Recovering from sex addiction is a day-by-day process. Using meditation for sex addiction helps people focus on each step of recovery. It helps them feel more in control and grounded in their recovery.
What is Meditation?
Meditation does not require complete blankness of thought. It doesn’t require special training or hours of work. Meditation is sitting in silence for as little as a few minutes. It encourages you to focus on your breath and the sensations in your body.
Thoughts come and go. Meditation teaches you to observe those thoughts rather than getting caught up in them.
Practicing regular meditation means you’ll be able to step outside your cravings and negative self-talk. You’ll learn the tools of letting these things pass by rather than focusing on them.
Meditation helps those with sex addiction learn how to overcome their urges during the recovery process.
Aside from meditation, therapy can help those with a sex addiction.
Benefits of Meditation
Regular meditation has many benefits. You can start to see and feel these benefits after just a few brief meditation sessions.
Benefits include:
- Enhanced Empathy. Meditation encourages compassion toward oneself and others. This compassion increases your feelings of non-judgment, self-awareness, and non-reactivity. As a result, it becomes easier for you to form authentic connections with others. Developing empathy is one reason experts recommend meditation for sex addiction.
- Stabilized Stress Response. When you meditate, you allow yourself the time and space to breathe and relax. In addition, you gain tools to control emotional reactions to stimuli. By practicing meditation as part of sex addiction treatment, people learn how to regulate their stress response.
- Reduced Response to Pain. When you practice mindfulness meditation, you learn how to stay in one moment. You stop dwelling on the past or future. Meaning, when you experience pain, you’re capable of sitting with it, observing it, and letting it pass. You recognize that the pain is fleeting.
- Greater Emotional Health. Practicing meditation as part of your recovery will increase your overall sense of well-being. You’ll be in control of your emotional responses, your triggers, and how you relate to others.
Meditation to Improve Decision-Making
There are many styles of meditation. Mindfulness meditation is the practice of focusing on the moment, on sensations, and on what you perceive.
Through mindfulness meditation, people learn to maintain awareness of their thoughts, feelings, and environment. It encourages you to listen to your feelings and thoughts without judgment.
Practicing regular mindfulness improves your decision-making skills. When you learn how to control your responses, you gain control of your choices. This increased focus means you’ll develop a better ability to consider options before you act. You act instead of reacting. You’re in control of your actions and choices.
Meditation and Recovery
Meditation for sex addiction can help increase the odds of long-term recovery. It is an essential tool for those with addiction for many reasons.
Meditation aids recovery by:
- Providing a Natural Boost. There is a part of your brain called the prefrontal cortex. It’s also known as your brain’s “happiness center.” Both sex and meditation can stimulate this area, producing a natural positive boost. People can learn how to replace other habits and addictions with meditative practices.
- Controlling Urges. People with substance use disorders and intimacy disorders often feel like they can’t control their choices. Practicing meditation during recovery helps keep you focused and allows you to control cravings. As a result, you develop the ability to control your desires and stay on track.
- Releasing Dopamine. The desire for sex comes out of a craving for dopamine. Dopamine is the feel-good chemical the brain releases when you do something that pleases you. Sex and meditation increase the brain’s production of dopamine. Therefore, you meditate as an alternative to following your cravings.
- Learning to Live More Consciously. Mindfulness meditation gives you the ability to learn how to control your impulses. It allows you the time and space to weigh your options before you act. You develop an awareness of the present moment. You learn to stay in that space rather than worrying about the past or the future. As a result, you’ll be able to make more conscious, healthy choices.
How ILC Can Help
At Integrative Life Center, meditation is a component of sex addiction therapy. Regular meditation will help you empathize with your past choices and make healthier decisions in the future.
Ready to use meditation as part of treatment? Contact us to learn more about how we can help with your recovery.
