by Nirmala Raniga, Founder & Director

Mahatma Gandhi once said: “Infinite striving to be the best is man’s duty; it is its own reward.”
I try to live by these words. For over twenty-five years I have committed myself to helping drug addicts get clean. I broke ground in the field of addiction rehabilitation by demanding that people in opiate dependency programs be treated with respect.
Individuals fighting addiction face enormous challenges and deserve compassion, not moral disdain or manipulation. I believe life is precious and priceless! We all deserve to live in the present and experience joy and healthy relationships.
In 2009 I founded Paradise Valley Healing Center (formerly known as Paradise Valley Wellness Center), a state of the art residential treatment facility endorsed by Dr. Deepak Chopra.
The center is located in Squamish, British Columbia and offers cutting edge high quality assessment and therapeutic services for individuals and families impacted by addiction, addictive behaviours and emotional health issues including depression, anxiety and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).
Our addiction program merges the wisdom of traditional healing arts with the tools and insights of modern psychology and medicine, empowering guests to move beyond destructive patterns and conditioned beliefs to create lives filled with true fulfillment and happiness.
Our holistic approach to healing promotes balance and the integration of body, mind, spirit, community and the environment. We offer personalized treatment that addresses the deeper issues at the root of addiction, helping guests identify and release stored emotional pain, destructive thought patterns and life damaging beliefs, and replace them with more nurturing, self-empowering behaviours and perspectives.
The work is done in individual and group therapy sessions. The daily routine at the Center is based on the principles of Ayurvedic medicine and includes regular practice of yoga and meditation, a vegetarian diet, massage, art therapy, and acupuncture sessions.
In addition, I am also very passionate about the need to eradicate the stigma attached to drug addiction.
Working in this field I have met many beautiful creative people with wonderful inspirational stories. I strive to help the public understand that for people struggling with addiction, the key is not about judgement and scorn, but about compassion and empathy. It is not about the addiction or addictive behaviour, but the underlying emotional pain and suffering.
Recovery is a healing journey with many ups and downs and I feel very strongly that one should not give up but continue walking the path. Support and love from family and friends is very important for this process.
I am a Chopra Certified Educator of Primordial Sound Meditation, Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga and Perfect Health Ayurvedic Lifestyle. It is a blessing indeed to share these timeless wisdom tools for mind-body health, deeper life fulfillment and emotional healing. At the end of the day, seeing the positive changes in people’s lives is what inspires me to do what I do.
The purpose of this blog is to provide insight into some of the challenges that people with addictions face and to shed some light on the many, and sometimes surprising, types of addictions people suffer from and to offer some tips on how to help yourself live in the present, free from debilitating addictive behaviour.
Learn more about the services we offer here at the Chopra Addiction & Wellness Center.