When dealing with addiction, you also have to deal with the cravings associated with the vice. Whether you have food cravings, drug or alcohol cravings, or sexual cravings, learning to cope with cravings can be difficult. Cravings can start as a way to numb emotional pain and then turn into a way to get rid of the intense, overwhelming, and overall relentless feelings they cause.
Cravings can create irritability, restlessness, nausea, anxiety, and even insanity. Without understanding what is happening, you may give way to these pesky cravings because of the fight or flight feeling that you are continually experiencing. Having these strong emotions to cravings can make life unbearable unless you make some changes to learn how to cope with them as they come up.
Mindfulness
Staying in the present moment allows you to dispel the cravings you are experiencing and replace your thoughts with more positive ones. You can chant a mental mantra such as “live and let live” or “I am stronger than I think” to let the cravings pass. By taking this action, you will be able to move onto something better and do something more positive than drinking or using.
Urge Surfing
Visualize your craving as a wave and identify which part of the body the craving is affecting. By directing your attention to that area, you are willing your authority over the urge. The use of intentional breathing and a refocus on the area of the body being affected will express loving-kindness as a means to stop the cravings. As you ride the “wave” with your breathing, you will eventually distract yourself enough to end the urge.
Self-Soothing
A craving is set off by the reward center in the brain, so trying to compensate for the high with something pleasurable will suffice. Take a bubble bath with essential oils in the mix. Go paddle boarding to hear the kelp pop. Cook a gourmet meal for you and your loved one. Read a best-selling novel. Think of something you enjoy as being soothing and be ready to implement it when you start having a craving.
When you try to manage your cravings from the start, you practice getting rid of them before they become too hard to handle. The best thing you can do for cravings if you want to continue staying sober is to be proactive by identifying the feelings that you have and find something to combat them. Using these tips can help you stop cravings before they become a problem and cause you to relapse. The more you learn about what sets off your addiction, the more tools you will have to cope with cravings to stay on the path of recovery.
Here at The Guest House, we seek and treat the root of your addiction behaviors with holistic, experiential therapies alongside group therapy and one-on-one counseling. We are committed to helping you find healing and recovery that can last your whole life. By using our personal recovery experience and the 12 years of hands-on experience in the recovery industry, we have helped countless people recover and we are here to help you too.
Call (855) 483-7800 today for more information.