While doing your research on the perfect treatment center for your needs, you will likely start coming across mentions of holistic activities and therapies. These types of activities and therapies are extremely beneficial to addiction recovery in many ways, and finding a treatment center that offers them is extremely important. Recovering from addiction requires much more than just becoming sober — it means building new skills and a new lifestyle, which holistic activities and therapies can be instrumental with.
Holistic Activities and Therapies: Why They Work
When it comes to getting sober, evidence-based therapies are extremely useful. Medicated-assisted detox, counseling, and ongoing aftercare are all things that can help you get off of drugs and alcohol.
However, when it comes to staying sober, holistic activities and therapies have proven to be very effective. This is because when it comes to staying sober, treating the whole body is required — mind, body, and spirit.
Going through addiction can wreak havoc on the body. Everything from an individual’s nutrition, mental state, and outlook on life is damaged. Getting these things back on track requires much more than counseling or evidence-based therapy, which is why holistic activities and therapies are so important. The stronger all of these things are, the more likely a successful, long-term recovery is possible.
Types of Holistic Activities and Therapies
Some examples of holistic activities and therapies include:
- Beach walks
- Swimming
- Sports
- Meditation
- Cooking classes
- Nutrition therapy
- Art therapy
- Massage
- Acupuncture
- Yoga
- Surfing
- Hikes
- Personal trainers
- Martial arts
Building Skills and Learning to Cope
Going through addiction recovery can be a stressful process. From experiencing detox and attending emotional therapy sessions to dealing with stressful triggers in aftercare, keeping stress levels under control is a vital part of sobriety. That is why building stress management skills through holistic activities and therapies are so effective. Learning yoga, mindfulness, meditation, and various ways to exercise are all skills that you can carry with you as coping mechanisms in the place of substances.
In addition, nutrition and taking care of your body is vital in addiction recovery. Substance abuse can cause individuals to overeat or under eat which can interfere with weight, blood pressure, internal organs, and much more. By learning about nutrition in treatment and building the skills of taking care of your body, you will be able to heal much of the damage done by substance abuse. One healthy habit begets another healthy habit, so keeping this up in aftercare is important as well.
A Compliment to Traditional Therapy
While holistic therapy and evidence-based therapy are both extremely effective in the long-term success of addiction recovery, they shouldn’t be used exclusively or individually. They work best when they are used together to complement each other.
Everyone who enters a drug rehabilitation center for addiction will have different needs. Much like overcoming any other illness or disease, the same two people won’t have the exact same symptoms at the same exact severity levels. Everyone’s journey is totally different, and as such, finding what works best for you is the most important part of addiction therapy.
Figuring out that painting and art therapy might be just the perfect fit for you, however, surfing might work well for the person right next to you. It’s all about finding what will give you the best individual long-term success.
About Seasons in Malibu
Learning new ways to manage your stress, find new coping skills, and ways to live your new lifestyle are essential in addiction recovery. Holistic activities and therapies help you do just that.
Seasons In Malibu rests on the bluff overlooking Matador Beach in Malibu, California, just north of Los Angeles. On over 3 acres and with several residences, this luxury rehab center is completely unique among rehabs in California for its beauty, space, and layout. Sometimes the work of drug and alcohol addiction treatment can be very intense, and the campus gives clients and their families the opportunity to do the work with as little extra stress as possible.
Some drug rehab treatment centers make you think their addiction treatment facilities are close to the water when this isn’t really the case. At our drug rehab Malibu we can walk to the beach and are across the Pacific Coast Highway from one of the most famous beaches in the world, Matador Beach. We use the ocean to our full advantage, offering surfing and kayaking lessons as well as daily beach walks and periodic yoga on the beach.
With the intensity of the schedule and the focus on using your time well, no one mistakes drug and alcohol rehab in Malibu at Seasons for a vacation. Yet so that our clients can do the work well and with rest and focus, our Malibu recovery center provides an opportunity to contemplate and rest and recharge with quiet and space.