Fitness Therapy
At The Orchid, we emphasize the holistic treatment of alcoholism and addiction and offer clinical drug treatment for all aspects of our clients’ bodies, minds and spirit. Fitness offers the benefits of a healthy daily discipline, a restoration of physical health and a naturally effective stress relief. At Orchid, clients regularly practice fitness in order to improve health, improve body image and feel great. Our clients are offered strength and conditioning classes for cardiovascular, resistance and body sculpting exercises. In addition, regular yoga therapy provides an opportunity to begin each day achieving serenity while strengthening and stretching the body. With the approval of the clinical Treatment Team, professional massage treatment sessions can be scheduled to get relief from symptoms of withdrawal, anxiety and insomnia.
As in all things, The Orchid strives to provide a balanced, holistic exercise component to a client’s alcohol or drug rehab program. Clients are encouraged to develop areas of fitness that relate directly to increased physical and mental well-being.
Cardiovascular health is improved by aerobic exercise, jogging and swimming. Resistance training and body sculpting develop muscular strength. Flexibility is increased by yoga and stretching routines. Body composition is improved by The Orchid’s healthy exercise and nutritional program to achieve maximal health.
The benefits of participating in exercise during a program of recovery underscore the powerful mind/body connection and create a powerful synergistic effect to rapidly increase your quality of life. As you exercise, your body releases endorphins, the same “feel good” neurotransmitters often depleted by alcohol and drug dependence, reducing stress and increasing your sense of wellbeing. At the same time, a your strengthening cardiovascular system and quickened metabolism helps speed up and complete your body’s final expulsion of toxins, making you feel even better.
These physiological improvements of exercise are matched with psychological gains as well. The mental benefits of regular strenuous exercise include improved body image, a sense of accomplishment and an elevated mood that you carry with you throughout your day. In fact, studies suggest that, in all but the most serious cases, regular exercise and good fitness is as effective at elevating mood in depressed patients as most prescription medications.
Further Reading