addiction Archives - Page 5 of 27 - Enlightened Solutions

Prioritizing Our Peace of Mind

Written by enlightened solutions on December 3, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Healthy Living. Leave a Comment

When we are struggling with addiction, depression, anxiety and other mental health issues, we often tend not to prioritize our own well-being and peace of mind. We place more importance on everything else in our lives – our families and relationships, our obligations and responsibilities, and the lifestyles that allow us to maintain our addictions. Getting high becomes our primary focus, along with avoiding the difficult emotions we’re afraid to face. When we make the life changing decision to work towards recovery, we learn that we have no choice other than to prioritize our peace of mind.

When we realize how important our internal peace is to the rest of our lives and to our overall health, we learn that there are some things we must shed. We go through an elimination process where we remove the things and people that no longer serve us. We separate ourselves from toxic relationships. We work to discontinue the destructive habits that facilitated our addictive behaviors. We begin to create lifestyles focused on health and wellness rather than on self-harm.

This process can bring up some challenging emotions we might not have been prepared for. We might feel grief to lose people in our lives with whom we were close but who contributed to inner turmoil. We might feel resistance when we have to drop the habits we’ve become so accustomed to. We may want to cling to our former lives and all the ways in which we self-identified. We might feel frustrated with the complicated recovery process and overwhelmed with how much more is involved than simply abstaining from our drug or behavior of choice. We might feel afraid to venture forward, uncertain of what’s to come. We can be filled with anxiety and trepidation.

All of these feelings are normal and natural. When we’re ready to prioritize our peace of mind, we realize that we must be brave and move through the fear and other challenging emotions that arise. When we work through this process, we come to know that a healthier and more empowered version of ourselves is waiting on the other side. We come into this new sense of self with renewed joy and purpose. We feel more fulfilled within ourselves. We feel as though we’ve come home to ourselves. Prioritizing our peace of mind enables us to open all of these important doors for ourselves and venture confidently into a life of recovery and wellness.

If you are like many of us and feel trapped and controlled by your addiction, know that you are not alone and that there is hope. Enlightened Solutions is here to help you find your way. Call (833) 801-LIVE today to get the care and support you deserve.

A Disconnected Crown Chakra

Written by enlightened solutions on November 30, 2018. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Alternative Therapy. Leave a Comment

Our seventh chakra is the crown chakra, and it represents our connection to our higher power, to collective consciousness, to cosmic awareness. When we experience blockages in our energy, and in particular in the energy of this chakra, we can experience profound emotional crises which often contribute to our addictions and mental health issues.

Being disconnected from our higher power means we are also disconnected from our inner self. Our ability to access our innate wisdom and love, and our ability to forgive and to have compassion and empathy, can all be hindered. Essentially we are cut off from our source – our higher power, the universe, source energy – and like a body of water cut off from its source, we can become empty and lifeless. We can lose our vitality, our sense of hopefulness and purpose. We can struggle to know our place and to find our direction. We don’t feel confident in ourselves, and deep down we don’t love ourselves. We don’t have a clear sense of what purpose we’re here to serve or what path to follow in order to fulfill it.

Without a connection to our higher power, we can lose our faith – our faith in ourselves, our faith in our abilities, our faith in our capacity for healing and for overcoming challenges, our faith in humanity. We can experience serious depression and other existential crises as a result. We can turn to things outside of ourselves to fill that hole, the void within us that can only be filled by the light of inner power and self-love – things such as substances, unhealthy relationships and compulsive behaviors. When we look at the health of our emotions and our energy, we can see that our addictions very often come directly from a place of unhealed emotions and toxic energy.

An unhealthy crown chakra can make us withdraw from other people and avoid having close relationships. We might isolate ourselves and close ourselves off from intimacy and closeness. We may feel apathetic about people’s pain and lack the ability to connect with them, to feel their pain with them, and to care deeply. When we are cut off from our true selves, we tend not to treat other people with authenticity. In a sense we don’t know who we are. We’ve lost our true selves. It’s impossible to be genuine with other people when we can’t connect with ourselves in an honest way. We tend to lie to ourselves and to others, to totally disconnect, and to remove ourselves from people, and it can take years to understand why.

Healing our energy is an important part of recovery. Call (833) 801-LIVE for information on our treatment programs.

A Clouded Third Eye Chakra

Written by enlightened solutions on November 29, 2018. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Alternative Therapy. Leave a Comment

Our third eye chakra, also known as our pineal gland, represents the vision that goes beyond what our two seeing eyes can see – our inner vision, intuition and clear perception, as well as the ability to manifest from visualization.

When our third eye is blocked, we can have tremendous difficulty connecting to our inner selves. We can feel totally lost, uncentered and ungrounded. We can feel as though our minds, bodies and hearts are all in different places, battling different things, without a sense of connectedness between them. We can feel like we’re detached from our inner strength and power.

Our intuition is a powerful guiding force in our lives, but an unhealthy third eye can mean we have a hard time listening to it or hearing it. We may be ignoring it and prioritizing the other aspects of our lives, such as our relationships and addictions, or we may be so inundated with all of those other things that we have a hard time knowing how to decipher its messages. We may have difficulty knowing whether the voice we are hearing is our true inner voice or the voice of our fears and doubts. When we don’t follow our intuition, we become disconnected from ourselves and struggle to know our place in the world and our purpose. We don’t have a solid sense of direction and it can be a real challenge moving forward in life, looking ahead, setting goals and gaining momentum. We can greatly hold ourselves back.

A blocked third eye can show up in how we perceive things in our circumstances and relationships. We can have a very hard time seeing the big picture, gleaning the lessons and wisdom within them, and being able to process information for our own personal growth. We get caught up in the challenging details of situations which means we can miss the lessons we were meant to gain from them. As such we become distracted and confused by, sometimes even obsessed with, the things that are of less importance, the illusions, rather than being able to see through all of that and into the heart of the matter. The third eye is often associated with obsession, another form of illusion which totally takes us away from the truth. A healthy third eye enables us to go deeper into the truth with clarity and perceptiveness.

Our recovery benefits greatly from healing ourselves holistically. Call (833) 801-LIVE for more information on the treatment programs we provide.

A Blocked Throat Chakra

Written by enlightened solutions on November 28, 2018. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Alternative Therapy. Leave a Comment

Our throat chakra governs communication, and self-expression, two critically important elements of interpersonal relationships as well as our relationship with self. When our throat chakra is blocked, it can have tremendous effects on how we function in our lives.

A blocked throat chakra can be identified when we have difficulty communicating and expressing ourselves. We might have a hard time speaking to other people. We might shut down and turn to silence and avoidance during conflicts. We might have extreme anxiety about being in social situations where we have to talk. Even speaking with the people closest to us can be a huge challenge. We might have learned silence as a coping mechanism in childhood. We might have adopted this as a way to avoid problems within our families or to escape punishment. We may have had caregivers who had difficulty communicating, and we inherited this trait from them. We may have grown to develop this coping mechanism after difficult relationships or traumatic experiences.

Communication is so important for the health of our relationships. Without it, we can develop unhealthy patterns and cycles in our relationships that can contribute to their toxicity and abusiveness. We can have difficulty connecting with our partners, friends and loved ones. We might keep our distance, thinking it will keep us safe. We might isolate ourselves and have a hard time being around other people. We might not be able to handle dealing with conflict.

Self-expression is so important for the development of our inner voice and for learning to empower ourselves. When we feel silenced, whether by other people or out of our own fear, we essentially block ourselves from harnessing and conveying our inner power. We can become emotionally stunted and derail our healing process. We can hinder the progress of our growth and development.

Being able to speak our minds, voice our opinions and express our needs is of the utmost importance to our relationships, and also to our self-confidence and feelings of self-worth. It is very hard to have healthy relationships when we can’t express ourselves fully. Just as important, it’s extremely difficult to have a healthy relationship with ourselves when our self-expression is stifled. We may be living in fear of what will happen if we express ourselves, of being judged or rejected, of being hurt or abused if we are true to who we are. We may be closing off entire parts of ourselves because we are afraid to face them, because we ourselves reject them. We become disconnected from our true selves. We don’t tap into our full potential or allow ourselves or the world to see what we’re truly capable of. We keep ourselves small. We’ve learned coping mechanisms of silence that we think will protect us but which can actually harm us.

Healing ourselves from within is transformational. Call (833) 801-LIVE for more information on our holistic healing methods.

An Unhealed Heart Chakra

Written by enlightened solutions on November 27, 2018. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Alternative Therapy. Leave a Comment

A healthy heart chakra is fundamentally important to our emotional wellbeing. Our hearts are a source of infinite wisdom and power, and when their energy is out of balance, it can wreak havoc on our lives.

Love is perhaps the most important force in our existence as human beings. An imbalanced heart chakra can cause us to have an unhealthy relationship with love – love for other people, for humanity and for ourselves. A lack of self-love is a driving force behind our depression, anxiety and other mental health issues, as well as our addictions and other self-destructive behaviors. Not loving ourselves leads to deep insecurities, feelings of low self-worth and self-esteem, and our tendencies to want to hurt ourselves and self-destruct.

When we don’t love ourselves, we don’t have the instincts for self-preservation and self-protection that enable us to move through life in healthy, confident ways. We struggle with feeling good enough. We have a hard time feeling as though we belong. We may feel out of place everywhere because within ourselves we haven’t found the nurturing emotional sanctuary we need. We may reject ourselves, in whole or in part, and we might be unnecessarily disparaging and overly critical of ourselves. We might live in so much fear that we’ve lost our connection to self and to our sense of self-love. When we don’t love ourselves, it’s practically impossible to have healthy relationships with other people and to feel love.

An unhealthy heart chakra can lead us to very toxic ways of handling our emotions. When we can’t connect with ourselves and others in loving ways, we have a hard time expressing how we feel. We suppress our emotions. We reject them. We bury them. We develop unhealthy and even abusive relationships. We have a hard time communicating our emotions, and we might struggle to feel emotionally connected to anything – our inner selves, our families and other loved ones, our purpose and direction in life. As a result, we can become increasingly lonely. We might isolate ourselves from other people out of fear of connection and rejection. Deep loneliness can cause us to lose hope. We feel can hopeless about what we’re meant to do in life, about our ability to have love in our lives, about life in general. We might feel as though our futures are bleak and the world is a cold and heartless place.

Healing from addictions means healing our hearts as well. Call (833) 801-LIVE for information on our treatment programs.

A Misaligned Solar Chakra

Written by enlightened solutions on November 26, 2018. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Alternative Therapy. Leave a Comment

Our solar chakra, or third energy center, has to do with our will, our inner power and our confidence. Think of the sun shining brightly and all the incredible power it has. That’s exactly what a healthy solar chakra is like.

When our solar chakra is out of balance, we can find ourselves struggling with low self-esteem and feelings of low self-worth. We might speak poorly of ourselves and look down on ourselves. We might be overly critical of our mistakes, our perceived failures, even our lives as a whole. We may have a poor self-image and struggle with insecurities in the form of body image issues, eating disorders, inadequacy complexes and other emotional difficulties. We might suffer from depression, anxiety and other mental health issues.

When we don’t have a healthy relationship with ourselves and our solar chakra is imbalanced, we can struggle with our sense of identity. We may feel confused about who we are and our place in the world. We might have a hard time expressing our authority when around other people, and as a result people may take advantage of what is perceived as weakness. You may even feel weak and convey that to other people.

Without a healthy solar chakra, we often don’t have a strong sense of autonomy or independence, and we might find ourselves feeling the need to rely on other people. We might form codependent relationships where our sense of self is compromised. We may feel powerless in different areas of our lives, and we may feel like we’ve given away all our power in relationships. We might feel that we haven’t found our voice personally and professionally, both in personal relationships and in our work. This can leave us feeling profoundly unhappy and unsatisfied. We might isolate ourselves. We might struggle to set goals for ourselves. We may have a really hard time speaking up for ourselves, expressing our needs and voicing our opinions.

A healthy sense of inner power is so important for navigating the emotional challenges of life. When our solar chakra is misaligned, we can have a hard time facing our emotions. We may be afraid to confront them. We might suppress them and avoid having to deal with them. This inability to handle our emotions in healthy ways is one of most common factors in addictions. When we don’t have a strong sense of self and don’t process our emotions productively, we very often funnel them into our addictions, finding solace in substances, relationships and compulsive behaviors.

Working to heal ourselves holistically is an important part of recovery. Call (833) 801-LIVE for more information on how we can help.

An Unhealthy Sacral Chakra

Written by enlightened solutions on November 23, 2018. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Alternative Therapy. Leave a Comment

Our sacral chakra is our second energy center and governs our emotions, sexuality, creativity and manifestation. These things are all related, and when we carry extreme shame or other negative emotion pertaining to one, it can greatly affect the others. For example, when we carry shame around our sexuality, we have a harder time exploring and expressing our creativity, and our power to manifest what we want in our lives is hindered. Unhealthiness in any of these areas can cause us to have an imbalanced sacral chakra.

When our sacral chakra is out of balance, we have a hard time expressing, managing and processing our emotions. We might feel overwhelmed and confused about our emotions, or we may feel numb and have difficulty feeling them at all. We might not have the skills we need to identify our emotions and to navigate them. As a result, we can become further removed from our sense of self and find it hard to connect with our intuition.

Sometimes our sacral chakra is imbalanced because we’re carrying sexual shame from a traumatic experience. Sometimes we feel ashamed because of the cultural taboos around sexuality that make us feel wrong or sinful for enjoying sex. Our sexual energy can become repressed, and we might not know how to express our sexuality in healthy ways. We might become compulsive sexually, or on the other hand we might shut down and not open ourselves up to allow ourselves to have intimate partnerships.

A misaligned sacral chakra can hinder our ability to express our creativity. Many of us have creative talents and passions that get lost or buried under the busyness of our daily lives and responsibilities. We forget the artistic things we loved to do when we were younger. We can feel disconnected from the beautiful parts of ourselves. We might become depressed from the lack of creative outlets so many of us need in order to be happy.

When we have an imbalanced sacral chakra, we can struggle to manifest because we don’t have a clear sense of who we are, how we feel, what we want in life, or the direction in which we’re headed. As a result, we are often manifesting from a place of confusion and misguidedness, causing all kinds of things we don’t want to show up in our lives. We don’t have clarity around our emotions, our purpose or our direction, so it can be very difficult to direct our energy towards manifesting in positive ways.

Holistic healing is a major focus here at Enlightened Solutions. Call (833) 801-LIVE for more information on our treatment programs.

An Imbalanced Root Chakra

Written by enlightened solutions on November 21, 2018. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Alternative Therapy. Leave a Comment

Our chakras, or energy centers, can develop imbalances, especially after traumatic experiences, which can contribute to our feeling depressed, anxious, insecure, unstable and off center. Imbalances in each chakra can lead to unique emotional difficulties correlated to our energy.

The root chakra is our first chakra, and it represents our sense of safety and security. It governs the energy pertaining to our survival and instincts. It is associated with how safe, secure and grounded we feel, both within ourselves and within the world around us. When our root is healthy, balanced and in alignment, we feel supported, guided and protected, both by our inner strength and our higher power. We have confidence in ourselves, in who we are and in where we’re headed. We feel sure of who we are. We feel connected to our purpose, we can set clear goals for ourselves, and we can take steps towards accomplishing them. We believe in ourselves, and we know that we are strong, powerful and capable.

When our root chakra is imbalanced, we can feel ungrounded and uncentered. We can feel as though we don’t have a strong sense of security or stability. We can feel insecure, suffer from low self-esteem and be overly anxious. We can feel lacking in emotional and financial support, not only from ourselves but also from the people around us and the world as a whole. We don’t feel self-assured or at peace within ourselves. We struggle with feeling bad about ourselves, we feel guilt easily, and we carry shame within us, often for many years.

When we don’t feel grounded within ourselves, we struggle to make decisions. We can feel as though we don’t have a clear sense of direction and aren’t connected to our inner guidance system. We often feel stuck. We can really struggle with our sense of purpose in life and have a very hard time following our intuition. We can feel lost and overwhelmed.

When our root is imbalanced, we can have a very challenging relationship with fear. While fear is a normal and natural part of life that helps to keep us safe, we can really struggle with fear when we don’t have a basis of groundedness and self-assuredness. We can suffer from phobias and debilitating insecurities. Because we don’t feel safe and secure, it can be very hard for us to express our fears and to get help facing them. We can become caught in cycles of suppressing our emotions and our fears, which can greatly contribute to depression and anxiety. We can seek solace in things that aren’t good for us, making ourselves susceptible to developing addictions.

Recovery involves the holistic healing of our minds, bodies and spirits. Enlightened Solutions is here to help. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

The Importance of Chakra Healing

Written by enlightened solutions on November 20, 2018. Posted in Addiction Recovery, Alternative Therapy. Leave a Comment

When working to heal from our addictions and mental health issues, sometimes we focus disproportionately on our minds, on our troublesome thoughts, on the fears and pain we mentally have a hard time letting go of. We forget that all of these things – our thoughts, our emotions, our fears and painful memories – impact our energy not just our minds. Our energy governs and affects everything in our lives. Working to heal our minds without also working to heal our energy is like trying to solve half the puzzle. The remainder of the puzzle has yet to be clarified and processed. Working with our energy centers, or chakras, is a powerful way to heal ourselves in a holistic way.

Healing our energy is of critical importance to our recovery. When our energy is healthy, we can work with our thoughts and emotions in productive ways without being derailed by the sheer power of them. We can heal from our traumatic experiences without being completely overwhelmed by them. We can process our painful memories, and although we may never forget them, we can release the hold they have over us. Our energy doesn’t have to be dictated by our pain. We can heal our energy and as a result be able to incorporate our pain into the fullness of our being, into the light and love of our inner power. This process enables us to accept our pain in order to heal it. We can allow it to be a part of what strengthens and empowers us rather than what ultimately takes us down.

When we have unhealthy energy imbalances, we suffer from debilitating anxiety, depression, panic attacks and other mental health issues. We can struggle with other related challenges such as insomnia, eating disorders, body image issues, deep insecurities, complexes, phobias and neuroses. We can live our lives in pain and fear, not knowing there is another way to live. Many of us turn to whatever we find helps ease the pain, whatever makes us feel better, distracts us and helps us to escape. For some of us this escape becomes an obsession with food and we self-destruct by overeating, bingeing and purging, or we starve ourselves, all in an attempt to forget our original pain with food as the medium. For others, the escape comes in the form of addictive substances such as drugs and alcohol. For many people, it is a compulsive behavior such as sex, gaming, gambling, or other risky behavior.

Healing from our complex emotional issues means taking inventory of how our energy has been impacted over the course of our lives. Our minds are not the only things affected by our mental health issues and addictions. They are ailments that are related to the health of our energy, emotions and spirits, just as much as they are related to the health our minds.

We’re here to help. Call (833) 801-LIVE for information on our treatment programs.

Encourage and Congratulate Yourself

Written by enlightened solutions on November 16, 2018. Posted in 12 Step Program, Addiction Recovery. Leave a Comment

Many of us working towards recovery from addictions and mental health issues have spent years beating ourselves up, criticizing and judging ourselves, and denying ourselves forgiveness and compassion. All of these things make it harder for us to heal. One shift we can make in our mentality is to start thinking positively about our progress and growth. We can help ourselves do this by encouraging ourselves as much as possible and congratulating ourselves for everything we accomplish, even small things.

When we are depressed or in crisis, everything can feel impossible. We might feel like we don’t have any energy or willpower. We might struggle with daily tasks and responsibilities. When we are in this place, it’s highly important to change our self-talk to be empowering and affirming. “I believe in you. You can do this. You are strong. You are brave. You are powerful.” Encourage yourself as often as you can.

Motivate yourself. Set intentions for yourself and believe you can follow through on them. When we don’t believe in ourselves, we are blocking ourselves from our true capabilities. We are depriving ourselves of the energy of our intention, and we are failing to use our power for our own benefit. Build up your confidence by talking to yourself differently. Speak to yourself with love and hope. Pray for motivation, pray for courage. Believe in your higher power and your inner strength.

Everything you do, no matter how small, congratulate yourself. You got out of bed even when you felt like you couldn’t. You took care of things. You showered and brushed your teeth. If you’ve been in crisis before, you know how insurmountable even small tasks like self-care routines can feel. Congratulate yourself. Give yourself praise for showing yourself love. Work to build up your sense of self-worth.

Congratulate yourself for the bigger things. You haven’t given up. You are still trying. You are surviving. You are on your path. You are meant to do wonderful things.

Recognize all the ways you’ve showed up for yourself and others in your life, and congratulate yourself for them. We often forget all the good we’ve done and focus on our mistakes and regrets, so dig deep and look for the good. Meditate on self-love. Praise yourself for not succumbing to your addictions and mental health problems. Congratulate yourself for your resilience.

We are here to support you in your recovery. Treatment at Enlightened Solutions includes recovery planning, mentoring, therapy and more. Call (833) 801-LIVE.

Tag: addiction