7 Meditations To Stop Drinking & Overcome Alcoholism

If you’re searching for a meditation to stop drinking, it probably means alcohol has started to feel harder to control than you’d like. You might have tried willpower, cutting back, or even quitting completely—only to find yourself slipping back into old habits.

I know how powerful addiction can feel. I used to drink, smoke, and struggle with other compulsive habits myself. Meditation was one of the tools that helped me regain control of my life, and over the last 25 years I’ve used it to help many students reduce or quit drinking as well.

My biggest regret in life is that I couldn’t help my dad stop drinking before he passed away. Watching someone you love lose themselves to alcohol leaves a mark that never really fades. It’s one of the reasons I care so deeply about helping others break free from addiction today.

If you’re currently struggling with alcohol and would like personal support, I offer private online meditation sessions focused specifically on cravings, emotional triggers, and relapse prevention.

In this guide, I’ll show you practical meditation techniques that can help you reduce cravings, regulate stress, and build a life that doesn’t revolve around alcohol.

Best Types Of Meditation To Stop Drinking Alcohol Today

Before we begin, it’s important to understand that meditation isn’t a magic switch—it’s a skill. Some people find that when they first sit quietly, cravings and difficult emotions feel stronger before they begin to fade. That’s normal, and it’s one of the reasons many people benefit from guided support when they start using meditation for addiction recovery.

  “Quit Drinking” Meditation Script

The following meditation is designed to help you develop self-compassion and awareness of cravings—two of the most important psychological skills in overcoming alcohol dependence.

1. Sit comfortably with good posture. Place your feet at shoulder-width apart. Make sure your knees are comfortable and not locked. Rest your bottom comfortably on the seat so that your weight is distributed evenly. Lengthen your spine a little. Tuck your chin down slightly to elongate your neck a bit. Now look forward at an angle of 45 degrees, so you’re looking slightly downwards.
2. Place your hand in Gyan mudra (a mudra is a hand gesture). To do this, place your hands on your thighs, palms facing upwards. Let your third, fourth, and fifth fingers rest outwards. Place the tips of your thumbs and the tips of your index fingers together. This position will help you focus.
3. Close your eyes and focus on breathing.
4. Observe your breath as it moves in through your nostrils, through your mouth, and down into your diaphragm. Continue to focus on your breathing.
5. As you focus on your breathing, certain thoughts and feelings will come to mind. For instance, as an alcoholic, you might think, “I can’t believe I’m so addicted to alcohol”. When these thoughts occur, observe them. Do not fight them. Do not hold on to them. Simply observe them. If you find cravings becoming intense during this stage, that’s something I often help students work through in real time during guided sessions.
6. Now I want you to begin to recite a mantra. The mantra is “I forgive myself for having an addiction. I am here now, and I give myself love, strength, and the power to heal.”
7. While you are reciting this mantra, continue to focus on your breath. You will continue to experience thoughts and feelings, and that is completely fine. Just let them come and go as they will, while you continue to focus on breathing.
8. Continue for 20 minutes.
9. At the end, say to yourself, “May I live a happy, healthy life”.

This simple exercise will make you more mindful and will cultivate self-forgiveness and self-compassion. It is the best meditation to stop drinking alcohol.

There are more exercises that are beneficial for alcohol cessation. Let’s take a look.  

Body Scan (Jon Kabat Zinn method)

Cravings for alcohol often begin as physical sensations—tightness in the chest, restlessness, or a hollow feeling in the stomach. Neuroscience shows that addiction is deeply connected to the body’s stress and reward systems, which is why body-focused practices like the body scan can be so effective.

Body Scan makes you more conscious of sensations in your body. When you practice this exercise, you will take control of all those little signals that tell you to drink. Here is how to do Body Scan Meditation.

Mindfulness Meditation 

Science proves that one of the best meditations to quit drinking is mindfulness.

Mindfulness is simply the practice of being conscious of the present moment.

When we have an addiction, we are often lost in our thoughts. We think of ways to get a hit of our addiction, or ways to recover from our addiction, or just plain thinking about our addiction. We don’t focus on the present moment.

When you practice mindfulness, you increase consciousness and gain self-control. And this will help you to be less reactive to thoughts and cravings. 

This is scientifically proven to be an effective type of meditation to stop drinking.  

Loving Kindness 

Often, addictions like alcohol and cigarettes have an emotional undertone [2]. Many people become addicts after trauma or after painful periods in life.

Tough times can leave us feeling empty, angry, depressed, or just plain negative. And these emotions can make us reach for a glass of beer or wine.

Is there an emotional undercurrent to your drinking? Is it caused or motivated by anger or resentment, or other negative feelings towards yourself or someone else?

If so, I highly recommend that you practice Loving Kindness.

You will find it easier to quit drinking when you feel loved and supported. And that is what Loving Kindness will give you. Refer to our main menu to a guide to Loving Kindness Meditation.

 More types of meditation to quit drinking

As well as using the exercises above, I recommend trying the following types of meditation to stop drinking:

Vipassana: Buddhist method in which you observe your thoughts and feelings. Increases self-control to reduce the effects of cravings. If you’d like to learn more about this, I recommend the works of S N Goenka.

Guided meditations for drinking cessation: For beginners, the easiest way to use meditation to quit drinking is with some guided meditations for alcoholism. These are available on Youtube. However, research from Harvard Medical School shows that this method is not as effective as a proper meditation lesson.

Yoga and tai chi: These physical exercises create positive feeling and motivation to stop boozing. If you’d like to learn more, I personally recommend tai chi teacher Paul Lam.

Breathing methods: Excellent way of cultivating inner peace and relaxation if you stress-drink. If you’d like to know more, I recommend reading some of Thich Nhat Hanh’s books.

Mantras: Recite a relaxing and motivational mantra such as “I embrace my new, healthy, drink-free life.” This will produce positive thoughts to motivate you. It is a method recommended by Deepak Chopra.

If you need help forming the mindfulness habit, you can try using an app. For instance, there is Headspace, designed by former Buddhist monk Andy Puddicombe, and other apps like Unwinding Anxiety, made by Judson Brewer, director of research at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Do note that apps are not as effective as proper meditation according to research from Harvard Medical School. The best way to learn is with a proper meditation teacher like myself.

Also, consider other aspects of alcohol cessation. Eric L. Garland and Matthew O. Howard state that you should consider Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Motivational Interviewing. But they do also state that Mindfulness-Based Intervention (MBI) is one of the most promising new treatments. [from the journal Addiction Science & Clinical Practice]

Benefits of using meditation for stopping drinking  

Many people ask me “Can meditation help with alcoholism”. The answer is a huge yes! And if you’ve been considering the best way to stop drinking alcohol, meditation should be on your list.

As you may know, there are lots of exercises and therapies for alcoholics:  

A short list includes:

• Residential care
• Hypnosis
• Addiction helplines
• Medications for alcohol dependence
• Alcohol rehab centres
• Alcoholics Anonymous

In my experience, meditation is one of the most empowering tools for recovery because it teaches you how to work with your thoughts and cravings directly.

My personal insight

In my experience, most methods of quitting drinking take power away from you. Medications for alcoholism may work sometimes, but they also make you dependent on a tablet. Alcohol rehab centres can help for a while, but many people relapse after they leave [1].

Meditation is different. One of the best things about using meditation for alcoholism is that it is empowering.

Meditation doesn’t replace medical or psychological support, but it complements it by giving you something you can practice every day, in any moment when a craving appears.

So why meditate? Simple. It gives you the power to take control of alcoholism by using your mind.

And I know, you might think, “I don’t have that power.” And you are wrong. You have the power to change.

When you learn to meditate, you learn to control your mind and your emotions. You learn to take control of your cravings. And, more than anything, you discover that you have the power to naturally quit alcohol.

Meditation is a very empowering practice. More than any other technique for quitting drinking, meditation puts you in control.

Not only this but there are more than 100 proven benefits of meditation. So not only can you quit drinking with meditation, you will get a ton of other benefits from it too.

Science on meditation and quitting drinking 

Research published by the International Journal Of Neuropsychopharmacology concluded that alcoholics who practice mindfulness for just eleven minutes a day end up swigging less beer per week (compared to a control group).

Researchers at University College London took a group of 68 adult alcoholics and taught them one single 11-minute lesson in mindfulness. Specifically, they focused on bodily feelings and cravings.

The people in the mindfulness group were taught to mindfully observe their thoughts and feelings (and especially their cravings) for eleven minutes per day.

The control group was taught relaxation techniques that were designed to reduce cravings.

During the following week, the group that had been taught mindfulness drank on average 9.3 units of alcohol less than they had done the week before. This is important because it shows that even short, simple mindfulness practices can begin to change drinking behaviour within days.

The study’s authors state that mindfulness is an effective treatment for alcoholics. They recommend using mindfulness meditation to quit drinking.

Also, research shows that meditation increases control of the posterior cingulate cortex, which is the part of the brain that is activated by cravings and stress. This means you will have more control over your cravings for alcohol.

So, that’s why you should use meditation for alcoholism.  

Now let me say one last time. You can quit drinking. You have the power. And I am here to help you.

Summary

When it comes to quitting drinking, meditation can help in significant ways.

When you meditate, you become more consciously aware of the cravings and the triggers that make you drink. You also boost your willpower and sharpen your mind. Plus, even though you are using meditation for alcoholism, you will also get lots of additional health bonuses.

One important thing to remember is that the journey doesn’t end after going without drinking for a month or so, it continues. That’s why it’s important to use mindfulness-based relapse prevention to prevent you from starting drinking again. Just like mindful eating and mindful smoking cessation, it is important to make mindfulness a part of your life after you have started your recovery. This will help prevent alcohol relapse. 

Quitting drinking isn’t just about stopping alcohol—it’s about learning how to handle stress, emotions, and cravings in a new way. Meditation can give you those tools, but like any skill, it’s easier and safer to learn with guidance.

If you’d like structured, one-to-one support while you build these skills, you can book a private online meditation session with me.

Reference:

Mindfulness Meditation for Alcohol Relapse Prevention: A Feasibility Pilot Study , Aleksandra Zgierska, MD, PhD Department of Family Medicine (AZ, DR, MZ, MM, MF), University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4106278/

Paul Harrison

Paul Harrison is a meditation teacher with 25 years of experience and a deep passion for helping others. Known for his empathy and authentic approach, he’s dedicated to guiding individuals and teams toward mindfulness, clarity, and well-being.