Cornerstone of Southern California, Celebrating 40 Years
How Recovery Can Improve Your Life
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Author: Cornerstone of Southern California
Published: October 28, 2021

The path to recovery is a road walked, well, often clumsily. It’s a challenging journey with its ups and downs, its struggles, and its rewards. It is nevertheless a courageous path to walk down and is one always worth embarking on.

Learning how to cope with recovery from addiction leads to another journey, relearning how to be good to yourself in every possible way. Taking care of our physical, mental, and emotional well-being needs to be a significant focus.

While it may not always seem clear, this focus on self-care is an excellent tool to carry into sobriety. This is because recovery and affirmative actions must go hand in hand. Efforts to live better remind us of our achievements and give us the new lease of life we deserve.

As this week marks Red Ribbon Week, a time for sobriety appreciation, in this blog, we review how recovery can improve your life and share positive actions that can be adapted to live better after recovery.

Being Kind to Yourself

Being kind to yourself is not always easy. When we begin to struggle, creeping negative thoughts often consume us. Yet, during recovery, it is essential not to let these thoughts take over.

Body

In conclusion, positive thinking has a favorable impact on long-term sobriety. Several studies highlight that the foundation to sobriety is being good to yourself and knowing that being kind to one’s body, heart, mind, and spirit is something we all deserve.

The importance of a good exercise regime and diet is also instrumental during and beyond recovery. We can take positive steps to make holistic improvements in our lives by looking after our bodies and eating well.

After achieving sobriety, our bodies begin to recover and start to repair physically. This might allow an individual to embark on new challenges, like sports competitions or breaking daily records. All in all, living a healthy lifestyle in sobriety can instill new self-confidence and motivation.

While a good food and exercise regime is a great step to take, we must ensure that we don’t overdo it. It’s worth talking to a doctor to set up the best health and fitness regime when embarking on new fitness challenges.

Read more: Drug Detox Orange County

Heart

The physical health of the heart improves in sobriety, as does its emotional health. During recovery and sobriety, self-love plays a vital role in recovery. Not only does self-love help us break down negative perceptions of ourselves and the world around us, but it makes us easier to be around.

Self-love is not something that we acquire overnight. Instead, it can be gradually achieved through adopting positive ways of thinking, such as forgiving ourselves for our past mistakes, learning to let go of small stresses, taking time to be mindful, and meditation.

There are many steps towards learning self-love. During sobriety, it becomes easier as we can look at ourselves and our lives with a clear head, make positive changes, and forge new connections with people.

Mind

Being mindful is an integral part of the path to recovery. Practicing mindfulness is an ancient technique that allows us to take a few moments to ourselves, reflect on our days, focus on our breathing, and put things into perspective. Mindfulness is also proven to reduce anxiety, stress, and restlessness and bring about a sense of calm.

Often, mindfulness requires us to sit still and focus on our breathing. At first, one may only be able to last a few moments before becoming agitated or losing focus, but after time, being mindful becomes an old hat, and it can be applied to how we approach the day.

Following sobriety, practicing mindfulness becomes more effortless. It lends the tools to unlock new skills and embark on better horizons.

Spirit

Many people turn to spirituality during recovery, and it is a great way to give structure and meaning to our lives when sober. Finding a community through a spiritual center can be a great way to connect with others, grounding ourselves in healthy socializing.

It may be interesting to investigate different belief systems and connect on a deeper level to some of the mysteries of the world. Additionally, joining a spirituality community can also be the key to self-forgiveness, which is crucial to feeling good about ourselves, and admitting, and moving on from our mistakes.

With a new focus obtained through sobriety, all challenges become easier. Many even find that their quality of life is better than it was before developing a substance dependency. For this very reason, sobriety and recovery are always worth the challenge