Consider Ramadan a “Stepping Stone”

Many people who struggle with addiction often know they are addicted and even know what they need to do to break the pattern.

However, it is often that initial first step that prevents people from doing what they know they need to do.

This is why you might often see people trying to break an addiction for the sake of someone they love.

Love is a strong motivating factor for people who seek to break their addictions. Fear is also a strong motivating factor.

People who have stopped smoking often say they were finally motivated to stop when they met someone whose health had been affected by cigarettes.

During Ramadan a person is confronted with a high degree of love and fear.

Ramadan represents a time for many to express their love of Allah and their sisters and brothers in Islam.

There is also the fear many people have in Ramadan of what may happen if they don’t fast as they are required to. These two emotions can provide a powerful motivation to “kick the habit”.

Additionally, going without one’s addiction for an entire day can also help prevent other blocks to overcoming addiction.

By avoiding the addiction for an entire day a person is able to reset the triggers to the addiction (social circumstances, times of day, certain foods or meals) and build up a resistance to the substance by resisting the urges they have for the substance during the day.

Herbs

Herbs can help balance the body and prevent the triggers that lead to addiction. To choose the best herb a person must first identify the source of their addiction.

Are they addicted to coffee because they need to wake up in the morning? If so, then Passionflower or Skullcap might be a good herb for them.

These herbs can help relax them and enable them to sleep more deeply at night so they wake up feeling more refreshed. Is a person smoking because it “relaxes them”? If so then relaxing herbs like chamomile, hops or peppermint might help during the day.

Other traditional herbs used for addictions are valerian, which helps slow brain cell damage that results from excessive alcohol consumption; schisandra which helps the body maintain a physical and emotional balance; calamus root which helps curb the urge to smoke and chaparral herb that helps detoxify the body from impurities, thus eliminating the addictive substance in the body and preventing urges.

There are many additional herbs that can be used to control addiction. The appropriate herb depends on the addiction as well as the person.

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