At Iris Retreat, yoga is incorporated into the holistic program to heal not only your mind and spirit, but your body as well. Yoga simulates the relaxing effects of the parasympathetic nervous system and removes tension from all the major muscle groups and with certain postures actually massage internal organs, helping dispel toxins that may have built up in the liver and kidneys from substance abuse. Those who practiced yoga for 75 minutes once a week and received individual therapy once a week reduced their drug use, criminal activity, and cravings as much as those who went to group therapy once a week and had individual counseling.
After people change their diets and supplement their food intake with the right amount of amino acids, essential fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals, they can begin to deal with their alcoholism and drug abuse. With the proper nutrition and supplements, the brain manufactures chemicals—like norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter that seems to increase energy and boost mood; serotonin, another important neurotransmitter; and endorphins, the brain’s natural opiates—that are needed to regulate mood and behavior. At Iris Retreat food serves more frequently with evenly disbursed meal times: never hungry, never full. Learning to eat smaller meals every two to four hours, starting with breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up, and always keeping a healthy snack on hand, like a bag of nuts, to avoid sugar crashes and help keep blood sugar levels stable to enhance long-term recovery.
Once your detox is over, at Iris Retreat we will start engaging you in one-on-one hypnotherapy sessions and you will start learning tools for preventing relapse and ensuring longer-term success. Not only does hypnosis help people develop specific techniques for changing their addictive behavior, but these techniques seem to take hold more strongly. At Iris Retreat we developed a program that incorporates self-hypnosis, meditation, and visualization to treat various addictions so anyone can step back and watch what’s going on without judging or criticizing themselves. Some researches indicate the ability of hypnosis to control the pain of drug withdrawal symptoms.
