5 Ways Recovery Can Truly Change Your Life

When you made the decision to seek treatment for your addiction, you likely knew the road to sobriety wouldn’t be easy. Finding ways to stay sober and stay on track during recovery can be challenging but you can use this time to your advantage, by building routines and practices that can improve your overall health and wellness. Wondering if you can really get your life back on track during recovery? Here are five priorities to keep in mind.

Make Mental Health a Priority

Often, addiction is not a condition on its own but rather a symptom or result of an unresolved mental health issue or past trauma. During recovery, you will need to spend some time exploring these issues to really get to the root of your addiction. It can be a painful process but by going through it now, you will learn healthy methods to cope with your thoughts, feelings and overall mental health. Training yourself to think about your mental health and speak openly about your issues can help you deal with anything that comes your way during or after recovery.

Add Exercise to Your Regular Routine

It’s likely that your overall treatment plan will include a focus on physical fitness and health. Your body needs to be strong during recovery and exercise has been shown to reduce triggers associated with addiction. Of course, learning healthy food and exercise habits can do more than reduce relapses. Staying fit and eating clean can help improve your energy, reduce your risk for illness and disease, and add years to your life. Working out can also reduce stress, anxiety and depression, which will help you think clearer and feel happier. So take the wellness lessons you learn in recovery and apply them to the rest of your life.

Discover New Passions to Pursue for Life

Recovering leaves people with a lot of downtime in treatment. Boredom can be a major trigger for a return to bad habits.  You’ll likely find yourself being encouraged to fill those hours with new hobbies. Whether you learn to paint, pick up an instrument or start a backyard garden, you’ll end up with some fun new talents that will fend off boredom while filling yourself with a sense of accomplishment. You could discover a passion to pursue in your downtime, or you could possibly find a new career! When you fill your hours with fun and productivity, the possibilities are endless.

Commit to Steady Self-Care

More and more addiction treatment plans are including self-care or alternative therapies, like yoga and meditation, to help those in recovery deal with stress. Self-care isn’t just for recovery though. Taking time out of your schedule to self-reflect and sooth stress (whether it’s getting acupuncture, keeping a journal or indulging in monthly massages) will help keep you sober, but it is important to your overall wellness too. Learning to truly take care of yourself now will improve your quality of life for years to come.

Form Healthy, Supportive Relationships

You’ll likely meet quite a few new people during recovery, which will give you an opportunity to make positive, supportive connections. Whether it’s through an inpatient treatment center, support groups or some of your healthy hobbies, you’re bound to gain some healthy friendships. Nurture these connections and build bonds that can help you stay clean and offer support when times get rough.

If you’ve made the decision to begin recovering from addiction you have so much to be proud of already! Use this time to self-reflect and find ways to stay sober, but know that the lessons and practices you learn will be oh so useful in all areas of your life. Congratulations on taking the first step and good luck on your road to recovery!