Practicing rehabilitation and reaching recovery make for their own challenges. However, maintaining recovery is arguably harder than the process of rehab. In rehab, you are constantly monitored, instructed, and guided by medical professionals and given around the clock assistance. In recovery, you are generally living an independent life, trying to maintain sobriety based on what you learned in rehab.
Leading a life of post-recovery can be tricky, with the lingering temptation to invest in drugs again. In rehab and recovery programs however, you will likely have been taught coping methods to ignore impulses.
Picking out these techniques can build a system known as your Sobriety Toolbox. When you are struggling to maintain sobriety, consider your favorite hobbies. These are your go-to activities in such situations, and some that you may consider in times of need.
Accounting for Yourself
Disciplining yourself to adapt to any new routine can be grueling. Whether a diet, building up muscle or maintaining sobriety, these are all difficult routines to uphold. Without constant supervision, it is easy to veer off your designated path. However, calculating and measuring your own daily activities can help.
One of these methods is the use of a sobriety calculator. By using a sobriety calculator online, you can keep track of the seconds, minute, hours, days, weeks, months, and years you maintain sobriety. Some people tend to behave more responsibly with factual numbers available, such as how many calories they eat daily.
Phone apps also exist to help discipline addicts, such as inspirational quote apps. These may provide tips or words of encouragement when giving up seems like the easiest option.
Find the Resources
You cannot buy your way to sobriety, but there are means and supplies that can help assist you in doing so. Staying hydrated is always important, particularly with fruit-infused water and herbal teas. These stimulate mood-boosting triggers in the brain and give peaceful, happy feelings. In addition, they also provide health benefits such as improved blood pressure, concentration, and digestion.
Other supplies you might consider are sources of aromatherapy. Aromatherapy acts as a type of medicine that provides boosts in physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Methods include baths, diffusers, massages, as well as the use of fragrance and essential oils.
New Practices and Hobbies
If there is any way to build a sobriety toolbox, it is by finding and adopting new hobbies and routines. Many consider their addiction a hobby and feel empty having to drop it. The best method of avoiding an old yet toxic hobby is to replace it with a new and invigorating one.
Hobbies vary from person to person, and no particular interest is guaranteed to fix your problem. They can consist of almost anything from exercise, meditation, practicing religion, to art therapy such as painting, writing, or singing. Even simple indulgences like yard work, reading, or playing video games can help provide this relief.
Building your own sobriety toolbox requires patience, persistence, a sense of eagerness, and knowing yourself. Whatever you choose should not only interest you but reduce stress and give positive reinforcement. There are no absolutes in therapy or recovery, but there will always be working methods to uphold your sobriety.
If you or a loved one is struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, contact a local Treatment & Rehab alternative in Tennessee. You might be interested in Discovery Place’s own treatment center alternatives, such as our 30 Day Residential Addiction Alternative Recovery Program or our Long Term Alternative Recovery Program in Burns, Tennessee. Call us for a free consultation at 1-800-725-0922.
