Addiction recovery looks different for everyone. However, those who have been able to make the most of their lives after completing treatments and recovery programs cite self-care as an essential tool for doing so.
Self-care can help you sustain your recovery journey, and we will explore why and how it can do so for you below.
Why Self-Care Is So Important in Addiction Recovery
Self-care activities like meditation, exercise, and spending time in nature can help reduce the stress and pressure that often leads to urges and cravings. Both can trigger relapses, which is why finding ways to avoid them as much as possible is crucial.
Taking care of yourself, whether by exercising, eating healthy, or getting enough sleep, can improve your mood and outlook on life, improve your self-esteem, and give you the motivation you need to stay on track. These activities can also give you goals to aim for, such as getting healthier, losing weight, or feeling energetic for extended periods to keep urges at bay.
Self-care can also be an incredible tool for promoting healthy habits. It can help you replace unhealthy coping mechanisms, which alcohol and substance abuse typically are, with positive ones. These healthy habits can be the foundation you need to start building a healthy lifestyle that steers you on the right path.
Lastly, self-care can help you focus on your needs and well-being. Being attuned to your physical and emotional cues can allow you to identify triggers more easily and help avoid relapses.
The Best Self-Care Practices for Addiction Recovery
Now that you understand why self-care is so important to recovery, what practices should you include in your lifestyle? If you have already enrolled in an intensive outpatient program or any other program, you are already engaging in activities like attending therapy and receiving support from a support group. You have people to contact and talk to when struggling or when you need to hit a goal. Continuing on the same path when you complete these programs should become part of your self-care routine.
Taking care of your physical, mental, and emotional well-being is also an important self-care practice to incorporate into your life. Start with simple practices like cooking and eating healthy and nutritious meals several times a week, exercising regularly, and getting seven to eight hours of sleep every night.
Also, consider getting regular health checkups so you always know how you are doing and have measurable results that can help you keep going. Practicing mindfulness through activities like yoga and meditation can do wonders for your mental health and can be very useful when struggling with urges.
Additional Tips for Leveraging Self-Care in Your Recovery Journey
Try to start small and build gradually. Making drastic or too many changes to your life in a short period can overwhelm you and undo much of the progress you have already made.
Since everyone is different, find what works for you but also experiment with different things to see if they are worth incorporating into your self-care practices. For example, you may not like running but you may like meditating and lifting weights. Include more of those activities if they suit you and let go of ones that are not useful.
Incorporating self-care into your life and daily routines can make addiction recovery easier. The most important thing to remember is to listen to yourself and your body to know what is working and what is not and when to seek help if you need it.
