Spirituality and Recovery
Many things can help you maintain your recovery. By implementing certain practices into everyday life, you can find the motivation to continue sobriety. In some cases that includes starting a new hobby, focusing on fitness and nutrition, or spirituality. It is a common practice to incorporate spirituality into recovery. Everyone is in a different place with their spirituality. Some embrace spirituality through religion and others embrace it through mindfulness-based practices.
While there are addiction treatment facilities that focus their programs on spirituality and religion, the Lakehouse Recovery Center believes in focusing treatment programs on the individual needs of each client. If spirituality is important to you, we can incorporate it into your treatment. One of our goals is to give you the ability to feel empowered in your recovery. That means not approaching treatment from a one-size-fits-all perspective.
If you do not currently consider yourself to be a spiritual person but want to learn more about spirituality, that is okay too. Treatment is a great time to research and experiment with different concepts. Through this experimentation, you can learn more about yourself, the life you want to live, and how you can maintain recovery through your new spiritual practices.
Spirituality Versus Religion
Before determining how spirituality may or may not benefit your recovery, it is important to differentiate spirituality from religion. Spirituality is often confused with religion. While various religions emphasize spirituality, you can be spiritual without belonging to organized religion. That is the biggest key difference. Religion is a more structured or organized set of beliefs and practices within a community or organization. Spirituality is a personal journey. Whatever you practice, spirituality should bring you peace and improve your life. Your spiritual practice can be inspired through mindfulness, through the teachings of various religions, or through a combination of both.
For others, spirituality is simply about having faith in something other than yourself. The concept of believing in a higher power can also be misconstrued with common religious beliefs. Spirituality is not necessarily about believing in one or multiple gods. It could be about believing in nature, a celestial being, or even simply believing in the power of positive thinking. Whatever you believe in, the foundation for the belief typically derives from it adding value to your life, which in turn aids in your recovery.
Can Spirituality Improve Overall Health?
If practicing spirituality is something you are considering, you have to take into account how it will affect your life as a whole, not just your recovery. There is much research regarding the effects of spirituality on mental health, but one study, in particular, focused on examining the implications of religion and spirituality on health. The author, Harold G. Koenig, conducted research on religion and spirituality, and how it impacts mental and physical health. He examined effects on substance use disorders, anxiety, depression, and several other mental and physical disorders.
In his conclusion, Koenig claims that religious and spiritual beliefs and practices are “commonly used by both medical and psychiatric patients to cope with illness and other stressful life changes,” and that research indicates that those who are more religious or spiritual “have better mental health and adapt more quickly to health problems.” Although religion and spirituality are different, research indicates they can both be beneficial to your health. Recovery is about so much more than abstaining from substances, it is about making major life changes. If spirituality has piqued your interest, feel empowered to pursue it while knowing that it has the potential to improve your overall well-being while aiding in recovery.
Spirituality, Substance Use, and Mental Health
Addiction and substance use is frequently accompanied by co-occurring mental disorders. Substance use can cause severe struggles with mental illness. It can also be a way to self-medicate preexisting struggles with mental illness. More often than not, both scenarios lead to addiction. Knowing that spirituality improves physical and mental well-being may bring you comfort. Perhaps you may find it premature to put your faith into something just for the sake of recovery. That is not what spirituality is about.
If pursuing spirituality is not conducive to your recovery or the life you hope to live, then you should not pursue it. If believing in a higher power or a concept bigger than yourself allows you to relinquish control, then you should pursue it. You might stop worrying about every little thing and choose to put your recovery in the hands of your higher power. This sense of acceptance and admittance can strengthen your recovery, help you overcome your fears, and improve your symptoms of mental illness, but you must continue to put in the work necessary for a successful recovery.
If you are finding yourself at a crossroads between treatment and a life of substance use, reach out to the Lakehouse today. Our team can guide you toward a path of recovery. That will include listening to you, understanding your needs, and creating an individualized treatment plan that will help you achieve a life of recovery regardless of whether or not a path of spirituality is right for you. Help us help you today.
Spirituality is a journey where you create your own set of values and beliefs to live by. Sometimes those beliefs are shared by others or are even adopted from different religions, but to be spiritual does not always mean being religious and vice versa. Spirituality can improve mental and physical well-being, and for many, it helps them to achieve and live a life of long-term sobriety. While there are addiction treatment facilities that focus their programs on spirituality or religion, the Lakehouse Recovery Center believes in focusing treatment plans based on each client’s individual needs. If spirituality is important to you, we can incorporate it into treatment. One of our goals is to give our clients the ability to feel empowered in their recovery. That means not approaching treatment from a one-size-fits-all perspective. If you’re searching for a path to recovery, call the Lakehouse at (877) 762-3707 today.