holistic treatment Archives - A Step In The Right Direction

ASITRD
Blog, holistic treatment
October 9, 2019

The Role of Nature in Healing Can Bring Some Peace to the Journey

Healing from addiction is not easy. The journey is filled with challenges. Even when a person is mentally positive, they might need an extra boost to get some support. Getting outdoors has some benefits. Nature is a great way to experience peace and calming after a challenging day or just to get outside. The mental health benefits are being touted right now as a way to get people off screens into nature, spending time outdoors, and thinking more positively about what they want for their recovery. Find out why and how nature works in this way and ways to tap into it for yourself.

ASITRD
Blog, holistic treatment
May 30, 2019

Dance Therapists May Have a New Take on Recreational Therapy Treatment

Dance and movement therapy is nothing new. It has been around for awhile to help people get out of their heads and into their bodies, but in a more therapeutic sense. Aside from overall health and wellness, dancing can actually help people who struggle with addiction heal in recovery by giving them a safe space to explore body movement. It is also good for people who are struggling with mental health issues and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Learn more about how dance therapists are taking this work into recovery and addiction settings.

Movement Therapy

Movement therapy is more than just dancing to music. It is a form of therapy that is similar to talk therapy, only with movement incorporated. It supports the cognitive, physical, and emotional sides of a person’s recovery in myriad ways. Movement helps people integrate all the parts of themselves together because you cannot be thinking about something else while trying to dance or you would trip over your feet. It takes focus and concentration, which means you cannot be elsewhere while dancing but in the present moment. A dance therapist is usually the person who helps someone connect with themselves and express their feelings and thoughts through movement.

Why it Works

The reason dance therapists use movement to help heal addiction is to help people communicate and express themselves to facilitate change. Unscripted dance and movement can be a great way to support a person’s goals in recovery, help them handle various situations that may come up and create space to be vulnerable. When a person is able to express themselves with dance, they are usually able to experience greater connection to themselves and others that aid in recovery. People may also experience:

Decrease in mood disorders
Increased positive thoughts and feelings
Enhanced confidence

Recovery is about finding what works best for you and helps you heal on the journey. The key is to think about your goals that you want to achieve in recovery. Healing begins when you are able to set goals and achieve them with the help of supportive therapists and others who understand what you need. If you think dance movement therapy is right for you, be sure to speak to those who are in your circle of supporters who might understand how to help you connect with what you need to heal.

A Step in the Right Direction provides quality care for clients seeking support for addiction recovery. We teach people how to live a sober life through programs, therapeutic support, and evidence-based therapies. Our recovery program is staffed by people who understand the power of addiction. For more information sober living programs for men and women as well as recovery programs, call t.

ASITRD
holistic treatment, QA
April 25, 2019

What is Holistic Health in Recovery?

Long term recovery rates vary depending on how people manage sobriety and lots of other factors like finances, personal lives, and relationships. Anyone can be susceptible to relapse. Real world challenges are not always addressed in recovery programs so it leads to increased risk of relapse. If you want to frame holistic health, it means looking at the whole person, the bigger picture, and trying to understand how to navigate recovery from a place of peace and realism.

Achieving Holistic Health

The internet is a place where people gather all kinds of information. Success in recovery is not just about winning, it’s about staying the course through the ups and downs. The 12 steps give a roadmap to recovery but success in life is needed to broaden horizons, especially in recovery. Holistic approaches to health and healing have to do with old beliefs, preconceived ideas, and prejudices that needed to be overcome. Holistic means totality, or the whole, focused on compartmentalization of life in recovery with walls, rooms, and boundaries.

Moving Forward

Early recovery is a time when you think about all the possibilities in front of you. It is encouraging to hear people’s stories and look to future outcomes. A quality life is built upon the ability to stay clean and sober one day at a time. It is part of the design of life. Nobody can do more than what is in front of them, which is why so many people feel they fall short. Addiction is a physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, and social challenges. Leaving behind addiction is about spiritual connection, beginning recovery. Many holistic programs focus heavily on one area like diet and exercise or prayer and meditation. These are important but not more so than the ability to find meaningful employment or pay the bills. Medication is often a good choice for people in recovery but may not be the best solution. Talk therapy can be helpful but is not always helpful for everyone all the time. For the majority of people it can be helpful, it just takes time, empathy, and commitment.

A holistic pathway to healing is about finding the journey that is right for you. If you are struggling to find a healing journey that supports you where you are right now, it is going to be hard to feel like you are making progress. Treatment programs are all different but they should support a holistic approach of mind, body, and spirit to get you moving in the right direction. Nutrition, music therapy, art, and other healing modalities can support you in moving forward in recovery. The main thing is to focus on sobriety and surround yourself with loved ones who will commit to helping you honor your sobriety, one step at at time.

ASITRD
Blog, holistic treatment
April 8, 2019

Yes, You Can Find Time Every Day for Meditation

The biggest challenge of learning a new skill like meditation is learning to fit it into your routine. Most everyone has days when it is hard to shower, let alone set aside time for quiet. The focus of a meditation practice is to find time each day that supports your journey forward. Make a commitment to follow these simple steps each day.

What to Do

A good meditation practice does not stop with a timer. Once it stops, it takes a few moments to come into presence. Stress and routine re-emerge and you have to get back to life again. A transformative process enriches your life and the lives of those around you. To get started, you need a good plan.

How it Works

Adding a reminder or mini practice each day helps you maintain some of the benefits of meditation each day. Using some simple techniques, you’ll be able to work your meditation practice into daily activities for lasting calm and focus.

Walking meditation: take a walk and link breathing to your steps. Slow walking meditation practice can be powerful. Take a breath with every two or three steps as you wander
Exercise meditation: focus mental energy on your body. Picture the push and pull of muscles and feel how you adjust your movements. Try out an exercise program that is rooted in breath and mindfulness
Two breaths: taking two simple, mindful breaths and can engage your meditative state at any point. Take two breaths before making a call, answering an email or starting your car
Sound cue: choose a sound and take two breaths every time you hear it. Choose a sound for your setting and incorporate a five-second pause in thinking when you hear a phone ring
Transitions: times when you move from one thing to another are key. Coming home from work is a transition from your work self home self. Going to meetings is different than going home. Think of lunchtimes as a good space to create room for breath and meditation. Pick a few transitions everyday and create a meditative pause

Make a commitment to the practice. Don’t give up your daily routine. Just amend it to work for you. Start with 5 minutes and keep it there until you are ready to try longer or make a routine that works for you. Just don’t go too fast or make it too long at first. You will find a way to do it if you keep practicing.

ASITRD
Blog, holistic treatment
March 15, 2019

These Natural Remedies for Alcohol Recovery Can Be Life Changing

Alcoholism treatment and recovery are difficult to deal with. It is not advisable to rely on alternative therapies or remedies for support. Natural approaches can enhance well-being while undergoing treatment for alcoholism.

When is Treatment Necessary

Alcoholism is characterized by several features. This includes cravings, loss of control, dependence, and tolerance. Because alcoholism can lead to social and emotional problems, it is critical to seek treatment for any symptoms of alcoholism.

Natural Support

Certain substances and mind-body therapies promise as a means of health support to provide relief to people undergoing treatment for alcoholism. When a person considers the use of any of these approaches, it is helpful to make sure to discuss the benefits and risk with the health-care professionals involved in treatment.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is often recommended to help reduce alcohol cravings, relieve withdrawal, and ease anxiety and depression. A study found after two weeks of treatments, withdrawal symptoms decreased.

Milk Thistle

Milk thistle is an herb rich in antioxidants. It is often touted as a way to restore liver health and protect against alcohol-induced liver damage. Milk thistle may offer some benefit to people looking to treat liver disease. Studies are needed to draw conclusions about the effectiveness in enhancing liver health.

Kudzu

Scientists discovered feeding animal extract of kudzu helped curb their alcohol dependence. A small study published in 2005 noted that taking supplements helped reduce alcohol intake in humans.

Alcoholism Treatment

Without help from treatment, you may experience the risk of experiencing side effects including cirrhosis, gastritis, pancreatitis, alcoholic hepatitis, bone loss, and more. Alcoholism is associated with cancer as well, including colon, breast, and mouth cancer. It is important to seek alcoholism treatment from a qualified healthcare professional or facility. Standard treatment may begin with detox and involve residential and outpatient programs that use a variety of social supports.

ASITRD
Blog, holistic treatment
February 12, 2019

Tibetan Singing Bowls May Be a Great Mindfulness Tool

Tibetan singing bowls are a type of bell that vibrates and produces a rich tone when played. Singing bowls are said to promote relaxation and offer healing properties. Buddhist monks have used these in meditation and wellness practitioners use them during treatment. Learn how they might support recovery using mindfulness as a way to build inner peace.

Uses of Tibetan Singing Bowls

People use Tibetan singing bowls for many reasons, including stress reduction and pain relief. Some people use the bowls with other healing practices, like meditation and deep breathing. Many people claim the vibrations of the bowl can produce changes in the body. There are some who claim it ‘harmonizes the cells,’ and ‘balances the body’s energy system.’ Some people claim Tibetan singing bowls can stimulate the immune system and produce changes in the brain.

Benefits

Despite the long history of use, there has not been many studies looking into how they promote healing. One of the studies that has looked at it worked with 54 people who had chronic pain that originated in the spine. They were assigned to six sessions of singing bowl therapy, a placebo treatment, or none at all. Members of the singing bowl group and placebo group experienced a decrease in pain intensity. Both the singing bowl therapy and placebo therapy had a stress-reducing effect on participants.

Using the Bowl

To create sound with a singing bowl, press the accompanying mallet in a circular motion against the outer edge or rim of the bowl. When a bright, clear tone emerges, slow down. Let your full arm make the motion, not just the wrist. Make that motion against the outside of the bowl. Strike the bowl before beginning the motion and see how the effects help bring peace.

Meditation and Peace

When a person in recovery is trying to stay clean and sober, there are many tools they can use to facilitate that. Finding a tool like meditation bowls can provide a great option to those who want to become more mindful and increase their peace of mind in recovery. Integrating use of the bowls may help enhance relaxation effects of stress management techniques like meditation, deep breathing, and guided imagery. When a person looks to enhance their well-being, it is important to try different things until they find what works but Tibetan meditation bowls have no risks or dangers and almost always, when used properly, provide a quiet, calming effect for those who use them.

Meditation can be a key to some people’s recovery and help bring some peace and calming. A Step in the Right Direction provides quality care for clients seeking support for addiction recovery. We teach people how to live a sober life through programs, therapeutic support, and evidence-based therapies. For more information sober living programs for men and women as well as recovery programs, call (877) 377-3702.

ASITRD
Blog, holistic treatment
February 5, 2019

Acupuncture Can Be Therapeutic for People with Addiction

Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine technique that people still use today to help people who are suffering from different ailments like back pain, headaches, and post-operative nausea. Acupuncture can also help people who are struggling with one of the nation’s biggest problems facing people of all ages: addiction.

What is Acupuncture

Acupuncture is an alternative medicine treatment option that focuses on stimulating points on the body with needles. They are specially designed needles to go into the points on the body that help relieve pain, or treat physical, mental, and emotional conditions.

Treating Addiction

Acupuncture treatment for addiction goes back to the 1970s when treatment and recovery centers offered treatment plants that included the practice to alleviate stress and anxiety. People who get this treatment typically also get other treatments alongside it including counseling, education, family involvement, and medical care. One of the challenges of treating addiction with acupuncture is that it is almost always supplementary for a person in rehab. They will need to have other treatments and options to pursue while in recovery.

Effectiveness

Evidence supports the effectiveness of specific professional counseling and therapy techniques including medications approved by the USFDA to treat certain forms of addiction. The use of acupuncture or other alternative interventions in addition to treatment for addiction can be the best alternative to an effective solution to addiction recovery. Techniques should be applied by practitioners who understand both addiction and acupuncture and have spent time treating people with these conditions (including mental health). When a person focuses on a holistic recovery, they may find treatments in other modalities to be more effective.

For people who are struggling in recovery from addiction, there are many holistic treatments to consider. Acupuncture is one of the least invasive and supportive treatments that people can add onto their protocol for recovery. It should never replace treating physician’s advice, psychiatry, or therapeutic support (including medication) for addiction, withdrawal, detox, or other symptoms. People who are in a treatment center which provides this option may be the best place to receive care for rehab with acupuncture.

ASITRD
holistic treatment, recovery
January 24, 2019

Can Meditation Help Drug Addiction?

One of the most successful treatments in addiction therapy is one that involves teaching people how to identify and change thinking habits in order to alter behavior. New computer models suggest adding meditation can result in better results. Studies are great, but the reality is that people can benefit from meditation in treatment and recovery to support their journey, in both big and small ways.

Drugs and Reward System

When a person uses drugs it unbalances the system in a way that interrupts normal flow of the reward system function. As a reward system stresses, it becomes incapable of achieving balance. The anti-reward system kicks in to remedy the situation. The person reaches what is called an allopathic state. Drug use impacts multiple brain functions and the person’s ability to reassess their own drug use becomes difficult.

Restoring Balance

In studies about drug use and meditation, theory suggests meditation may help restore homeostatis of the body. In the studies, a virtual participant takes a drug for the first time, abstains, then relapses. This results in a negative impact on mood and no intervention occurs. In a second case study, the virtual participant wears a nicotine patch for 25 days. Negative mood results in spite of receiving the same variables as in the first study. Researchers compared the studies with those who wore a nicotine patch and received meditation treatment to simulate differences in cognitive outcome.

Finding people with whom to study this theory would be helpful outside of a study. The issue becomes whether a person with addiction is willing or able to practice meditation to support recovery. Perhaps that person struggles with mental health issues or behavioral disorders which make it hard to focus and concentrate for long periods of time. In this case, that person may benefit from doing it in shorter bursts throughout the day rather than an hour-long session, for instance. Trying to force the mind to do something long periods of time at first is not of benefit to anyone, especially the person doing it.

How to Meditate

The challenge of meditation is just getting started. A person who is in treatment for addiction or in recovery can benefit if they know some of the tools to get started:

Find a quiet spot to sit at some point during the day (early on is best)
Find a comfortable way to sit for five minutes to start with
Explore a timer to keep focused on meditation
Join a group or others who are practicing meditation and mindfulness
Clear the mind and let anything go as it enters the mind
Don’t judge or shame yourself if you struggle

When a person starts of with meditation, it can be easy to judge or shame yourself for not ‘getting it right.’ there is no right or wrong way, only the way you do it for yourself. Find what works for you and just do it. If you feel a little better after, you might have just found the ticket you were looking for to calm your mind and bring some peace to your life, if only for that moment. The key is now to incorporate it into your life more often so you can bring that peace into your life on a consistent basis.

Offering a full continuum of care for both men and women, A Step In The Right Direction strives to provide quality, life-changing care. Teaching clients to walk the road of recovery in daily life sober living, our program utilizes evidence-based therapies and the real life experience of recovery in our staff to provide a transformational expeirence. For more information on our programs of care and sober livings for men and women, call (877) 377-3702

ASITRD
health and wellness, holistic treatment
January 16, 2019

Pressing These 5 Pressure Points May Help You Sleep Better

Insomnia is fairly common as a sleep disorder. It makes it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. Having insomnia prevents many people from getting seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Some people may have short periods of insomnia but others may suffer for some months. Regardless of how often it occurs, acupressure can provide some relief. Learn about the five pressure points to try and how to use it for better sleep.

Spirit gate

The spirit gate point is located at the crease on your outer wrist, below the pinky finger. To treat insomnia, you can try the following:

Feel for the small, hollow space in the area and apply gentle pressure in a circular or up-and-down movement
Continue for 2 to 3 minutes
Hold left side of point with gentle pressure for a few seconds, then hold right side
Repeat same area of other wrist
Stimulate pressure point associated with quieting the mind, to help you fall asleep

Three yin intersection

The three yin intersection point is located on the inner leg, above the ankle. To treat insomnia using this point, try:

Locating highest point on the ankle
Count four finger widths up the leg, above ankle
Apply pressure behind biggest lower-leg bone (tibia), massing with circular or up-and-down motions for 4 to 5 seconds

Bubbling spring

The bubbling spring point is located on the sole of your foot. It’s in the small depression that appears above the middle of your foot when you curl your toes inward. To treat insomnia:

Lie on your back with knees bent so you can reach feet with hands
Take a foot in your hand and curl your toes
Feel for depression on sole of the foot
Apply firm pressure and massage this point for a few moments using circular or up-and-down motion

Inner frontier gate

The inner frontier gate is found on the inner forearm between two tendons. To ease insomnia:

Turn hands palms facing up
Take one hand and count three finger widths down from the wrist crease
Apply steady downward pressure between two tendons
Use circular up-down motion to massage area for four to five seconds. This helps you sleep and is associated with soothing nausea, stomach pain, and headaches

Wind pool

The wind pool point is located at the back of your neck. You can find it behind the ears, following the groove around to where the neck muscles attach to the skull:

Clasp hands together and open palms with fingers interlocking to form a cup
Use thumbs to apply deep, firm pressure toward skull using circular or up-down movements to massage area for a few seconds
Breathe deeply.

Research has stated that doing these a few times a week can support people feeling better by sleeping more soundly. If insomnia is a larger problem, it can be related to a host of health issues which may need to be attended to by a doctor.

ASITRD
health and wellness, holistic treatment
January 3, 2019

Can Yoga Help Increase Blood Circulation?

One of the most important functions in the body is circulation of blood. This supplies blood, oxygen, and nutrients to the brain and other organs. Good circulation promotes healthy skin, cell growth, energy, and cognitive ability. Poor circulation may cause numbness, dizziness, nerve damage, tissue damage, and other issues. Learn more about how yoga can help increase blood circulation and lead to better overall health.

Legs Up the Wall

Yogis praise a passive inverted pose for its use of gravity to stimulate blood circulation and rejuvenate the body. This inversion encourages venous return and allows the heart to slow down. To get started, try these tips:

Start in seated pose on the floor next to a wall with your legs running parallel to the wall. In one motion, swivel the body so your legs go up the wall and the upper body is perpendicular and straight on the floor. Allow your arms to relax by your side or hands on the navel. Flex feet and remain in this pose for up to 15 minutes. Exit gently by rolling to one side.

Camel Pose (Ustrasana)

This pose increases blood circulation by bending back as you open your chest and shoulders to allow your head to dangle back. To get started in this pose, try:

Kneeling on floor with knees hip-width apart. Place palms on the upper buttocks with fingers pointing down.
Inhale and move your pelvis forward while leaning the upper body and head back. Spend a few seconds getting used to this stretch in the thighs.
If you feel ready, exhale and reach your right hand back up and cup the heel of your right foot. Do this on the left side. Press pelvis forward and round the sound. Relax the head back and hold for 30 seconds. If this is too much strain, use a wall as a prop.

Upward Bow Pose (Urdhva Dhanurasana)

This therapeutic pose helps the circulatory system as it rejuvenates the cells and allows blood to flow through arms, legs, spine, and brain. How to start:

Lie on your back and bend your knees
Plant feet hip-width apart with heels close to the butt
Bend elbows and place hands on the floor beside your ears with fingers pointing toward your shoulders
Press into the floor with your hands and raise your head and shoulders off the floor
Exhale and rest crown of your head on the floor
Press into the floor with hands and straighten arms as you inhale and lift your head off the floor

Before trying yoga poses, it is important to make sure you get approval from a treating physician. It can be helpful but certain poses may be challenging or strain the neck and back. Be sure to visit a studio and people who practice helping with proper alignment to avoid possible injury.