Healing Addiction Along the Hamakua Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii
There is a saying when it comes to storytelling that goes, “Specificity is the soul of narrative.” What that means is that details matter. Of course, the characters matter, and their backstory and objectives matter. Also, the story arc matters, where it starts, what happens, and what’s in store. However, there is one specific detail that is often overlooked or, at a minimum, not given enough credit. That detail is the setting. The setting is crucial. Now, you may be asking, “Where is this all going?” This is a metaphor for our recovery journey. Of course, we matter in the story. Our backstory, current status, and future objectives matter. Also, how we make our way toward our recovery goals matters. However, also often overlooked is where we recover. Yes, the specificity of the “setting,” of where we recover, matters, and there is no better place for healing addiction than the Hamakua Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii.
The Importance of Connecting to a Respected Recovery Center
Choosing to seek recovery is one of the hardest things any of us may ever have to do. It can feel like we’re giving up control for an outcome that feels uncertain. This is understandable. It can be a scary prospect. However, by choosing the right recovery center, those difficulties can be mitigated, and the uncertainty of the situation can be minimized.
The truth is that choosing to seek recovery is also one of the most important things any of us will ever have to do. There is nothing more important than taking autonomy and advocating for a new, more constructive way of life. Choosing the right recovery center is going to ensure that that decision is rewarded by a positive long-term outcome rather than a short-term “band-aid” fix.
Ultimately, choosing to seek recovery is, most importantly, the best thing any of us will ever have to do. Seeking recovery can change the entire trajectory of our lives for the better. It can help us manage the wreckage of our past. Also, it can help us make things right in the present. Most important, it can help us heal at the cellular level for the positive life journey that awaits us. Choosing the right and reputable recovery center can ensure that all of our recovery goals are met.
This is why it is crucial to research the recovery center before committing. A few details to look for are their accreditations. How are they licensed? Have they received accolades? What type of professionals do they have on staff? Are they well-regarded in their fields? Another aspect of finding the right center for healing addiction is whether they share the same values and have the types of treatments that will meet our needs. Also, do they have the right type of recovery programs? It is important to begin at the right level, whether it be residential, a partial hospitalization program (PHP), or some form of intensive or general outpatient plan.
The Importance of Setting for Healing Addiction
As we previously mentioned, the setting in which we recover can be crucial. Yes, a recovery center may check all of the clinical and treatment modality boxes, but what do they offer in the way of the environment? Place matters when it comes to addiction healing.
Active addiction can deplete our life of all of the aspects that truly matter. Addiction can take away our relationships with loved ones. It can destroy our work and social lives. Also, it can take away our love for the world around us. Ultimately, addiction makes our lives smaller. The only thing our addictions care about is when it is going to be satisfied next.
All of these aspects need to be restored if we are going to truly recover, and it can start with the environment that we place ourselves in. We can begin to heal ourselves from the outside in simply by choosing the type of setting that fits us best. For many of us, there is perhaps no better setting to do this than a tropical paradise. Thus, for many of us, Hawaii is a recovery shangri-la.
Like No Place Else on Earth: Hawaii for Recovery
The Aloha State is often simply viewed as a tourist destination. Of course, it is one of the best in the world. However, it is also one of the best places for healing addiction at the cellular level.
Hawaii offers a full escape from the urban hubs that have become the toxic backgrounds for our active addiction. The comfortable climate, the rich culture, the friendly people, and the serene surroundings make focusing on recovery that much easier.
There is a traditional and valued proverb that we have here in Hawaii. It goes “A’a i ka hula, waiho i ka maka’u i ka hale.” This translates to “Leave your shame at home, and dare to do something new.” That is what Hawaii offers for healing addiction at the core root level. We can take the next right step, take the right measures to leave the shame of our addiction in the past, and emerge as the best version of ourselves. Of course, here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab, we also understand that it matters where in Hawaii we recover. That is why we choose the Hamakua Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii.
A Most Beautiful Backdrop: The Hamakua Coast on the Big Island of Hawaii
The 50-mile stretch of coast on the Northern side of the Big Island of Hawaii is known locally as the Hamakua Coast, and it has become renowned as one of the most beautiful places in all of the islands. However, it also remains less populated and remote than many other parts of the islands, making it an ideal place for getting away and healing addiction.
With the majestic mountains and volcanoes jutting out into the horizon line and the cliffs cascading down to the beautiful beaches that line the Pacific Ocean, the Hamukua Coast is an optimal setting to unplug and focus on healing at the core root level. It also offers a near-endless array of both land and sea excursions and therapeutic aquatic activities that are ideal additions to any recovery plan. These excursions and activities can be both highly active, as well as slightly more passive. Either way, they allow us to become immersed in the natural world and thus active and engaged in our own recovery journey.
The Benefits of Nature Immersion Therapy for Healing Addiction
One of the best ways of connecting to reconnect to ourselves is to reconnect to the world around us. Yes, many of us may already feel connected to the world around us. After all, nowadays, we are online and engaged with the rest of the world at almost every waking hour. However, while yes, that is a form of connection, it is a form of synthetic connection that keeps us distant from the natural world. It also tends to create a lifestyle that we are constantly trying to “keep up with” or “stay on top of.” While that is all fine and good for furthering career and academic goals, it can be toxic when addiction has entered the picture.
This is where nature immersion therapy can be of great assistance. Now, while nature immersion therapy can be as simple as engaging with the natural world around us, it is not simple in how it works to heal us at the cellular level. It is not just taking a “walk in the woods,” though there is certainly nothing wrong with that. No, it is an experiential therapy that has been shown as a highly effective tool for healing addiction.
The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health distills nature immersion therapy down to its core. It defines nature therapy “as a health-promotion method and potential universal health model is implicated for the reduction of reported modern-day ‘stress-state’ and ‘technostress.’” Eliminating these stresses and stressors is crucial to opening up and getting to the core root causes of our addiction struggles.
Another article in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health explains that “Besides physical health improvements, nature exposure can bring about positive influence upon psychological constructs such as boredom, friendliness, well-being, and liveliness.” Also, “Besides improvements to physical and psychological well-being, exposure to natural environments has been shown to bring about positive impacts on cognitive functioning.” Some of these positive impacts can be gained by engaging with an often-overlooked therapeutic environment: the ocean.
Swimming With Green Sea Turtles, Tropical Fish, and Manta Rays for Recovery
One of the amazing opportunities for healing addiction on the Hamakua Coast is the option to engage with one of the most vibrant areas that the Pacific Ocean has to offer. There are few recovery centers located on a coast that allows their clients the chance to therapeutically swim with tropical fish and green sea turtles, some of which are older than any of us. At Exclusive Hawaii Rehab, we are blessed to be able to offer this mere minutes away from our 30-acre luxury facility.
For those that wish to take this ocean immersion therapy to the next level, we also offer the option to feed and swim with one of the largest, most majestic creatures in the Pacific Ocean: the manta ray. This nighttime therapy allows our clients to connect to these animals that show us what freedom and enjoyment truly look like. Many people have equated their interactions with these seemingly otherworldly sea creatures as a spiritual experience. However, experiential immersion therapy doesn’t require other living things to be effective. Some experiential therapy simply involves a surfboard.
Surf Therapy for Healing Addiction
First and foremost, “What exactly is surf therapy?” Well, just like nature immersion therapy, it is more than simply “catching some waves,” though, again, that’s pretty great too.
According to the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Psychology, “Surf therapy is defined by the International Surf Therapy Organisation (International Surf Therapy Organization, 2019) as an intervention that combines surf instruction, surfing, and structured individual and/or group activities to promote physical, psychosocial, and psychological well-being.” Also, “In addition to physical exercise, surf therapy interventions typically include individual mentoring, social skills development, psychoeducation, and group discussions focused on increasing resilience and personal growth.” Now, the good news is that those positive therapeutic effects can also be achieved mere minutes away from our recovery center doors.
It is only a 15-minute walk to one of the best local surf breaks on the Hamakua Coast. The locals call it Honoli’i, and it is an ideal location to commune with the ocean and experience some of the best surfing the Big Island has to offer (boogie boarding too). This is not only an exceptional way to mark progress by riding some world-class waves into shore but also an excellent option to meditate between swells as the green sea turtles swim around and below. However, it is not just the sea that offers healing on the Hamakua Coast. The land does as well.
Utilizing Horticulture Therapy for Addiction Healing
Hawaii offers some of the most amazing local foods in the world. This is especially important to us here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab because we have a maxim that guides our nutritional beliefs. That maxim is “food is medicine.”
However, that food doesn’t just come from our world-class private chefs; it also comes from the soil right on our property. Also, that soil is cultivated directly by our clients. Like a metaphor for how we grow and progress in recovery, our clients start with a seed and begin to see the fruits of their labor, quite literally, in the form of fruit. We now have fresh pineapple and guavas emerging from the earth. Beautiful vegetable boxes offer the much-needed nutrients directly to our tables, and we now have rows of cultivated citrus trees. These include orange, lime, tangerine, and longan fruits (which are a local favorite and are packed with essential antioxidants).
The “Breath of God”: The Benefits of Traditional Culture for Healing Addiction
Another huge aspect of healing addiction on the Hamakua Coast is the connection to the local culture. Hawaii has one of the most unique and rich cultures in the world. Also, unlike many places that have forsaken culture for progress, it remains very present in day-to-day life on the island.
This is especially true on the Hamakua Coast, which stands for the “Breath of God.” One of the ways we honor that culture at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab is by engaging our clients in Ho’oponopono to heal addiction.
Utilizing Ho’oponopono for Healing Addiction
Ho’oponopono is a traditional way of resolving conflict and ultimately helps us to heal at the cellular level. It is one of the best ways to achieve greater personal development, and it has been around and being locally utilized for generations.
While the term Ho’oponopono has been translated many ways, a nice concise summation is “To make things right.” It is a practice that aims to resolve issues in a safe, connected, and meditative way. Ho’oponopono also ensures that issues get resolved in a manner that isn’t going to leave residual resentments behind. Because as they say in many recovery communities, “resentment can be the number one offender in addiction healing” and the most dangerous emotion that can lead to a potential relapse.
Exclusive Hawaii Rehab: The Best Recovery for Addiction Healing in the Best Location
Whether it is looking out over Laupahoehoe Point, hiking to the Kilauea Volcano or Akaka Falls, or practicing guided meditation on Spencer Beach, the Hamakua Coast has some of the best recovery options for addiction healing on the cellular level.
Many people know the term that is best associated with Hawaii: Aloha. Yes, it is a lovely greeting, but many people don’t fully understand its cultural significance to us here on the Island. Aloha is a much deeper term that means love, devotion, serenity, kindness, and grace. These are all values that are needed in comprehensive core root addiction healing, which is also what we here on the Hamakua Coast at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab offer as a way of recovery.
There’s no question that Hawaii is among the best places to heal from addiction and flourish into the person you want to be. But what sets Hamakua, Hawaii, apart from other places in Hawaii? Hamakua stands for “the Breath of God “ with constant gentle trade winds. The strong recovery community, the unique beaches, the sea and wildlife, and the spiritual sense of culture are just a few of the factors that set Hawaii and Exclusive Hawaii Rehab apart from other recovery options. Our 30-acre luxury recovery center that overlooks the Pacific Ocean is one of the best settings on Earth to heal at the cellular level. For more information, reach out to Exclusive Hawaii Rehab today at (808) 775-0200.