Throughout the process of recovering from addiction, we often tend to put our health and wellness on the back burner. We’re juggling so many different things that we forget to prioritize self-care in recovery. Our determination to complete treatment and to attend meetings can become a source of pressure and stress. We feel a sense of urgency to make amends to the people we’ve hurt and to repair fractured relationships. Returning to work or school and managing our finances often take priority when we’re experiencing financial difficulties as a result of our addictions. Self-care in recovery can easily become an afterthought.
Seeing Self-Care in Recovery as Selfish
We can become so overwhelmed that the thought of self-care in recovery feels like a misuse of our time. We might not see the point in practicing self-care. Very often, we’ve come to see caring for ourselves as selfish or self-indulgent. We have people in our lives we’re responsible for who have been affected by our addictions for quite some time. Our inclination sometimes is to want to put those people first, to make up for everything we’ve put them through, sometimes at the expense of our own needs.
Finding Balance With Self-Care in Recovery
Self-care in recovery, however, is far from selfish. We must stay well. Our sobriety depends on our mental, emotional, and physical well-being. The more stable we are, the easier it is to stay sober. When something is off balance, for example, when we’re feeling overly stressed, or we’re not getting enough sleep, those imbalances can pose a threat to our sobriety. Feeling overwhelmed or triggered emotionally can be a precursor for relapse. We’ve spent years of our lives using our drug of choice to cope with difficult emotions. If we don’t prioritize self-care in recovery, it becomes that much harder to stay balanced and centered enough to stay sober.
Coping With Challenges With Self-Care in Recovery
Our newfound sobriety brings with it so many exciting new chapters. It also, however, presents unique challenges. We’re now coping with difficult things while sober and clear-minded when we usually would have numbed ourselves to them. Our drug of choice has been our means of distraction and escapism. Now sober, we are confronting emotions and experiences that can be difficult to process. It can be hard to feel our feelings with nothing to numb them.
Some of our team members here at Athens Area Commencement Center are in recovery themselves and know firsthand how challenging it can be to embark upon a new healing chapter. Taking good care of ourselves enables us to stay strong in our recovery.
Empowering Our Sobriety Through Self-Care in Recovery
Prioritizing self-care in recovery means we’re equipping ourselves with simple yet powerful tools to help us navigate any challenges that come up for us. With self-care, we can more easily manage mood swings and emotional triggers. We become better able to withstand addictive urges and, therefore, prevent relapse. All the things that would at one time have made us fall off the wagon can now be the challenges we’re meant to transcend.
What does self-care in recovery mean for you?
Suggestions for Self-Care in Recovery
Here are some suggestions for what self-care in recovery might look like:
- Let yourself sleep in when you can
- Take time away from your phone
- Get out into nature
- Travel if you’re able to
- Go to that concert or movie you’ve been wanting to see
- Call a friend you haven’t talked to in a long time
- Take a walk or go for a swim
- Spend quality, fun time with your kids and your pets
- Give yourself a break and let a friend or family member sit for your kids and pets
- Check out a park or library you’ve never been to
- Try a new restaurant or shop
- Read a book that interests you or revisit an old favorite
- Listen to the music you love
- Meditate or do breathing exercises
- Start a daily gratitude practice
- Journal your thoughts and feelings, dreams and goals
- Choose an exercise plan and stick with it
- Find a counselor and make regular sessions a priority
- Talk to other people in recovery, go to meetings, and grow your community and support system
- Get matched with a sponsor
- Get back to the hobbies you might have abandoned and think back to when you were younger – what did you love to do?
Happiness and Calm Can Support Sobriety: Self-Care in Recovery
Do the things that make your heart happy! Giving ourselves time to genuinely enjoy ourselves brings us a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction that can empower us to stay well. We can feel stronger in our conviction to stay sober when we have things we love.
Allowing ourselves to relax soothes and regulates our nervous system. Feeling calmer and more balanced means we’re better able to handle the challenges that come with recovery.
The Athens Area Commencement Center treatment programs help clients prioritize wellness and self-care in recovery by offering counseling sessions, support groups, and sponsors. Our team works with you to create a personalized treatment plan where your needs are prioritized, helping you find the self-care practices that will best support your recovery.
Juggling the demands of recovery can cause us to forget the importance of caring for our health and well-being. Practicing self-care means honoring our mental, emotional, and physical needs. Prioritizing self-care in recovery strengthens and empowers us as we confront the challenges of sobriety. Tending to our needs can be uncomfortable when we’ve neglected them for so long. Addiction has a way of taking over our lives to the point where we’re no longer caring for ourselves at all. Athens Area Commencement Center is here to support you during every chapter of your recovery. Call us today at (706) 546-7355 for information on our treatment programs and how we can help.