Spring is a special time of year when plant life is blooming, the weather is getting warmer, and we start to venture outside again. For many of us, spring can be a season of healing. A chapter of new beginnings is upon us. We begin to open our hearts to the world again in springtime!
Personal Awakening
The rejuvenation of spring can bring a rebirth for our personal journeys. We can shed limiting patterns and plant seeds for healthier patterns to take root. Our winter hibernation, which can coincide with self-isolation and separation from other people, can give way to a renewed connection with the community.
Winter Changes Can Lead to a Season of Healing
If you tend to feel more down in the wintertime, you’re not alone. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), sometimes known as seasonal depression, is quite common. Scientifically, this phenomenon can be attributed to a lack of natural light and insufficient vitamin D production.
For some of us, cold weather can lower our mood and dampen our spirits. We might not exercise as much in the winter. The lack of movement can wreak havoc on our mental health. We can feel boredom or a lack of purpose in the winter, which can be triggering for us.
These factors can make us turn to our drug of choice to cope, to provide comfort, relief, or distraction. Seasonal changes can contribute to a downward spiral in our mental and emotional health.
Season of Healing: Renewal and Optimism
Let spring be your season of healing! Spring can be a wonderful time to set new goals for your recovery. We can feel a reinvigorated sense of purpose and feel newly drawn to our path. Sometimes, the joy of spring can bring us renewed optimism. We can feel more committed to our recovery than ever. Our path to a successful recovery can feel clearer than ever.
Learning From Nature
Our goals can be quite overwhelming and daunting at times. We might feel a sense of pressure and urgency to get sober. With the new spring season of healing upon us, how can we make our goals feel more manageable?
Spring is a time of growth and renewal. In nature, growth and change happen gradually. Change is a fluid, natural process. We can learn from the ease and flow of the natural world. Plants don’t reach full maturation overnight in one fell swoop; they grow and become stronger, little by little, one day at a time. With the sustenance of sunlight and water, they are in flow. How can we learn from nature, approach our recovery like the dawning of spring, and invite more ease and flow into our lives?
Finding More Ease and Flow in Our Season of Healing
In the natural world of flow, instead of drastic, sudden change, there is an incremental, gradual accumulation of many tiny steps. These steps add up to incredible change and beauty over time.
The blooming of flowering plants, from barely visible buds to bright, glorious, open flowers, teaches us the importance of patience, of letting nature work its magic in its own time. We, too, can take small steps and bring about huge changes in our recovery, gradually and incrementally. Our big goals can be broken down into small steps or micro-actions. We can take things one day at a time, one small step at a time.
Creating Micro-Goals in Our Season of Healing
What small pieces of my goal can I work on today? How can I incorporate my intentions into my everyday routine so that accomplishing my goals becomes a part of my everyday life? At Athens Area Commencement Center, our individualized treatment plans can help you to navigate and process your goals, making them more manageable. For many of us, these small steps, or mini goals, become the foundation of our recovery.
It might not feel like a big deal to go to one meeting. We might feel like we’re only taking one very small, inconsequential step by going to that one meeting. However, when we commit to going to one meeting every week and choose to stay consistent, that one step can become the bedrock of our sobriety. Meditating one time might not feel life-changing, but meditating one time every single day over time can calm our minds, help us heal our anxiety and depression, and even help us resist the urge to use.
That one small step becomes our starting point, the awakening to our alignment, an awakening that starts us on our path to a successful recovery.
Coming Out of Isolation in Our Season of Healing
Many of us also tend to self-isolate in the winter. We stop seeing loved ones. Our connection to the community that helps to sustain us can dwindle. We may experience feelings of loneliness. Springtime invites us to venture back outdoors and reconnect with people. Warm weather can make us feel social again. The spring season of renewal and awakening can inspire us to form new connections and rekindle old ones. We feel a renewed sense of optimism and hopefulness.
We might feel inspired to find a sponsor. Opening up to a friend can lighten our emotional load. We might be prompted to research the right treatment facility or therapist.
Finding Community in Our Season of Healing
We often start connecting with people again in spring. Connection can bring us encouragement and even excitement to embark on our recovery journey. At Athens Area Commencement Center, our clients form supportive connections especially in group sessions. For many, this support becomes one of the most important pieces of their recovery journey.
We need community to help us heal. Spring can often be the catalyst to emerge from our internal world, find our community, and connect with the people meant to walk our path with us.
At Athens Area Commencement Center, we specialize in outpatient alcohol and drug detox and treatment. We tailor our treatment programs to the individual. This means you get the help and support you need, customized to who you are as an individual, rather than a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all approach that was not designed with you in mind and that may or may not work for you. We believe in your ability to get well, and we are here to support you as you do the work. Call us at (706) 546-7355 for more information on our treatment programs, how we can help you reach your recovery goals, and how you can get started today.