Learning Self-Care After Addiction: 5 Tips From a Recovery Coach
By Michael Osborne, CADC II
This post originally appeared in different form on the Ria Health Blog. Ria Health offers flexible treatment for alcohol use disorder from a smartphone app.
When you’re in recovery from alcohol use disorder — or any other major life challenge — self-care is essential. But, since it’s normal to struggle to prioritize one’s physical and mental health when facing addiction, self-care in recovery tends to be a learning curve. Not only do people need to unlearn unhealthy reactions, they also need to learn new self-care strategies for the future.
Establishing new habits can feel intimidating at first. But once you develop new self-care routines, they tend to become automatic, and go a long way toward helping you move forward in life. Here are a few tips for getting started, and sticking with self-care along any recovery journey.
1. Self-Care Should Be Preventative, Not Reactive
It can be tempting to only practice self-care after bad things happen in our lives. Instead, try thinking of self-care as preventative maintenance for your body and mind. The more self-care becomes a daily habit, the less chance there is of things breaking down. Consistent self-care also lessens the risk you’ll return to unhealthy habits, such as excessive alcohol use. Therefore, self-care should be practiced even on days when you feel great.
2. Find Things You Look Forward To
Learning self-care is an individual process, and what works for some will not work for others. It’s best to find an activity that you very much look forward to, as it’s much easier to be consistent with things that you enjoy. Good self-care can include both relaxing activities, and ones that are physically or mentally stimulating if that’s what refreshes you. Meditation, exercise, reading, journaling, yoga, or smartphone apps like Calm, Headspace, or Insight Timer can all be helpful options.
3. Patience and Flexibility Are Important
In many cases, sticking with self-care also means forming new habits. Typically, it can take several weeks to a few months to solidify these new habits. Flexibility in the early stages of new self-care activities is important, as it’s common to have a few slips where one’s self-care ritual isn’t performed as scheduled. With time, patience, and repetition, however, self-care can become as automatic as brushing your teeth.
4. Utilize Visual Reminders
When beginning new self-care activities, try setting daily reminders until the activity becomes a habit. For example, one of my clients wanted to start jogging a mile after work three days per week. This person would write sticky notes and leave them on the refrigerator. They would also set timers on their phone 30 minutes before getting off work. Finally, they would leave their running clothes on the bed before leaving the house in the morning. They continued this until jogging became a routine, and they no longer needed reminders.
5. Plan Ahead For Triggers
We all face certain triggers or situations in life that are extremely difficult for us to cope with. These can include certain dates on the calendar that remind us of a loss, such as Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, or other upsetting anniversaries. It can be useful to increase self-care activities during such unavoidable difficult days or moments. Be gentle with yourself during such times, and direct your energy in a healthy manner towards your well-being.
Read More: Dealing With Triggers in Recovery
Final Thoughts:
A regular self-care routine has many benefits when it comes to mental health, physical health, and addiction recovery. Unfortunately, not all triggers can be eliminated from one’s life. However, the more consistently you practice self-care, the more prepared you’ll be to handle whatever life throws at you.
It can be good to remember that we cannot control everything that happens to us, but we can learn to manage our thoughts and reactions to life’s challenges. Regular and consistent self-care is a great start.
Ria Health offers long-term support to quit or cut back on alcohol through a smartphone app — including weekly meetings with a recovery coach. Learn more about how it works.
