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A parent finds out how to How to help a loved one with addiction.

Supporting A Loved One Who Has Experienced Sexual Assault

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According to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, an American is sexually assaulted every 109 seconds. Out of every 1,000 perpetrators, only 6 will end up in prison to pay for their crime.

 

Listen To Their Story

Our cultural environment tends to play the role of the non believer when it comes to listening to stories of sexual assault. We like to blame the victim for not doing enough to protect themselves or change the situation. Sexual assault is highly stigmatized in our society, leaving victims of sexual assault feeling a double dose of shame. One of the best things you can do if your loved one has experienced sexual assault is listen to them actively. Active listening means creating the space to totally hear what they have to say without interruption, question, or judgment. After they are done, thank them for sharing, and remind them you are hear to listen to them.

 

Learn More About Sexual Assault

Sexual assault is not just rape. Men and women are groped, mistreated, and physically/sexually abused each day. Around the country there are trainings on stopping sexual assault, caring for someone who has been sexually assaulted, and learning more about consent. Sexual assault can be traumatizing resulting in ongoing effects similar to those of PTSD which can include symptoms of depression and anxiety.

 

Encourage A Report

Millions of sexual assault survivors go without making an official report. Many feel a report only brings them more shame and judgment, that they are never taken seriously. A report should still be made, as well as a full physical inspection. Support them by telling them you’ll be by their side.

 

Understand Their Sensitivity

We live in a sex driven culture that often doesn’t consider the depth of its jokes. Understand that for years to come, your loved one might be sensitive to the hypersexuality around them. What might seem like a harmless joke may be a deeply disturbing trigger for them. Try to act respectful toward sex, sexuality, and topics of sexual violence.

 

Enlightened Solutions supports the treatment of substance use disorders which are co-occurring with mild or severe PTSD. Our facility is certified to treat dual diagnosis clients in order to meet all of their needs for recovery. Call us today to learn more about our programs, 833-801-5483.

A parent finds out how to How to help a loved one with addiction.

Owning Your Choices In Recovery

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In his book The Light in the Heart, author Roy T. Bennett talks a lot about choices. The human mind makes about 35,000 conscious choices and decisions each day. How many of them do we actually take time to consider? Despite our immense power as decision makers, we often give our power away when it comes to our choices. It might seem strange to ponder. Don’t we make our choices for ourselves? If we were to take the time to analyze each of our choices we would probably find a lot more inauthenticity than we were expecting. So often do we make a choice because of someone else, for someone else, or in spite of someone else. Each time we make a decision that goes against the authentic will of who we are we leave a little scar in our minds. Like giving ourselves a burn, we are left in pain. Though it feels easier to make choices that keep us safe as we assume other would want us to act this way, it actually harms us. We’re left with shame, guilt, and a damaged sense of self-esteem.

“Every choice comes with a consequence,” Bennett writes, “Once you make a choice you must accept responsibility. You cannot escape the consequences of your choices, whether you like them or not.” Problematically, when we make choices and decisions based on a source other than ourselves or the higher power of our understanding, we cease to take responsibility for them. If, or when, we must face the consequences of those choices, we hide behind the fact that they were for somebody else. Such behaviors continue to take away our personal empowerment and sense of agency.

Even if we make choices for reasons other than ourselves, we must learn to own them. Every choice we’ve made in our entire lives demands ownership. Taking ownership for choices is a critical part of the therapeutic process for recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. According to the biopsychosocial model, there are a variety of reasons as to why we started drinking and using. Our brains, bodies, and social environments in some ways conditioned us to choose to use substances to alter the way we felt. However, that choice was still entirely ours as well were the many choices that followed.

In recovery we continue making choices each day, choices we are unfamiliar with. We learn that we have the power to choose how we feel, how we react and respond, how we cope with life on life’s terms. Each day we are given an opportunity to own those choices and be fully empowered in who we are. That is a gift of recovery. “Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice,” Bennett asserts, “Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.”

 

Choose treatment. Choose recovery. Choose life. When it comes to making that choice for one more hit or one more drink, the choice is yours. We hope you choose Enlightened Solutions to help you recover. Our goal is to provide a compassionate environment of holistic healing to help you end your destructive relationship with drugs and alcohol. Are you ready to make the choice? Call us today 833-801-5483.

Yes, You’re Going To Do Yoga In Rehab: Here’s What You Need To Know

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Yes, You’re Going To Do Yoga In Rehab: Here’s What You Need To Know

Yoga has become a staple of treatment for recovery from addiction, alcoholism, and mental health. Used as an integrative, preventative, and therapeutic practice, yoga is an essential tool for early recovery.

You’re Not Going To Do Yoga Every Day

For many people, their experience with yoga during their stay in a treatment facility for addiction will be their first. Trained yoga teachers, especially those versed in addiction treatment, will be skilled in working with the newcomer and slowly introducing them to the practice. After a few weeks you might find yourself working up to a daily practice. As it is said in recovery, “easy does it”. Take it one day at a time. Yoga is not about competition, judgment, or even achievement. The true practice of yoga lies in meeting yourself exactly where you are and embracing yourself there.

You Are Going To Notice A Change Every Day

You may not touch your toes in a forward bend after just a few therapeutic yoga sessions, but you might notice other positive benefits. Innumerable scientific research studies have been dedicated to analyzing the positive benefits of yoga. For addicts and alcoholics in recovery, there are specific benefits of yoga that are especially helpful. Yoga has been proven to reduce the intensity or presence of symptoms for mental health disorders like depression and anxiety.

Addiction and alcoholism affect the brain, body, and spirit. Yoga helps rejuvenate the body by making it stronger and more flexible. Stress is greatly reduced through yoga practice which helps the heart become more healthy and function better.

Each day of yoga helps us open up. Yoga is about finding union between the mind, body, and the spirit. Starting a journey of spirituality through recovery where you are also working on healing the mind and body is challenging. Drugs and alcohol shut our minds off and leave us at dis-ease with ourselves. Yoga gently helps us to settle back into who we are as a holistic whole.

Enlightened Solutions provides spiritual and holistic healing and therapeutic treatment modalities as part of an integrative treatment program. As a certified and licensed dual diagnosis treatment center, Enlightened is able to serve the needs of those suffering from addiction, alcoholism, and co-occurring mental health diagnoses. Combining the philosophy of the 12 steps with evidence based treatment methods, the program at Enlightened is a soulful approach to starting life long sobriety. For more information on our programs please call 833-801-5483.

When You Start Meditating

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Meditation is a helpful spiritual tool for recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. People associate all kinds of images and ideas with meditation without knowing just what will happen when they start meditating. Here are some of the things you might have to endure when you start meditating.

You Sleep Better

Meditation before bed is as good as medicine. Slowing down the nervous system and helping the brains settle down, meditation encourages the body to reset after all the chaotic happenings of the day. Focusing on the breath helps the body and brain get that extra bit of oxygen it needs before going to sleep. When oxygen reaches the muscles, it helps them relax. Some people find that their mind races before going to sleep. Meditation helps to quiet the mind. Practicing some mindfulness with meditation will train the brain to let go of the stress from the day and focus only on the present moment, which is thankfully bedtime.

You Notice Your Thoughts More

Mindful meditation asks you to pay attention to the thoughts that come up as you try to settle your mind into not thinking much. You acknowledge the thoughts which arise, notice them, actively try not to label or judge them, then practice just letting them go. In doing so, you start to recognize patterns of what you’re thinking and why you’re thinking it. When adverse situations arise which would usually call for a particular reaction, you find yourself stopping to think about that reaction before acting on it. Where you might have once reacted adversely, you find yourself able to pause, notice your thoughts, and take a moment to choose how you would rather react.

You Become More Compassionate

Learning to recognize patterns of your own suffering through noticing your thoughts and observing how they effect you helps you to be more compassionate toward yourself. Compassion is about recognizing that someone experiences suffering of their own, then developing a kind and loving sympathy for them. It is harder to be kind toward ourselves than it is to be kind toward others. When we meditate and foster that self-compassion, our kindness toward others changes. It deepens and widens in our hearts. We feel a whole-heartedness toward the world we never noticed before.

You Want To Meditate When You Can

Connecting to the breath is like connecting to the source of life. Even if you can’t engage in a full twenty minute or hour long meditation during the day, you find yourself searching for every opportunity you can to take a deep breath. Just taking one moment to mindfully take a deep breath in and let a deep breath out is a moment of meditation. Overtime, you’ll notice that when you are in need of receiving, your inhale will lengthen. Likewise, when you are in need of letting go, you will be able to exhale for longer without hardly taking a breath in.

Enlightened Solutions teaches our patients meditation as part of a spiritual skill set for overcoming the power of addiction to drugs and alcohol. We offer multiple levels of care to men and women seeking compassionate change in their lives regarding addiction and dual-diagnosis issues. For more information call 833-801-5483.

Seasons of Change in Recovery

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The seasons are changing. Fall, or Autumn, is the beginning of the earth’s hibernation period. Leaves changing color and falling off the trees is the first sign of earth preparing to rest and prepare itself for the next spring. Seasons are a cycle of shedding, growth, and rebirth. How the seasons change and what nature does to transition between the two is a metaphor for recovery. Through the different stages of our emotional, physical, and spiritual development, we too go through seasons of change.

Active addiction is not our only winter. Winter can be seen as a time of being barren. Trees are bare, stripped of their color and opulent leaves. The weather is cold and there is often rain, darkness, or snow. Though the winter is the most “empty” time of the seasonal year, it is when the most work is being done. It may be hard to see it at the time, but at the end of every winter is a coming spring. Winter is when the earth is preparing to bud, bloom, grow, and produce rich fruit out of beautiful flowers. When we experience seasons of winter, of hard times that feel cold and empty, we are actually preparing for tremendous growth. As the spring demonstrates, often that growth is incredibly beautiful.

In the Spring, the earth stretches its branches, roots, and petals after a long winter’s hibernating nap. It explodes into amazing color. Animals birth the babies they conceived and grew during the winter. The world is alive and pushing out the fruits of its labor, quite literally. Spring, as good as the warm sun feels and the beautiful flowers are, unfortunately does not last. For recovery, this is an important lesson. “This too shall pass” is often offered as a consolation during difficult times. However, it also applies to good times. Like the seasons, everything continues to change.

Spring turns into summer full of heat and sun, healing the earth after it’s victorious rebirth. Eventually, the heat begin to dry out the trees and once more fall sets in, preparing for winter again.

During the challenging months of early recovery, change can feel impossible to endure. We long for consistency. Just as things are feeling familiar, they begin to change again. This is the cycle of recovery and of life. Part of our mission in learning to live a life of sobriety is learning how to live with life on life’s terms. Simply stated, life changes. We change with it. When the discomfort passes, you’ll learn to see these passing seasons as beautiful opportunities to learn and grow. Welcome to the beginning of your life.

Enlightened Solutions offers a program of freedom to those trapped in the endless season of addiction to drugs and alcohol. Providing compassionate therapy in the comfort of a residential home, Enlightened solutions combines twelve step philosophy with evidence based treatment and holistic healing modalities. Call us today to find out how we can put you on the path to recovery 833-801-5483

Processing Stress In Recovery

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Nobody likes stress. In fact, no body likes stress. Stress, it has been proven hundreds of times over, is incredibly bad for your health. Stress is one of the leading causes of disease, heart failure, and poor health throughout the world. To deal with stress, the body produces adrenaline, which stimulates the fight or flight response. Inherently we don’t even really “deal” with stress, we either fight it off or run away from it. Going against our survival instincts and choosing to work through stress is a major part of growing in recovery. Life can be stressful, but the stress does not have to win. Here are some tips for learning to grow through stress rather than run from it, fight it, or be consumed by it to the point of ill health.

Failure Happens

“Progress not perfection” is a popular saying in the rooms of recovery and twelve step meetings.  The Big Book of Alcoholics in Chapter 5 titled “How it Works” reads, “No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.” The truth is, nobody is perfect. Trying to bear the responsibility of being that one perfect person is just too much for anyone’s back. As alcoholics and addicts, we tend to convince ourselves we’re “special”. We have to succeed because we are capable of it, even if nobody understands. Consequently, we begin to view failure as stress and stress as failure. Stress is a natural reaction to life. Being the wonderfully imperfect beings that we are, we get stressed and sometimes we “fail”. It’s okay.

Give It Away To Keep It

Stress is actually a gift of recovery. In early recovery, we work hard to keep our stress at a minimum in an effort to support our treatment. We continue to grow and begin living our life again. Jobs, responsibilities, all the little pieces of life come trickling back in, and cause us stress. The truth is, we worked hard to get here. We’ve earned our stress because we’ve developed an entirely new manner of living in which to handle it- even if we don’t always handle it well.

Being of service is a critically important component in recovery. One of the quickest and most sure-fire ways to get out of self when you are super focused on your stress is to be of service to another person. You might be thinking you don’t have time to be of service because you are too busy with all the stressful things you have going on. Usually, that’s the strongest indicator that you need to make the time. It will significantly help you reduce your stress by helping you get grounded and grateful for the life you have created!

Enlightened Solutions compassionately treats each patient with the therapeutic skills necessary to help them build a new spiritually founded life. Our treatment programs for addiction and dual-diagnosis disorders are integrative, combining twelve step philosophy with effective therapy models and holistic healing modalities. Call us today for more information 833-801-5483.

Preparing For Sober Holidays

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From January through December there are many holiday celebrations that take place for different cultures, religions, and nationalities. The end of the year, about October through December, has the highest density of holiday celebrations. Typically, that means plenty of party invites, dinners, and events. Before getting sober, the holidays were some of the best times of the year! Libations flowed freely and everyone had a holly, jolly good time. Now that you’ve completed treatment, or are in the process of completing treatment for drug addiction and/or alcoholism, things might feel a little bit different.

Recovery is not the end of holiday cheer and celebration. Early recovery, the first few months to a year, might make it a little more difficult to get into the holiday spirit. Fear not, like all things in life and sobriety, this too shall pass. You’ll make it through the holidays just fine by understanding why you might be triggered and how to handle holiday parties.

Why The Holidays Are Hard

There are a few reasons why the holidays are especially challenging in the first year of recovery. First, is your brain. While the drugs and alcohol have left your system, your brain has not yet fully recovered. Addictive substances induce a sensation of euphoria when they are abused. Euphoria is caused by a production of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is a messenger for pleasure in the brain. Part of the neuroscience of addiction, or how addiction occurs in the brain, is when the brain is unable to produce dopamine, or pleasure, on its own. Being dopamine deficient means it’s actually chemically challenging for you to feel that holiday cheer.

Second, holiday parties usually include alcohol. There’s a seasonal drink (or three) for every seasonal holiday.  At the root of your core you know that you do not want to drink. You’ve worked so hard to come as far as you have in your sobriety. Yet, somewhere in the back of your mind is a nagging thought about it. Cravings are uncomfortable and can be overwhelming at times. It isn’t that you want to participate and it isn’t that you don’t. As you work through the emotions of your attachment to addiction and alcoholism, more will be revealed about you miss it sometimes.

Most importantly, remember that holidays are just another day. We take recovery one day at a time!

Enlightened Solutions provides a unique and holistic approach to treating drug addiction, alcoholism, and co-occurring disorders. Combining twelve step philosophy with evidence based treatment and holistic healing modalities, Enlightened Solutions creates a deeply healing recovery program for each patient. For more information on our services, call 833-801-5483

Recovery Has To Mean Something

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You have to do it for you. That’s what old timers in recovery will tell you. Stick around the rooms of twelve step meetings like alcoholics anonymous long enough and you will hear similar sayings. Mothers couldn’t stay sober for the babies, husbands couldn’t stay sober for their wives, doctors couldn’t stay sober for their patients, CEO’s couldn’t stay sober for their companies. No matter the circumstance, condition, social class, economic level, or race, unless a person is getting sober for themselves, they’ve hardly a chance.

Getting sober has to mean something. The meaningless life of drugs and alcohol has to be outmatched by the promises of recovery. Sitting comfortably in the numbness of active addiction is easy to do. For many different reasons, drugs and alcohol became our meaning. Some of us found identities we never had, abilities we never had, or escape we had never experienced before we tried drugs or alcohol. After some time the original meaning we found in using was replaced by the bottomless search for meaning in addiction. High, low, drunk, wasted, unconscious, psychedelically conscious- that once satisfying discovery becomes a long lost and distant memory. Therefore, when we choose to get sober, we have to create meaning. There must be a reason for us to recover. Discovering that reason is part of recovery itself.

Four out of every ten people in America feel that they have not yet discovered their meaning in life or found an answer to their life purpose, according to the Center for Disease Control. Through the twelve steps we are given a simple distinguished purpose: to carry the message. By overcoming the grips of addiction and learning to live a sober lifestyle, we inherently create a new purpose for ourselves in letting other addicts, new and doubtful like we once were, know they have a chance. Living by example, we let other people who may be silently suffering see that living without drugs and alcohol is a real possibility for them.

What will recovery mean to you? As we often say, “More will be revealed.” While in the midst of withdrawals or detox, the early weeks of recovery make meaning hard to come by unless its sheer survival. Give yourself enough time and you will find that the meaning is indeed revealed, one day at a time. Make it matter. Make it yours.

This is your time. Recovery is a meaningful decision that leads to magnificent life transformation. It starts with you. If you or a loved one are in need of treatment for addiction, alcoholism, or dual-diagnosis mental health issues call Enlightened Solutions today for more information. 833-801-5483.

You Didn’t Know How Good Massage Was For You

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Massage is good for Muscle Recovery

Massage helps to loosen up muscles that are storing tension. Tension in the muscles can come from strenuous physical activity, sickness, and stress. Muscle tension prevents the natural flow of energy from moving through the body. Additionally, tight muscles can lead to injury and muscle trauma, which is very painful and takes time to heal. Through massage therapy, tight and tense muscles get released, also releasing any toxins being held in that area. If you cannot get regular massage treatments, doing self massage on your shoulders, arms, and legs can be of great benefit. Self-massage is a great way to practice self-compassion and self-care.

Massage is good for Lymph Nodes

The lymphatic system is important to the body. Healthy lymph nodes means a healthy body. Massage helps to stimulate the lymphatic system by causing lymphatic drainage. Massaging lymphatic areas helps to release waste and toxins stored in lymph nodes. Cleaning out the lymphatic system improves the immune system, increases metabolism, and helps the body better to function.

Massage is good for Relaxation

Massage is usually seen as a luxury activity for relaxing days at the spa. All that muscle work is of no coincidence with the ability to relax. Many massage therapists have healing energy that is transmitted during their massage work. In fact, many regard massage as a healing touch, and those who practice is have healing hands. Not only is massage itself relaxing, but it is actively aiding you in being able to relax. Working on tense muscles helps you to notice where you are holding stress. Then, you can let it go. You begin to relax on a mental, emotional, and physical level because everything is connected holistically.

Massage is good for Circulation

Especially for people recovering from intravenous drug use, helping the circulation of blood flow is an important healing aspect. Massage is proven to improve over all circulation. There is an increase in blood flow and vascular function. Circulation is important for recovery from drug and alcohol addiction because the entire body needs to heal.

Massage is good for Healing

Massage is recommended as a healing tool for people after surgery. Detox and recovery from drug and alcohol addiction is it’s own kind of surgery. Recovery is a long process of healing, for which there are many ways to help. Massage helps people in recovery relax and release emotional stress they may not be able to otherwise.

women crying together

Crying is a Sign of Strength, Not Weakness

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Crying is the body’s way to not only reduce emotional stress, but also process it. Think of emotions as an invisible force moving through the body. People tend to think that just because they cannot see or feel their feelings, when they refuse to feel them, they simply go away. Unfortunately, that just isn’t true…

When emotions are held back, such as swallowing or holding back tears, the emotional energy gets congested in the body. Rather than having that flow of emotional force circulating and completing its cycle, it gets stopped up. Thankfully, however, this cycle can be reversed.

Eastern practices of medicine like acupuncture and massage believe that the body physically stores emotion.

Similarly, therapies like DBT teach us that connecting to one’s emotions allows us to respond to an emotional experience more effectively and change the ineffective response patterns we have relied on previously.

For many people, stress causes headaches, neck aches, shoulder tension, and backaches. People have tight hips because the hips are one of the body’s major emotional energy storage spaces. Certain exercises & meditation practices mitigate these physical effects.

The Social Challenge Associated With Expressing Our Emotions

Sadly, society has stigmatized the expression of sadness. When somebody cries the common reaction is to make the crying stop. Unknowingly, when someone responds to tears with “Ssssh don’t cry” they’re actually saying, “Stop expressing your emotion through crying, it’s making me uncomfortable,” which really says “Your emotions make people uncomfortable,” which eventually translates to, “feelings are bad”. It’s a tough situation trying to feel! Coincidentally, it is not the comfort, tears, or sympathy of another person which alleviates the emotion behind crying. High percentages of people feel a sense of relief after crying.

Understanding The Complex Importance of Grief And Other Emotions…

Crying is a sign of strength because it is a demonstration of a completely comfortable relationship with the self. Choosing to cry and feel is a choice in the interest of one’s emotional health. Choosing to cry is also choosing not to care about the opinions of others. Since crying is so stigmatized, rising above society’s thoughts is pure authenticity. Crying also helps set an example to others. Especially in recovery when peers are struggling to connect with, articulate, and express their own emotions, seeing someone freely express themselves is inspiring. Not only will they learn from the act of crying, but they will see the transformation that takes place from working through emotions.

See Also: Why We Work Through Introspection and Healing

Feeling feelings, allowing emotions to be processed, and crying will feel foreign in early recovery. Drugs and alcohol are anesthetizing, numbing the mind as well as the body. Most will admit that part of the allure for abusing drugs and alcohol came with the feeling of not having to feel. Suddenly dealing with all the emotions which haven’t been felt in years can be challenging and triggering. Remember to cry, to feel, and to just let it all out. As with all this, this too shall pass, and recovery will be the better for it.

Work With A Program That Understands The Importance Of Expressing Our Emotions

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