Mindfulness Retreat
in Colorado
There are many treatment options available for the treatment of addiction and sustained recovery. Ongoing research shows the benefits of many of the retreat center treatment programs available. Mindfulness retreats have been shown to be helpful for those in recovery.
Addiction is a disease of the brain, raising havoc with the neurotransmitters that naturally help people manage pain, relieve stress, and provide pleasure from food, sex, and laughter. Mindfulness meditation retreat brings awareness to the cravings and responses, providing an opportunity to intervene and identify alternatives to an automatic reflex to use drugs or alcohol to satisfy a craving.
What is Mindfulness?
Being present in this moment and being aware simply explains the Mindfulness based stress reduction experience.
The practice of mindfulness is easy to learn. It incorporates things people already do. Mindfulness makes people more aware of what is happening around them, making life much more manageable. Anyone can practice mindfulness.
Mindfulness based stress reduction is a holistic activity and requires no medication or equipment. It can be practiced at any time and in any place.
When mindfulness meditation practice is performed daily or as a way of life, it is an effective preventative tool for stress and anxiety. It effectively provides a general sense of well-being and a tool for coping with crises.
Mindfulness is about not doing. It is about simply being aware.
Benefits of a Mindfulness Practice
Continuing mindfulness meditation with a meditator or mindful living can bring peace and improve the quality of life.
Mindfulness practice can help those with daily life in recovery:
Enhance mind resilience
Increase relaxation and stress relief
Improve decision making
Reduce depression and anxiety
Develop a positive sense of well-being
Self-directed pain management
Improve mindful self compassion
Approaching problems from the present allows the individual to fully evaluate problems and solutions in real-time.
The human brain does not stop in every day life. It does not take a break. The brain processes information at such a rapid speed it is not possible to listen to every thought and action. Mindfulness helps slow down what can seem like an overwhelming stream of thoughts that sometimes imply that action is necessary.
Breathing is the Central Component of Mindfulness
The practice of mindfulness uses skills people already have. Many of the skills of mindfulness are taken for granted. Once they are called upon to practice mindfulness, their value is unmistakable. Breathing is a bodily function central to living in the present – mindfully.
Awareness of the breath makes it clear how much a person has within themselves to find calm and inner peace.
Breathing is an automatic function of life. It is an autonomic function initiated in the brain. It can be counted on to occur 24 hours around the clock, awake or asleep.
For as long as a person is alive, breathing will occur without prompting except in times of profound illness or injury. Most people don’t pay any attention.
Bringing one’s attention to their breathing takes them immediately to the present moment initiating the awareness of everything else occurring. Awareness of one’s breathing is an essential tool anyone can use, making mindfulness available to anyone.
Types of Mindfulness Meditations
Mindfulness can be practiced at any time. Sometimes it is helpful to practice mindful meditation with a meditation instructor by turning to a quiet time and place, slowing down intrusive thoughts, and simply being in the present moment.
Some of the focused meditations include:
Walking
While walking, take in the five senses studying what is observed, including the physical sensation of walking.
Eating
Consuming food and drink slowly, observing taste, texture, and eating process.
Sitting
Eyes closed in a comfortable chair, relaxed, paying attention to the physical sensation of being in the chair, observing sounds and odors.
Standing
Bring your awareness to the sensation of your feet on the ground. Sense the feeling of being truly grounded.
Body Scan
Laying down in a comfortable place flat on your back, slowly bringing your attention through every body part from head to toe.
Mindfulness meditations can be done individually, in a group, silently, or as a guided meditation. When guided meditation is practiced, it can be done with a live guide or a recording.
Yoga is often incorporated into wellness retreat programs. Mindfulness is an integral part of yoga exercise. The body is as much a part of mindfulness as the brain. Yoga is a form of exercise that integrates mindfulness into an awareness of the body and fitness.
Mindfulness is also an integral component of psychotherapy and counseling treatment, including exposure therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Most mental health treatment today incorporates mindfulness to help clients get grounded and relieve stress.
What is a Mindfulness Retreat?
Mindfulness is often learned as a meditation practice. A meditation retreat, such as one provided by Healing Pines, teaches participants to use mindfulness in every aspect of their daily lives.
Participants can learn and practice mindfulness without distraction at a retreat.
Those in recovery benefit from using a mindfulness retreat to connect or reconnect with their ability to stay grounded in the present.
A recovery retreat includes programming to:
- Enhance a participant’s utilization of education and practice of clean and sober living
- Teach skills and tools which are fully transferable to daily living
- Provide opportunities to learn and practice mindfulness meditation skills designed to enhance and support sobriety
A mindfulness retreat of one day or multiple days allows the participant to practice various ways to apply mindfulness skills.
Experience Mindfulness with Healing Pines
Comprehensive treatment programs at Healing Pines are available, including the incorporation of mindfulness programs.
Participating in a mindfulness retreat at Healing Pines provides an opportunity to share a fully immersed mindfulness practice with others in recovery. The atmosphere at Healing Pines brings, nestled in the natural environment of Colorado, demonstrates the role of mindfulness in recovery.
Our programs are evidenced based. The treatment and services provided at Healing Pines are proven to help addicts recover.
Contact us to find out what programs are currently available and which programs are best suited for your situation. We are here to help.