When struggling with alcohol or substance abuse, all aspects of your life are impacted. You may lose confidence and become self-critical. You may tend to isolate yourself from others and find companionship in alcohol and drugs. The substance addiction can preoccupy you to the point where you completely forget about your basic self-care needs. Hence, it is critical to know the importance of self care, especially during your sobriety. Learning a few simple self-care tools to help improve your lifestyle will help you to maintain your sobriety. Here are a few tips for healthy sober living:
Reflect on your accomplishments
Make a list once or twice every month of the things you’re grateful for, including your accomplishments and achievements. This routine will help boost your confidence and create a less critical self-view. It’s helpful to know that taking positive actions will increase endorphins in the brain, which leads to a better mood.
Pamper yourself
There may be lots of way to pamper yourself. But one suggestion is to get a massage once or twice a month; this improves muscle functions and circulation, and it can also help to unblock emotional trauma in the body. Processing your emotions creates a more sober attitude.
Read More: ‘Healing the Pain of Addiction with Somatic Experiences’
Connect with Nature
Being in nature grounds and nurtures us, which helps to offset the anxious and fast paced lives we often live in the limited urban settings. Try taking a walk in the park or go camping with a friend. Studies show, a grounded and more peaceful state extends your life span.
Eat well
Often times, we eat empty calories that are emotionally driven, which could result in binging on comfort food. Binge eating unhealthy food leads to the numbing of your emotions. When, making sober and healthy choices instead of eating reactively, we can choose to stay hydrated with juice, water, eating lean proteins, salads, healthy carbs (multigrain breads, whole wheat pasta). Eating lean could mean that you are feeling emotionally stronger.
Physical workouts
Doing yoga, cardio, swimming, cycling and active walking, we can connect to our bodies and feel our strength. This connection offsets the disconnected sense that happens within addiction. Doing physical activities allows us to also connect with other people in different classes, which could eliminate the feeling of isolation and loneliness.
Read More: ‘How Healthy is Your Fitness and Diet Routine?’
Keep a Journal
It is important to develop a sense of reflection on your thoughts, feelings and actions. Once you create a daily narrative, you can reflect and use the insight and judgment to weed out the negative thought process. This habit could also strengthen your ability to make healthier choices versus impulsive ones.
While you may make some new changes to your personal habits, it is important to remember to seek out professional support and guidance like individual therapy. Don’t forget that making personal changes and positive shifts in your attitude and actions are only one aspect of your new mindset. People often need more formal addiction supports, such as in-patient rehabilitation treatment. Most studies show that the highest rate of recovery is achieved through group support. Examples include self help groups in a 12 step model or a supportive psychotherapy process group.
While these tools may sound simple, they may not all be suitable for you. Different tools work differently for every person. However, the key is finding out what works for you and sticking with it. You will need to use all available resources at your disposal to maintain the new, healthy sober lifestyle, but it will be well worth it!
What are some of the tools that works best for you?
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9 comments
Great blog! We all know that keeping sobriety can be extremely challenging, so it’s really helpful to read and learn that there are all these simple ways to help us keep a healthy lifestyle.
Great blog! I find that many individuals in recovery find connecting with nature to be particularly helpful and important. I’m glad that was included!
Great tips! Many people struggle with staying sober, you tips provide great ways to manage that challenge. Awesome!
I appreciate your thoughtful and useful list of resources. A good reminder that sober lifestyle can be supported using a variety of simple and accessible tools
I really appreciate this blog. I love the focus on positive ways to care for one’s own body, which is so important and healing.
Fantastic points! I think there is so much stigma and shame around the difficulty to get and stay sober sometimes. I love that you highlighted the self care component of this process! Getting out side is my favorite way to clear my head and reprioritize base on my own values. It makes it easier to stay healthy and resist destructive urges.
Healthy life I really appreciate the kind of topics post here. Thanks for sharing us a great information that is actually helpful. Healthy life
I like your food tips. I need to get unprocessed food. I want to get more organic options. https://priorityconsultantsinc.com/services/
Country roads, country lifestyle, here are many ways to enjoy your property while relaxing and taking in the sights. Gardening and farming is a great way to utilize the natural resources of the land while going out and providing for your family and friends.