When you read about tips for self-care, they usually include things like bubble baths, candles and meditation. While these activities are certainly good for the soul, self-care can go far deeper than this. As you discover some new ways to nourish your mind, body and soul, you’ll be better equipped to handle unhelpful emotions and self-destructive behaviors.
Here are some of the best ways you can go deeper with self-care.
Educate Yourself on Recovery and Mental Health
Education is a crucial part of self-care. Unfortunately, many people do not realize how their habits affect them. Even simple things that might not look bad on the outside can severely impact your life. For example, if you have trouble managing your time, you’ll spend your days rushing around, feeling overwhelmed and never being fully present. These feelings can put you at risk for relapse.
Take some time to educate yourself on the recovery process and what to expect along the way. This way, you can create realistic expectations that set you up for success. Also take time to educate yourself on your other diagnoses, whether they’re physical or mental. Otherwise, you might find that you’re overly hard on yourself when it’s not your fault.
Practice Self-Awareness for Improved Mental Well-Being
Your mental well-being is about more than just holding things together by a thread. This is no way to live your life, as you’ll continue to feel that you’re one step away from losing ground. If this happens, you might be compelled to start using drugs or alcohol again.
Self-awareness is an important part of mental well-being. By being self-aware, you can recognize when you are struggling and take action. For instance, if you’re feeling depressed, you might want to reach for a glass of wine. But if you recognize your symptoms early on, you can give yourself the support you need so that you don’t reach your breaking point.
Reduce Your Risk for Harm
As you’ll learn in addiction treatment in Agoura, you can’t control everything around you. The sooner you accept this, the happier you’ll be because you won’t waste energy trying to make people see or do things the way you want.
At the same time, YOU are responsible for YOU. You get to choose how you respond to things, and you get to choose who/what you surround yourself with. Part of being successful in recovery is reducing your risk for harm. This includes staying away from the people, places and things that trigger you.
And, if you do decide to leave your comfort zone and try something new, such as going to a friend’s birthday party, make sure you have an exit strategy. If you start to feel uncomfortable or things get out of control, you can confidently leave the scene and protect your sobriety.
Use Self-Care Products Wisely
Another thing we want to address is the proper use of self-care products and services. These include things like sleeping pills, appetite suppressants, supplements and energy drinks. Many of these products are marketed as being safe, effective and holistic, but this is usually far from true.
There are no shortcuts in life, and true healing takes time. If you want to get healthy, a pill isn’t going to cut it. Putting in the time to eat healthy, exercise daily and get enough rest will. And, you’re building healthy habits in the meantime that will sustain your health and recovery.
Self-Care is Essential to a Complete Recovery
Taking good care of yourself is essential to addiction recovery. When you were actively using, you weren’t able to take care of yourself because you were always focused on that next fix, at whatever cost. Now that you are working on your recovery, you must focus on your basic needs, including your diet, exercise and sleeping patterns.
And, by going deeper with your self-care ritual with some of the ideas listed above, you can take things to another level. Ultimately, self-care helps you maintain a stable mood, develop better coping abilities and create more energy and motivation. One good thing can turn into many! To start your recovery, contact Awakenings Treatment Center.
