3 Ways Nature Can Help With Addiction Rehabilitation

Nature has indescribable healing powers and has helped people in many ways. The battle with addiction often requires unique approaches, and according to the staff at Red Rock Recovery Center in Denver, CO, the outdoors can have a powerful effect. Serene and inviting landscapes are a great rehabilitation setting and can often provide the escape you or a loved one needs to overcome addiction.

3 Ways Nature Encourages Addiction Recovery

1. Reconnecting

One of the biggest hurdles to overcome in rehabilitation is realizing you’re not alone. Addiction can leave people feeling abandoned or isolated. Nature seeks to resolve this by reconnecting people with the bigger picture. The outdoors put life into perspective for many people and show how all things are connected to the Earth. A sense of responsibility for sustaining the Earth can be therapeutic for people with addictions. By providing care, they feel less alone and gain a greater sense of purpose.

2. Learning Control

Coping skills are essential for rehabilitation, but they can be difficult to develop with so many everyday distractions. Stepping into nature provides an immediate escape. By stripping things down to the basics, people are better able to focus on meditation techniques and other skills to help them combat damaging urges. This will build mindfulness and control so that sobriety can be maintained.

3. Exercise

Both the mind and body need to recover from addiction, and the outdoors provide many opportunities to exercise. In many cases, such as hiking or swimming, people don’t even realize they’re being active. This accomplishes several things. Instilling new, healthier habits can replace more destructive ones. Exercise also helps reduce stress and clear the mind. Collectively, these benefits can create a lasting resource for future management.

Red Rock Recovery Center provides the opportunity for clients to have these experiences through four to five day trips as part of an expeditionary group. Additionally courses follows a progression. It is assumed that students are entering the wilderness for the first time and therefore skills are taught at the beginner level.

The Red Rock Recovery Center course is distinguished from other experiential program offerings by a number of factors: extended length, remote setting, inherent uncertainty and ambiguity in naturally-occurring circumstances, the need for effective communication, and complex decision making. These components are embedded in a supportive environment created by both staff and peers to provide the opportunity for clients to develop both interpersonally and intrapersonally. Participants are able to recognize their own strengths and may choose to challenge their physical, mental, and emotional limits. These limits can be easier to examine in a wilderness context than in day-to-day life.

If you or a loved one are in need of addiction rehabilitation, turn to the staff at Red Rock Recovery Center. Their compassionate team is committed to helping people overcome their addictions, and they provide a variety of services to accommodate individual needs. Call (720) 607-5199 today to speak with their staff and visit their website to learn more about their rehab services. Check out their Facebook page for updates and events.