Adopting good habits is one of the most important things you can do during addiction recovery. This will promote a good physical and mental health state, which will in turn give you the strength to live a quality life.
Give Up Smoking
If you do not smoke, good for you. However if you do smoke, even if it is not the addiction you are recovering from, you need to quit it. If not for anything but for the fact that it is poisoning your body with tar and carcinogens which are direct causes of cancer. An instrument that can help you quit smoking are called e-cigs or e-cigarettes.
These are healthy alternatives to smoking cigarettes. E-cigarettes are also called vape pens. The process of using a vape pen is called vaping. This is the act of inhaling vapour from a water based liquid infused with nicotine and flavour. It has no proven health risk like the fast killer, cigarettes, and vapes are not drugs. You can get an e-cig from the best vaping websites and be assured you will get nothing short of authenticity.
Stay Active
After rehab, resist the appeal of retreating into a cocoon and hiding away while you heal completely. This will only widen the void your addiction left in its wake, and might reawaken your craving for it. Develop new interests, learn a skill, or join a support group. It is important to have friends who understand your situation. However, you should avoid anything that will drag you down the path of addiction. If you are recovering from alcohol, it is best that you do not go to a bar, or if you are a recovering gambler, a casino. Do everything in moderation until you can look your addiction in the face and not be tempted. Getting busy will fill up your mind and fill any void you may be feeling.
Eat Only When Hungry
The idea of eating only when you are hungry is to eat to satisfy hunger. Most times, people eat when they are lonely, depressed, anxious or stressed. When you do this, you are simply trying to ignore emotions you would be better off talking about. Food is not the therapy you need – you need to talk to your sponsor or a confidante. When you do eat, ensure to have healthy meals.
Exercise
Exercising IS a form of physical and mental therapy. When you exercise, you are not only building your body, but you are getting rid of stress and anxiety. So the next time you feel depressed, get some exercise. Exercising has a lot of positive effects on your body and mind.
Another huge role exercise plays in fighting addiction is dopamine regulation. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter responsible for a number of roles, including pleasure stimulation. In normal circumstances, our body rewards us with dopamine, which in turn brings feelings of pleasure.
As you are probably aware, alcohol and drug abuse increase dopamine levels and completely change the way the neurotransmitter functions. Therefore, one of the most challenging parts of withdrawal is the fact that the body loses the outside factors that stimulated dopamine production, such as alcohol and drugs. This is the reason why addicts claim they need drugs or alcohol to feel happy or normal, and they are not lying.
This is why regulating dopamine without the outside stimuli is incredibly important when fighting addiction. One way to do this is through exercise such as martial arts. As the experts at We Train Here claim: “Martial arts training can help balance our brain chemistry and regulate various neurotransmitters such as serotonin, gamma amino butyric acid, glutamic acid, norepinephrine and of course, dopamine. Fighting addiction is difficult because the high levels of dopamine plummet. Martial arts can help elevate dopamine levels and bring a harmonious balance needed to fight off addiction.”
Get Enough Sleep
Sleeping is incredibly beneficial to our physical and mental health. Your body needs sleep to be refueled, and your mind needs sleep so it can be refreshed to take on tasks effectively. A sleep deprived person is unstable, unfocused and vulnerable, the wrong person you should be while you are on the road to full recovery. So develop the habit of getting adequate sleep. It may be worth getting some sleeping pills from your doctor if you find it hard to get enough sleep.
Article Submitted on behalf of drugrehab-york.uk and alcoholrehab-york.uk
