Wellness Tips for Addiction Recovery

If you’re a regular reader of my blog then you know that my posts center on addiction-based topics. Whether it is relapse prevention, the War on Drugs, or 12-Step recovery, I try to convey a consistent message. This week I’d like to continue by looking at addiction recovery through a different lens: wellness. Wellness is typically defined as being comprised of the physical, spiritual, and emotional aspects of one’s life (there are other definitions that also include social, vocational, and financial wellness as well).

Reasons to Consider Wellness

When it comes to recovery from addiction, wellness is an especially important thing to consider. After all, it isn’t just about putting down the drug/behavior. Some individuals in recovery may have health issues that developed from their substance abuse. Others may have a yearning to (re)connect with a Higher Power, while others may have mental health issues that have impacted their daily living.

3 Tips for Addiction Recovery Wellness

No matter what the recovering addict’s condition, I believe that it is possible to develop a series of wellness-based practices that will help the affected person to have a better quality of life. Here are a few tips:

• See your doctor – This may seem like a no-brainer but many people new to recovery have not been seen by a physician in quite a while. This could be for a number of reasons but I believe that it is vital to get a baseline assessment of where one’s physical health is at.
• Develop a support system – Our emotional health is often mirrored by the relationships we have in our lives. We can embrace our new found recovery by reaching out to others in a variety of ways. Religious groups, 12-Step meetings, and recovery club houses are but a few of the ways we can establish the connections that can help us to feel a sense of belonging that we may have sorely lacked for so long.
• Exercise – Okay, so you don’t have to run a marathon, but moderate exercise benefits not only the body but the mind, and spirit as well. It’s a 3-fer. I have been actively exercising for many years and have found it to help me maintain a sense of well-being as well as improved my self-esteem.

These three suggestions are just the beginning. Wellness is a lifestyle choice. For me, it has been a continuous process of self-discovery and self-improvement. But as the proverbial saying goes, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”