rhythm of providing our bodies with food is an opportunity to discern at each interval what nutrients will provide us with the stamina needed to live our life purpose. When these intervals become cycles of feeding an obsession, we have lost our authentic selves to an eating disorder. Whether it is focused on consuming specific foods, performing ritual practices around foods, or a focus on how to mitigate the harmful choices through exercise or purging, the intervals have become about checking out rather than checking in.

Commonly, individuals struggling with eating disorders are aware that these behaviors are considered ‘not normal’ and hide these patterns. The result is that they become isolated from their social communities to conceal their behaviors. Becoming a divided person, they , show only parts of themselves to the people who love them while hiding the most vulnerable parts of themselves, the parts that most need to be seen and accepted.

We can all look at our relationship to food to discover where it is serving the life that we were born to live and where it has taken over our life to block our spiritual purpose. The more that we can become transparent about our journey, moving our relationship to one of positivity and contribution, the more we can support others in doing the same.

Healing the Physical Effects of Addiction with Eastern Practices

Written by enlightened solutions on September 6, 2017. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Alternative Therapy. Leave a Comment

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).

8 Ways Addiction Hurts The Body

Written by enlightened solutions on September 5, 2017. Posted in Addiction, Recovery. Leave a Comment

Addiction is known to be a complex medical issue which causes suffering on the physical, emotional and spiritual planes. There are many different types of addiction and they all have an impact on all three of these aspects of the human life. It is valuable to recognize that while the forms of addiction may have different consequences on the body, they all require that the physical healing occur before the internal resources become available for the depth recovery that is necessary on the emotional and spiritual planes.

The following are some possible harms that the body may experience as an outcome of addictive behaviors. There is some variance according to substance but these impacts are generally present in the early stages of recovery. .

Brain: there are many impacts by addiction, including memory, the natural chemical balances and communications of the brain with the rest of the body, and the brain’s role in motivating the person to healthy self-preservation activities.
Central Nervous system: the addictive ingestion of toxins causes a continuous state of fight-or-flight, causing the rest of the body to operate as if it is in a continuous state of danger.
Weight fluctuations: fluctuations may be up or down, but both changes can have serious long-term effects on the quality of health and life expectancy.
Liver: the role of this organ is to filter and metabolize toxins. When an excessive amount of toxins are present, it becomes over-used and susceptible to disease. It also plays a role with digestion and impacts to its optimal function also impact nutrient intake.
Kidneys: play a critical role in removing toxins from the body and the cleansing of blood. These functions are impacted by addictive substances.
Mental health issues: sometimes people are using addiction as a coping for existing mental health issues and other times, the use of substances actives mental health issues that they were predisposed to.
Accelerated aging: in many cases, addiction of all kinds simply accelerates the aging process by speeding up the process of cell death. This process is a natural process yet, our addiction will speed up the timeline and take our vitality sooner than would naturally occur.
Digestion issues: addictions impact the ability of this system to uptake nutrients and can result in malnutrition.

Is There A Spiritual Side To Depression?

Written by enlightened solutions on September 4, 2017. Posted in Addiction, Recovery. Leave a Comment

Living with depression is a challenging life experience. The experience of depression can feel like the attempt to run through waist-deep tar. Even though you long to sprint through the day, every breath, every step, every thought is moving through the sticky toxicity of depression. The dualism of depression is that there is a deep longing to be released from it, yet its very nature can block an individual from taking actions that will shift it.

As we consider how to work with this dualism, it is important to acknowledge that two basic kinds of depression exist. These are depression that is contextually induced and depression that is clinical or chemical in nature. In the following discussion, we are exploring actions that may influence change with contextual depression.

The definition of the word ‘depress’ is to be in a lower state and when speaking in spiritual terms, the spiritual life can sometimes be discussed as the pursuit of the ‘higher’ self. In these terms, the remedy for being relieved of depress-ion is to pursuit elevation of the self. The self can be elevated by pursuing higher expressions of it self.

Becoming elevated can be accessible by simply choosing to look at our depression differently. When an individual is dealing with depression, it may be natural and comfortable to look at the circumstances of life as happening to you. Whether the context is a job loss, relationship ending or the bottom of an addiction, it can be easy to feel like a victim for those circumstances. However, one can begin to choose our higher self when they pause and ask themselves what actions they might take to create a new situation for their lives.

Sometimes, depression can begin the process of shifting even by simply asking ourselves this question, even if we do not yet have the next right action to take. The question allows an individual to embrace the possibility that they have access to the internal resources to change their experience and this is an un-depressed perspective. Once one is willing to ask the question, the higher self will begin to emerge leading the lower part of you to the actions necessary to change the context of your life.

Mania, Not Depression, Is The Hardest To Deal With In Bipolar

Written by enlightened solutions on May 22, 2017. Posted in Co-Occurring Disorders, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

Bipolar disorder can feel like living two different lives. Defined by episodes of mania and depression, bipolar is defined by experiencing shifting mood swings in the extreme of each category for extended periods of time. There are two different kinds of bipolar. Bipolar 1 includes more manic episodes than depressive episodes. The episodes can last for weeks or even months at a time. Bipolar 2 includes more depression and can change much more rapidly. Depression in bipolar is similar to other kinds of depression. What someone with bipolar experiences in mania, however, is unlike any other condition. Sometimes it is possible to feel a manic episode coming on. Thoughts might start to change, energy increases, and ideas become bigger over a short period of time. Most of the time, someone with bipolar wakes up at 1,000% instead of 25% and the energy doesn’t stop.

Symptoms Of Bipolar Mania

Bipolar mania will look different for every individual. Generally, there are shared symptoms which include:

Feeling “up” or elated
Having an abundant amount of energy
Feeling overly optimistic and positive
Coming up with high standard plans and ideas
Feeling invincible, often accompanied by a heightened sense of ego
Acting without consequence or consideration
“Jammed speech” or talking so fast as though there hasn’t been conversation for weeks

Insomnia or restlessness

Shopping beyond budget, participating in reckless behaviors, substance abuse, sexual promiscuity, and other thrill seeking behaviors are common during mania.

What Makes Mania Difficult

After spending a period of time in a depressive state, mania can feel like a welcome relief, if not an escape from the doldrums. Unfortunately, mania can quickly get out of control. The brain can become so rapid fire that it turns all the positive energy in a different direction. People in manic episodes might experience psychosis and paranoia because their mind is moving so quickly.

Mania is not an upside to depression in bipolar. It can mean feeling out of control, unable to trust oneself, and not knowing when the madness will end. It can mean not knowing mania is even happening until money is spent, arguments are started, and reckless behaviors take a toll.

Bipolar and addiction often go hand in hand. To treat dual diagnosis problems, there is a solution. At Enlightened Solutions, we see the holistic approach to treatment work successfully in bringing peace and serenity to our client’s lives. Our integrative partial care programs fuse together spiritual wellness, clinical therapy, and 12 step philosophy. For more information, call us today at 833-801-5483.

High Functioning Alcoholism: Should We Be Calling It That?

Written by enlightened solutions on May 11, 2017. Posted in Addiction, Alcoholism, Mental Health. Leave a Comment

There is always a certain level of shock and disbelief when a loved one who, aside from their recent admittance to alcoholism, seemed to have it “all together”. Despite a few difficulties here and there, everything in their life was happening according to “normal”. Daily responsibilities were being met within reason. They had a job the woke up and went to in the morning. If they had children, the children were well attended to. Bills were paid, mouths were fed, and they might even have been in decent physical shape, constantly working to take care of themselves. Somehow, behind the facade of “normalcy” or even what some might call “success” there was a chronic and worsening problem with alcohol. The stigmatized image of the alcoholic, which is not an uncommon story, minimizes the experience of others. As a result, other people who experience their alcoholism in different ways can perpetuate their problem unnoticed, until, their is no room left for hiding.

Bustle reports in depth about understanding the “high functioning alcoholic” and why this kind of alcoholism is often difficult to spot. “…people can fit the measure of a severe drinking disorder—inability to quit drinking, tendency to put themselves in situations where they may get hurt, experiences with withdrawal— while still appearing outwardly like perfectly healthy beings with functional lives.” The result is “a very dangerous combination.” High functioning alcoholism poses a significant threat not just to the life of the alcoholic but to the lives of those involved.

The stereotype of normalcy often prevents an alcoholic from recognizing their problem. Denial is a huge issue which prevents many alcoholics from taking the highly remarked “first step” in solving their problem with alcohol- admitting they have a problem with alcohol. As a result, the problem can continue to worsen. Eventually, it could lead to injury or death on the part of the alcoholic or on the part of their children, spouses, friends, coworkers, or other people. Simply stated, when an alcoholic— high functioning or not— is not held accountable for their problem, the alcoholism grows out of control.

If you feel that you or a loved one are living under the guise of high functioning alcoholism, your drinking does not have to get worse before everything gets better. Your journey to recovery starts with you. Start it with us at Enlightened Solutions. Our integrative programs bring together the best of holistic treatment, spiritual healing, twelve step philosophy, and clinically proven therapy modalities. Call us today for more information at 833-801-5483.

Staying On Medication and 3 Other Helpful Habits For Bipolar And Addiction

Written by enlightened solutions on April 20, 2017. Posted in Addiction, Alcoholism, Drugs & Alcohol, Mental Health, Recovery. Leave a Comment

Psychiatrists, physicians, and treatment professionals often quip that bipolar disorder is one of the most curious mental health disorders to treat because of the way that people relate to their medication. Bipolar disorder is well known for creating delusion within its two emotional states: depression and mania. Mania is defined by highs which make depression seem even lower. Part of the depression is caused by the sudden loss of euphoria which can be experienced during mania. Mood stabilizers and other medications which treat bipolar disorder help someone feel more stable and feel better in their lives. Once they feel better and like the way they feel, people with bipolar seem to forget they’re bipolar and in need of medication. They stop taking it, stop attending meetings with their psychiatrists, and slowly spiral back out of control. Problematically, they will repeat this cycle over and over again.

Get Consistent Sleep

Having shifting moods which cannot be controlled can mess with your daily routine. Part of the challenge of living with bipolar disorder is creating consistency from one end of mania to the other end of depression. Mania causes people to lose sleep while depression can cause an excess amount of sleep. Maintaining a regular sleep schedule each night can create stability and not cause other major disruptions which result due to abnormal sleep.

Stay Sober

Bipolar disorder and addiction, as well as alcoholism are frequently co-occurring and present a constant problem. In times of a manic episode, someone is inclined to feel invincible and energetic, inspiring them to party and use substances excessively. During depressive episodes, someone with bipolar will turn to depressant substances to cope with their feelings or stimulant substances to try and make themselves feel like they did during mania.

Ask For Help

Learning to manage bipolar disorder during recovery from drug and alcohol addiction is challenging. Nobody expects you to do it perfectly! If you are struggling with manic-depressive episodes which are causing you to have cravings, it is okay to reach out for help. Don’t feel ashamed that you have bipolar and that you struggle with addiction. Courageously reach out for help and get the assistance you need to feel better.

If you are struggling with bipolar disorder and addiction, help is available. Enlightened Solutions has a variety of programs which can work for you to heal mind, body, and spirit. You will have balance again. For more information, call 833-801-5483

Tag: addiction

Lavender Should be Everywhere in Early Recovery

Why You Should Consider Eating Organic if You’re in Recovery

Yoga as a Spiritual Lifestyle

The Mental Cost of Eating Disorders

Healing the Physical Effects of Addiction with Eastern Practices

Chakra meditation

Earthing

Chanting

8 Ways Addiction Hurts The Body

Is There A Spiritual Side To Depression?

Mania, Not Depression, Is The Hardest To Deal With In Bipolar

High Functioning Alcoholism: Should We Be Calling It That?

Staying On Medication and 3 Other Helpful Habits For Bipolar And Addiction

Contact Us

Get In Touch

Links

You Have Any Questions?