How to Incorporate Recovery Into Every Day
Defining your values and integrating recovery into each day can help you stay the course of sobriety. The people who are most successful in maintaining their sobriety — those who have been sober for 10 years, 25 years or more — often talk about themselves not as “cured” from their addiction, but as living a life in recovery.
Especially in early addiction recovery, getting into some type of daily routine can be valuable to staying sober long-term. For many addicts who have just finished treatment at their addiction treatment center, ‘real-life’ can seem scary. And too much free, unscheduled time can lead to thoughts about using again.
And while it is important not to over-schedule yourself, creating unneeded stress in your life, it is helpful to have daily routines that will assist you on your road to recovery.
Daily Rituals for Successful Addiction Recovery
It is true not every method works for every person, but the following daily activities will most definitely help any recovering addict stay sober — especially when incorporated within the first year of recovery.
- Make your bed
This may sound like a silly, overly-simple task that should have nothing to do with recovery. But in fact, making your bed each morning has many benefits for all people, not just those in addiction recovery. Firstly, it gives you a sense of accomplishment, giving you a ‘feel-good’ boost throughout the day.
Being able to stick to a simple task like making your bed each day, and seeing the positive effect merely a moment of your time can make on the rest of your day, you will be inclined to pick up other habits like putting your dirty laundry in the hamper instead of on the floor.
- Remind yourself to be grateful
Each, and daily, take a photo of something that made you feel grateful and upload it into an album. Whether it is a beautiful sunset, a photo of your friend that you went to dinner with, or a bird you saw chilling in the park. Finding something each and daily to be thankful for will help you find the good in even the worst of days and help you keep a positive outlook on life. Plus, it will be a great way for you to look back on your life in years to come.
- Go for a walk
Whether you go for a walk around the neighborhood, head to the gym or take a dance lesson, incorporating some type of physical activity into each day is important. Physical activity has incredible healing powers for the mind, body and soul and will accelerate your progress in addiction recovery if you let it.
- Meditate
Mindfulness meditation has been proven to increase chances of long-term sobriety for those in addiction recovery by giving addicts the tools necessary to take life one moment at a time. When you live life at the moment, you will experience much less stress and anxiety because you rid yourself of worrying and negative thought processes. Simply 10-15 minutes of mindfulness meditation can increase your chances of a successful addiction recovery.
- Talk to someone
Hang out with people you love. Call your sponsor. Have dinner with a fellow recovering addict. Whatever you do, reach out and connect to someone who is important to you each and daily. Sharing things like how your day went and how you are generally feeling will help you keep from bottling feelings inside, causing unwanted stress and anxiety.
- Make lists
Nightly before bed, write down your schedule for the next day. Make a list of things that need to be done, and then schedule them. The more structure you have to your days, the less likely you are to run into stress by forgetting to do things or running out of time. Stress is one of the most significant relapse triggers, so anything that keeps stress at bay is beneficial in addiction recovery.
- Eat healthy and hydrate
Food is fuel for your body. Eating right and staying hydrated by drinking lots of water will not only relieve stress, but it will make you feel terrific from the inside out – ready to conquer each day!
- Do something you enjoy
Reserve at least 20 minutes of each day to do something that relaxes you. Whether it is painting a picture, reading a book, doing a crossword puzzle or taking a bubble bath, it is important to take time each day to just let yourself go.
- Make meetings a priority
Meetings are important. Whether you are feeling down, recovering from a cold or simply do not feel like going to your recovery meeting – just go. Especially in early recovery, it is important to keep up with meetings and to incorporate this in your daily routine.
- Remind yourself why you are in addiction recovery
Last but definitely not least, take a moment each day to remember the reasons that you are in addiction recovery in the first place. Why is getting and staying sober important to you? Write a list and keep it in your pocket or in your wallet and take a look at it each day.
Where You Can Seek Help for Addiction
If you or a loved one has realized they finally need to seek help with alcoholism, or you need some help to persuade them, give Shadow Mountain Recovery a call today. We have experienced staff that can help combat addiction to any drug, and we specialize in holistic treatment to treat the mind, body, and spirit.
If you or a loved one needs an individualized treatment plan to help with addiction, call Shadow Mountain Recovery today: 505-657-2117
