Recovery is defined by SAMHSA as “a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.” Three factors that can hinder recovery are stress, challenging emotions, and lack of support. Mindfulness can help provide individuals with tools to address these obstacles.
Mindfulness is a process of intentionally paying attention to one’s present experience without judgment. Stress and challenging emotions can be caused by obsessive worry about the past or unmanageable fears about the future. Using the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch, mindful practices help give a person the opportunity to “get off the hamster wheel” of obsessive thinking and ground themselves in the experience of the present moment.
By allowing a person to focus more clearly on what is right in front of him or her instead of trying to change the past or predict the future, mindfulness gives the foundation for change. When stress is minimized and a person is able to face one’s emotions with understanding and compassion, the individual is better able to respond in more productive ways instead of reacting in unproductive, destructive ways.
Mindfulness, just like recovery, takes practice. Having a community one can lean on when motivation is lacking or where one can seek guidance from during uncertainty is essential for the sustainability of the process. Mindful Recovery Groups provide such a community where people can learn mindfulness and explore ways to support their own recovery.
Interested in learning more about mindfulness in recovery? Please join us this Thursday after our All Recovery Meeting at 6:00 via zoom. Mindfulness will be at 7:00 via zoom. Please see the information below.
All Recovery Meetings are peer led recovery meetings that focus on topic discussions. It is not connected with any specific recovery program or 12-step group. Meetings welcome all who struggle with addiction, are affected by addiction or support the recovery lifestyle.
These meetings will occur every Thursday virtually until further notice.
Beginning on January 21, MDC will also be offering a Mindfulness session directly following our All Recovery Meeting. Mindfulness can help bring a new level of awareness to recovery. With guided mindfulness practice, this weekly meeting will support a deeper understanding of yourself. This class is also open to anyone in the community interested in a mindfulness session.
Meeting Link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88440594119?pwd=TUVUYUJDcG1VSE11a2V4ZDh5anJPQT09