Holistic Therapies for Cocaine Addiction: Body, Presence and Breath

Cocaine is a powerful stimulant, and its highly pronounced effects can be extremely addictive to those with whom it resonates. What usually starts with snorting cocaine “recreationally” alongside drinking (still a largely socially acceptable practice) often leads to more discreet methods like smoking, or stronger ones like an injection. And because cocaine’s effects wear off so quickly, using it frequently and continuously can easily become a habit that takes over your life with shocking speed. 

While those with functional cocaine addiction may appear to have their lives together on the outside, inside, they’re deeply hurting. If this sounds familiar to you, it’s important to know that you can absolutely stop using cocaine once you heal the deeper reasons causing your addiction – and alternative cocaine addiction treatment can help you get there safely and effectively. 

Therapeutic Body Work 

“Body work” refers to an array of touch-based therapies that includes massage, craniosacral therapy, reflexology, the Feldenkrais method and more. These nurturing, stress-relieving techniques help you transition into a relaxed state in which you’re receptive to therapy and able to more easily let go of the stuck tension and trauma caused by your addiction. 

Touch therapies can also help you get back in tune with your body, increasing your perception of your physical responses to environmental stressors, helping you to avoid relapse. One study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, for example, found that massage therapy helped women in substance abuse treatment develop “body literacy,” or the ability to identify and articulate their sensory experience – a skill that tends to get severely neglected during active use. 

Yoga for Recovery

“Addiction is based on an overwhelming urge to either promote or inhibit certain sensations which are felt (often subconsciously) as physical reactions,” says yogi Emily Stewart. Yoga, on the other hand, teaches us how to sit with our difficult emotions. Rather than avoiding the discomfort of suffering by artificially altering our mental state, we can accept it, using meditation practice to let it pass in a non-threatening way. 

In addition to guiding us gently into presence, yoga also restores the natural flow of our nervous system, strengthens our immune system and vastly benefits our overall health, helping us heal from the damaging effects of cocaine abuse and strengthening us against relapse when future challenges arise. 

Breathwork

Breath is so much more important than we give it credit for. In Indian spirituality, it’s such a central focus that the term prana is used to describe not only physical breath but the life-giving force that underlies all vital functions.  

But when we’re in a fearful or anxious state, our breathing becomes shallow – and when we’re caught in the throes of substance addiction, we forget our breathing completely. This is especially true of cocaine, which has a noticeable adverse effect on the respiratory system. But learning to breathe in a cleansing, grounding way through pranayama practice and other breathwork techniques can have profound results in promoting your wellness and helping you heal from addiction.  

Heal From Cocaine Addiction Holistically in the Restorative Surrounds of Sedona

At The Sanctuary, we don’t see you as a set of separate symptoms, but rather a whole, multifaceted being. That’s why we take an integrative approach to addiction recovery that addresses all of your interconnected needs, so you can transcend your cocaine addiction and be recovered for life. 

Learn more about high-functioning cocaine addiction in our article: Just How Bad is Recreational Cocaine Use? 

To find out how you can get started on a journey of lasting life change, call us at (877) 710-3385 or email us at [email protected] today.