Importance of Practicing Self-Care in Recovery
Addiction is an extremely complicated condition that affects pretty much every aspect of a person’s life. It robs you of your ability to control your actions and intensifies the challenging emotions that caused you to abuse substances in the first place. There’s usually a common theme running through the life of someone caught up in a cycle of substance abuse: low self-worth. As such, building confidence and learning to love yourself are integral components of the recovery process.
Why Is Self-Care in Recovery So Important?
Stress, poor diet, insomnia, loneliness, lousy self-image and boredom can all cause emotional stress that’s difficult to cope with. Some people turn to drugs or alcohol as a means of escaping from overwhelming or painful feelings. As such, you must make a marked effort to minimize the risk of falling victim to the triggers mentioned above. Self-care is about listening to what your mind and body need and actively looking after yourself.
Sometimes, you get into habits and patterns of behaviour that aren’t constructive or conducive to positive change. By making sure you’re disciplined enough to eat healthily and get regular exercise, you can avoid most of the feelings that drive you to use. Spending your free time pursuing meaningful hobbies that you find fulfilling gives you further protection against low self-esteem.
Exercise and Diet
You don’t need to turn into a gold medalist or eliminate all carbs, but making sure you move your body every day and avoid processed foods where possible is a sure-fire way to feel better. Self-care isn’t about judgement, so you can work out as tentatively as you like. A 10-minute walk every day is better than no exercise.
Pursue a Hobby
Build a website: Make a website about whatever you’re passionate about, whether it’s comedy, music, plants or model villages. It’s rewarding to have something online that you can call your own.- Gaming: The gaming world shows no signs of slowing down, with games to suit everyone’s tastes and preferences. It’s a great way of releasing tension and building on specific skills.
- Get painting, drawing or designing: If you’re inclined to pick up a pen or paintbrush, it can be incredibly therapeutic. As you practice, you’ll see yourself improve and gain a tremendous sense of self-worth.
- Learn an instrument: Learning an instrument is a great pastime for any music lover, with tangible results. You can start playing anything these days with the help of a YouTube tutorial. Soon enough, you’ll be able to start a band and write your own songs.
- Make a podcast: If you’re a person who loves to talk about a particular subject or has a group of friends with great banter, why not start a podcast? It’s something you can work hard on as a side project and share with the world.
- Write a book: If you love to write, put pen to paper and write a book. Self-publishing has opened up the world of fiction and non-fiction to absolutely anyone. The sky’s the limit once you’ve built up your self-esteem!
Rehab in Victoria, Canada
Recovery Works is a 10-person holistic rehab in Victoria, Canada, with a mission to help people overcome the trauma that leads to addiction. Call us today at 778-430-1212 to speak to one of our friendly admissions advisers.
Fitness Training – We view physical fitness as one of the pillars of recovery. That’s why we train twice-weekly at Cross Fit Vic City with instructors that train elite Canadian athletes. Additionally we hike in the forest and on nearby beaches and take advantage of the wide range of recreational opportunities that Victoria has to offer.
Psycho-education – A big part of recovery is learning about the disease of addiction to alcohol and other drugs and how to recover – stay clean and sober. The Recovery Works psycho-education program is an evidence-based therapeutic intervention. Our program includes lectures, videos, guest speakers, reading and written assignments on the disease of addiction and recovery from it.
One on One Counselling – Individual counseling is exactly what it sounds like. It is one of our therapists working one on one with a resident. They meet and agree on some goals for their work together. The great thing about Recovery Works’ one on one therapy is the individual is able to have a safe and confidential environment to talk about difficult things and get unbiased, objective feedback and suggestions from our therapists.
Group Therapy – Group therapy is a form of psychotherapy in which one or more therapists treat a small group of clients together as a group. At Recovery Works we employ psychodynamic group therapy where the group context and group process is used as a mechanism of change by developing, exploring and examining interpersonal relationships within the group.