The health benefits of going sober are clear. Overcoming alcohol addiction can help you repair relationships, improve your physical wellness, and help you discover a new sense of authentic confidence.
However, anyone who has been through a sobriety journey knows that it isn’t always easy. There’s plenty of temptation along the way, and you may find that you experience peaks and valleys of mental wellness during your path toward sobriety.
Make the process that much easier by investing in self-care strategies. Self-care can alleviate stress during your recovery and will give you a routine that aids your efforts to avoid relapse. Creating a strong self-care habit can help you find access to help when you’re in need, too.
Alcohol and Mental Health
Misusing alcohol affects your mental and physical health. Drinking to excess can impair your decision-making, weaken your relationships, and undermine your ability to properly rest and recover after a busy week at work. It can cause all of the following ailments and more.
- Stressful dependencies;
- Impaired immune function, leaving you feeling ill;
- Fluctuations in mood;
- Decreased inhibitions.
All of these side effects undermine your efforts to follow a self-care routine. This can be a real issue if you are trying to bounce back from alcohol addiction but struggle to maintain sobriety when under stress or feel pressured when around peers who still drink. By creating a strong self-care routine, you can manage your stress and reduce your risk of using alcohol again.
Creating a Self-Care Ritual
Forming a self-care ritual that works for you can meaningfully enhance your health and well-being. Taking the time to exercise, practicing mindfulness, and cooking can make a difference by increasing your self-esteem and helping you feel more confident. This can be vital if low self-worth drives you to alcohol.
You can start creating a self-care ritual today by:
- Scheduling time for wellness-boosting activities (like bookending the day by writing in your journal when you wake up/fall asleep);
- Being gentle with yourself and accepting that you won’t always want to meditate or journal in your free time;
- Removing any sense of guilt that surrounds taking time for yourself;
- Finding activities that make you feel better and prioritize them. For some, that may mean spending an hour in the gym before work. For others, that could look like long walks through public gardens.
Maintaining a ritual helps give your life structure and a place to come back to. When life feels out of your control, a regular ritual will ground you and keep you centered.
Improve Accountability
Accountability is essential for your recovery journey — and for self-care. Like self-care rituals, accountability provides structure and balance to life. It’s crucial to take care of yourself in recovery and ensure both your mental and physical health are maintained properly through self-care and other accountability measures.
When indisputable proof of sobriety is needed, there’s no better option than Soberlink. Known as an “alcohol monitoring system,” Soberlink’s technology provides accountability and rebuilds trust.
- Prove Sobriety Anytime, Anywhere: Soberlink uses a discreet and portable, professional-grade breathalyzer designed for convenience and reliable results
- Zero Wait-Time: BAC test results from Soberlink’s breathalyzer are sent immediately to whoever is chosen via text or email
- Data at a Glance: Soberlink’s software uses AI to organize and display all the test results as either green (compliant), yellow (missed), or red (non-compliant) icons
- Know the Right Person is Testing: With a built-in camera and advanced facial recognition, Soberlink automatically verifies the identity, so there’s no way someone else can test for them
- No Room for Cheating: Equipped with sophisticated sensors, Soberlink can detect tampering attempts, including the use of air pumps.
However you choose to incorporate accountability into your recovery, make sure to do it consistently. Remember that the goal isn’t shame or punishment: it’s a healthy, happy you.
Easy Ways to Practice Emotional Self-Care
If you’re struggling to engage with self-care activities like mindfulness or working out, you may need to take a step back and invest in more emotional self-care first. Emotional self-care boosts your willpower and helps you make proactive decisions that support your well-being. You can practice emotional self-care today by:
- Spending more time outdoors;
- Finding ways to connect with nature when you’re feeling low;
- Practicing gratitude by repeating positive affirmations;
- Intentionally creating a network of supportive friends who understand the importance of your sobriety journey;
- Finding creative hobbies that engage you mentally;
- Setting up some calming games that you can play with trusted friends and family.
Practicing emotional self-care on a daily basis is crucial if you want to bolster your resilience and make your journey to sobriety easier to follow. You don’t need to practice emotional self-care alone, either. Finding a trusted healthcare professional who specializes in alcohol addiction and recovery can meaningfully improve your ability to adhere to a treatment plan.
You can also practice emotional self-care by helping others. Volunteering your time can be transformative if you haven’t been able to aid others for some time. Dedicating a portion of your free time to serving your community and connecting with those in need can meaningfully boost your self-esteem and help you connect with like-minded people who share your desire to make the world a better place.
Working with a professional therapist can give you emotional care tools that are relevant to your needs and interests, too. For example, if you are passionate about reading and writing, your therapist will likely prescribe some journal exercises that help you change your behaviors. The lessons you learn about yourself while engaging in therapy will likely translate to other struggles you face, too. Therapy will build your overall resilience and help you deal with stress in your day-to-day life.
Conclusion
Practicing self-care can help you stay the course during your addiction recovery plan. A healthy routine that boosts your well-being will help you destress and reduce your risk of turning to alcohol in search of relief, too. Self-care is crucial if you’ve previously relied on alcohol to self-soothe after a busy day at work. You also may want to consider working with a trusted mental health or addiction professional when putting together your sobriety self-care plan, as they’ll be able to advise activities and habits that are relevant to your needs and that will bolster your resilience.
