Changing Addictions and Habits- The Ayurvedic Way
Anything can be habituated, ANYTHING. And it is in today’s world.
But the good thing is, if you can form bad habits, you can form good ones. This holds true for addictions which is a good thing because in this digital day and age, addictions are rife! You may be wondering if some of your really stuck habits are indeed addictions and how you would know the difference.
What is the difference between a habit and an addiction?
A habit is something that becomes part of your routine and becomes more difficult to give up the longer you repeat the pattern. They can be good or bad, like tidying and cleaning the kitchen after meals or allowing dirty dishes to pile up until there are no clean dishes available. Your normal morning routine consists of rituals that could be classed as habits if you do the same thing most days. Anything that you do routinely and automatically can be called a habit.
In addiction, there is much more intensity and focus on getting hold of the substance or doing the activity. This could be any substance or activity that takes over life and alters brain functions to a point that you are willing to engage in risky, harmful or problematic behaviour.
Having said that, there is a fine line and much controversy about the differences between habit and addiction. In Ayurvedic terms, anything you are doing that is harming your health or happiness, or the health or happiness of others, can be changed, no matter what you call it. In Ayurveda, the answer to addictions is the same as the answer to bad habits- nidana parivarjana - which means removal of the cause. But before you go cold turkey, it’s important to really root out the actual cause of the problem.
Getting to the root cause- understanding samskaras
Addictions and bad habits can start for a number of reasons. Mostly they start when you start searching for something on the outside to fix a feeling on the inside. When you feel depressed, anxious, shameful, critical, negative, powerless, hopeless or any other emotion that you want to run from, and you search for something to stop the feelings. For a while, this might help to kill the pain, but soon it stops being so effective and so you will probably keep increasing the dose.
The thought patterns, perceptions and repeated emotional loops that fuel these painful emotions are known as samskaras, and the negative ones drive the addictions. Negative samskaras create low self-esteem and have us get involved in addictive behaviour and self-destructive relationships. They prevent us from experiencing a positive self-evolution.
Although it can be hard to understand why you keep doing your addictions even though they are so harmful, Yoga and Ayurveda offers you a good explanation that makes a lot of sense. When viewed from the perspective of the five kleshas, it is easy to understand how addictions can take a hold.
The Five Kleshas or Causes of Suffering
Although these kleshas or causes of suffering or disease were identified thousands of years ago, it seems that as a race, human beings are no different now than we were then! In fact, we may be suffering even more now! These kleshas, according to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are: avidya (ignorance, denial, delusion), asmita (egoism), raga (attachment), dvesa (aversion or hatred), and abinivesah (clinging to life and fear of death).
Avidya makes you think that something or someone on the outside is going to fix the feelings on the inside. You search for a quick fix to try and stop the uncomfortable or painful feelings or thoughts.
Asmita or egoism has you thinking that you can control your feelings with the habit, but the relief is short lived and over time, you have to do more of the habit more frequently in order to produce the same effect Denial that there is a problem sets in and this unbelievably powerful process can go on for ages. Ego, pride and shame can prevent you from admitting that there is a problem.
Raga or attachment to the habit grows stronger and stronger. At this point you are no longer looking to the addiction to help you feel good, you are now trying to stop the pain of the withdrawal symptoms and forget about the consequences that result from the addiction.
Dvesa or aversion deepens when you begin to resent the grip that the addiction has on you. You realize that you are no longer controlling the show and that you can’t just stop the habit. You might even hate yourself for not being able to stop. The worst thing is that you will stop trusting yourself because although you want to avoid the habit, you can’t stop it. You make promises to yourself and others, and you might try all kinds of things, but you just can’t stop. Often there is equal and opposite amounts of energy thrown into attachment and avoidance creating a conflict and constant inner battle. This happens when there are perceived payoffs for both doing or not doing the thing. The payoffs are often not conscious. The end result is you lose your self-belief and feel hopeless.
Abinivesah or the fear of death is thought to be the bottom line in human suffering. However, I think this could be the fear of anything. The fear of the feelings created by the samskaras, the fear of failure, the fear of being seen, the fear of not having or being enough. There are a million fears that can drive addictions, but at the end of the day, fear drives the addiction bus.
So what is the solution?
The first step is admitting there is a problem and making a decision to feel well
The good news is, that your samskaras can be changed with a sankalpa (intention to get better), tapas (repeating the new desired habits over time with increasing self-discipline), and vidya (awareness) through witness consciousness. Yoga and Ayurveda can also help you develop all of these things without even understanding the philosophy! Undergoing a cleanse or a detox can help to digest emotions and to create mental space necessary for a pattern interrupt that can kickstart the process of changing your samskaras.
Don’t try to do it all at once
People often try and fail when they try to change everything at once. Some people can do this, but most people are more successful when they make little changes and gradually build in new good habits that eventually crowd out the bad ones.
Some of the most important things you can do when overcoming addictions are to calm vata and pitta doshas, balance agni (digestion) and develop a regular schedule to really establish new habits and routines. This is called the dinacharya in Ayurveda and includes diet, lifestyle and sleep routines. Reducing or removing stimulants and including pranayama, yoga practice and meditation help in the recovery from addiction. Cultivating a healthy inner world or spiritual practices helps to create peace.
Remember, cravings are just messages to the deepest parts of yourself that something needs attention. When you deeply listen to these messages, you can attend to the issues, and the cravings will subside. Your mind and body are just tools that can be used to give you clear solutions to your habits and addictions.
You are not alone
Making big changes to your life in the form of habits or addictions will change everything about the way you do life including the people that you spend time with. Seeking out a group of people who will support you in your new changes will significantly increase your chances of changing from the inside out. There is so much evidence to support this.
You can believe in yourself & change for good. Contact and book a session here.