The moment alcohol and substance abuse disorders take control of your mind and body, you tend to forget about the other essential aspects of your life.
You feel like you’re only living for the drugs and alcohol, making them your foremost priorities while neglecting your physical and mental health.
Meanwhile, your job, relationships, and other personal responsibilities are also thrown away, all because of your addiction.
Once you’re a recovering addict, it’s no surprise if everything seems to be incredibly overwhelming and chaotic.
Being sober, having no drugs or alcohol in your daily routine, and focusing on your newfound self-care habits will seem like walking in a crowded place you’ve never been to before.
You got so used to your ‘comfort zone’ of addiction, habitually putting yourself and your relationships at the bottom part of your priority list.
Thankfully, you can find healthier and more positive activities to fill the void caused by quitting alcohol or substance abuse through self-care.
The Importance Of Self-Care For Addiction Recovery
Addiction typically leads to self-neglect and self-destructive behaviors.
You have a poor diet, avoid exercise, and feel constant stress when you can’t find or consume enough alcohol or some other substance.
Thus, the key to recovering from your addiction is through a consistent, high level of self-care.
For starters, the term self-care simply means the act of putting yourself and all your needs first by treating yourself well and doing something that can make you happy and healthy.
Practicing self-care may sound easy, but in reality, most people, especially recovering ones, find it challenging to take care of themselves, considering their history.
Sometimes, the best thing we can do for others is to take care of ourselves.
Self-care may have been once considered selfish, but now we understand the importance of tending to our own needs and desires so that we can better care for those around us.
Take the time to yourself to do what you love. Doing activities you enjoy will allow you to be more supportive of others.
Self-care activities can help boost your mood, reduce stress and anxiety, and motivate you to pursue other healthy decisions in life.
Overall, taking the time to practice self-care habits will not only help you walk through your recovery but also promotes self-love, boosting your self-worth and self-esteem.
Self-Care Tips For Your Addiction Recovery Plan
Now that you know the importance of self-care for recovery, here are 12 self-care tips that will help you successfully walk through your addiction recovery.
- Practice Daily Self-Reflection
The best way to start your daily self-care routine is through self-reflection. You can do this in the morning or at night before going to bed. Some questions to ponder are:
- What am I feeling today?
- What have I learned about myself?
- What am I thankful for?
- What new triggers did I discover today?
- What can I do to elevate my recovery journey?
You can also consult a Lake Oswego Oregon therapist and other professional counseling services to help you practice your daily self-reflection. Doing this as you answer these questions will help you stay in the present and focus on physical and mental healing and recovery.
- Start A Recovery Journal
While practicing your daily self-reflection, it’s also a good idea to start a recovery journal. Writing down your answers, feelings, and other thoughts on a paper will help ease your mind, identify your triggers easier, and plan an action to avoid or overcome them. If you want bullet lists for your journal or the classic ‘Dear Diary’ style, it’s up to you. It’s your journal, so do whatever feels comfortable for you.
- Learn How To Set Healthy Boundaries
One of the most essential yet most challenging self-care practices you’ll need to do is learning how to set boundaries. Setting boundaries can be in the form of physical, mental, or emotional limitations. These boundaries you set for yourself will help you stay sober and ensure you never go back to your old ways again.
An excellent example of physical boundaries is leaving a place where substances are used or letting go of your old friends who entice and support you towards acquiring more drugs or alcohol. Cutting off the bad influences in your life is essential to sustaining your sobriety. Meanwhile, an emotional boundary is when you speak up whenever someone makes you feel bad or wrong for being sober or violates your moral senses.
Lastly, once you set these healthy boundaries, remind yourself never to feel bad about having them in the first place. Your life is your responsibility, and it’s up to you how you control it.
- Spend More Time Outdoors
Now that you have freed up time for yourself, you can try spending more time outdoors. You’re only a few steps away from your front door, so get outside and go for a hike, ride a bike, explore the shore, or read a book in the park. Immersing yourself outdoors, especially around nature, will boost your mood and reduce the pressure you sometimes feel from being sober.
You can also step outside and do some physical activities whenever you’re struggling with alcohol or drug cravings. If being outdoors alone seems overwhelming, you can invite your friends from the meetup groups, and together, you can start a sober and healthy lifestyle.
- Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness helps you stay in the present, take in everything that’s happening right now, and avoid getting distracted by the past or future. But the thing is, staying in the present can be a difficult task for those who are still recovering. Keep in mind that some people resort to alcohol or drug abuse to escape the problems of their daily lives. Now, they’ll need to stay in the present and cope with reality without the intervention of alcohol or drugs.
Practicing mindfulness can take some time, patience, and getting used to, but here are some tips to help you practice mindfulness:
- Observe your breathing while taking slow, deep breaths
- Do one task at a time
- Meditate daily
- Eat mindfully
- Be an active listener
The more you do these tips, the easier it’ll be to practice mindfulness and reap the benefits that come with it.
- Write Down What You Love About Yourself
Part of practicing self-care is knowing how to love yourself. Substance abuse may have led you to self-destructive behaviors that you forgot how to love or care for yourself again. To help you towards your path to more self-love, start by writing down all the things you like or love about yourself. It could be your physical features, skills, talents, attitude, or personality. Doing this will help you realize that you’re more than just a sober person. You can also tape the list on your mirror to remind yourself every day.
- Do Some Meal Preparations
Prepping your meals will keep you preoccupied and physically active. It’s also an excellent opportunity to be more in control and mindful of what you eat. Keep in mind that your past addiction has damaged your health in so many ways, putting you at risk of chronic disease and poor nutrition. Thus, your self-care routine should include preparing your meals and making sure you’re feeding yourself healthy foods.
Furthermore, a healthy diet can boost your mental health and reduce your risk of depression and anxiety. You can fill your diet with whole grains, fruits, vegetables, fish, beans, and nuts.
- Declutter
Decluttering may sound more beneficial for your home, but you might not realize that some things in your house could be one of your triggers that put your sobriety at risk. So, make time to declutter your closet, bedroom, and the rest of the house and donate the items you no longer need. If you come across some remnants from your past addiction, make sure to put them all in a box and dispose of them to ensure you never see or find them again. Besides keeping your home clean and organized, decluttering can also symbolize decluttering your life from your past addiction.
- Do Relaxing Activities More Often
Doing relaxing activities is crucial to successful addiction recovery. Remember that the goal here is to relax and ease yourself without the presence or usage of any drugs or alcohol. So, don’t let yourself miss the relaxing feeling brought on by alcohol or other substances, and instead, fill your time by doing healthier and better relaxing activities. Some of these could be:
- Getting lost in a book
- Adopting a pet and spending more time with it
- Drinking a cup of tea and enjoying every sip
- Doing deep breathing exercises
- Learning yoga
- Watching the sunrise or sunset
- Listening to music
You can also relax by simply doing nothing at all and just staying still.
- Create A Healthy Bedtime Routine
As part of your addiction recovery and self-care routine, you need to get enough sleep without the influence of any substance. So, create a healthy bedtime routine to help you relax and prepare for sleep. For instance, you can take a warm bath, listen to soothing music, dim the lights, meditate, and stick to a regular sleeping schedule. Furthermore, avoid watching TV and other screens as these could keep you awake, or worse, trigger an urge to drink.
- Engage In Exercise Or Other Physical Activities
Exercising or doing other physical activities promotes your mental and physical health. It also boosts your mood and reduces stress and anxiety. So, put on your shoes and go hiking, biking, or walking your dog around the neighborhood.
- Connect With Others
Isolating yourself while recovering could cause depression, anxiety, and other mental conditions that could trigger a relapse. To prevent relapse and at the same time improve your mental health, make sure you make time and effort to connect with others, especially with people who are also recovering like you. You can join support groups for recovering people or other sobriety-based communities and organizations. Making friends will be easier as you can all relate to each other’s struggles, challenges, and triumphs.
Final Thoughts
These acts of self-care are the keys to your long-term success towards your addiction recovery.
Take each day as it comes and try to master one habit at a time until incorporating them into your lifestyle feels like a breeze.
Meanwhile, if self-care isn’t working and you require extra help, don’t hesitate to reach out to therapists and let them walk you through your recovery journey.