Dealing with addiction can be so difficult because of the emotional response surrounding it. Many of us feel the need to escape from negative emotions such as depression, anxiety, fear, shame, and guilt. Often, these thoughts come from a place of unhappiness caused by a lack of abundance. In other terms we wish we had a better job, more money, fulfilling relationship or recognition. This continual wanting leaves us empty and is filled only when we fall back into self-destructive habits.
This causes us and more suffering as we are seeking something that we cannot get hold of, or looking back to something that’s already gone by. In some cases, we are infatuated with something that does not serve us – we believe something could’ve gone better, or deal with intense emotions such as anger or jealousy.
Mindfulness allows us to develop the ability to see what we are attached to and make an effort to let go to stop our own suffering. The resistance that comes into our awareness can be looked at and understood without judgment.
How our mind wonders
Regardless of what we would like, it is challenging to suppress natural desire – this is part of our human nature. Desire leads us to want to be better people and is the reason for much of the progress we have made in humanity. In spite of all of our discoveries, we always look for more. This can make us competitive and resentful to those who seem to have everything.
Healthy practices
Seeking advice on addiction on sites like help4addiction.co.uk can help you to work out an effective health plan. Getting control of nutrition, doing meditation, yoga practice or exercise is a fantastic way to help regulate your mood. Naturally, these lower your stress hormones, which in turn enhances your immune system giving you more energy and a higher capacity to cleanse the body of toxins.
The effects of mindfulness
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to using mindfulness to conquer addiction is the fear of being unable to change. This can cause denial, and eventually, you may underestimate the consequences of your own harmful behavior. Regardless of what you find out about yourself, pushing through and being able making chances is always possible. Research has found that using meditation allows us to alter the parts of the self that we thought were ingrained. Mindfulness also allows us to create neural networks that can change temperament to a more desirable character.
Rewiring the mind
Originally, scientists thought that the brain’s ability to be malleable was very limited after childhood. New research tells us that the brain structure can be changed very far into adulthood. By building new connections within our mind, we can begin to rewire how we think and act – a process that indicates the brain is learning new patterns. These new patterns can help us develop a sense of optimism and an ability to observe any negative emotions. This, in turn, gives us the chance to foster compassion for ourselves and helps to curb all of the negative feelings that lead us to self-destructive habits, such as addiction.
The key to changing
It is very possible, and likely the other forms of mental discipline can do the same. Being able to revamp the mind through meditation, tai chi or yoga allows us to look at life with a renewed hope and optimism.