Overcoming Addiction: Strategies to Defeat Substance Abuse

Overcoming substance abuse is one of the most difficult things you can ever do, but putting the time, energy and effort into such a noble cause is certainly worth it. You don’t have to face the battle alone, though. Plenty of family and friends will be there to aid you along the way, and you can make progress by following these tips as well.

Avoid Temptation

Recovering from addiction doesn’t happen when you stop using drugs. To really change your behavior and your life, you have to create a new life that makes it easier to not use drugs than to use them. One of the best ways to keep from using is to avoid situations that make it more likely to use. These times often occur when you are hungry, angry, lonely or tired--feelings that often come up at the end of the day.

You can avoid these situations by taking better care of yourself. Eat more during the day so you’re not as hungry at night. Find a support group and/or some good friends so you’re not alone. Learn to let go of your anger (some therapy might help here). Build better sleep habits so you’re not constantly tired. Avoid physical places where you will be tempted--your local bar, your old dealer’s house--and avoid being with people who make it more likely you will be tempted, such as people you used drugs with in your previous life.

Learn to Relax

Relaxation may sound like an optional part of recovery, but it’s absolutely essential to have some time to relax as you fight this battle. Tension can build up quickly in your life, and you need a regular mechanism to be able to clear the tension away and focus on what’s important. You should set aside some time every day for relaxing in whatever way works best for you. This may be a walk, a nap, or working on a hobby that you particularly enjoy. You should do whatever works for you to clear your mind and recenter your focus on your goal each day.

Meditation is another great way to relax, even when everything around you is busy and crazy. Try a few different types of meditation until you land on one or two that work well for you. There is no right or wrong type, so just go with whatever your preference is. The most important thing to remember is that stress management is absolutely crucial to maintaining emotional balance and thus avoiding the temptation to backslide into substance abuse and addictive behaviors.

Adopt a Service Dog

Service dogs are trained to act as companions for people who have some sort of disability. This has traditionally included physical impairments, but dogs are now being trained to help people who have disabilities that aren’t visible, such as depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Trained mental health service dogs like this can help with anxiety by bringing medication during an anxiety attack, leading you to someone if you’re in a crisis, or providing physical pressure against you to calm you down. You will need a recommendation from a licensed medical health professional to apply for a psychiatric service dog, but this may be something to look into if you are facing depression on your road to recovery. You don’t want to leave depression untreated because it can lead to deeper issues down the road.

These simple tips are a good start that will help as you fight for sobriety. Always be honest with those around you; this is one of the most important issues you will face, and you cannot make progress by hiding anything. Bringing everything into the open will give you the freedom you deserve on your road to the rest of your life.

Photo from Pixabay

How to Mindfully Include Self-Care In Your Daily Routine To Prevent Burnout

Burnout is something we all experience at least a few times in our lives, and it’s a relatively common symptom of overwork and constant stress, especially in working adults. This feeling of being drained and overwhelmed doesn’t just affect us emotionally, but can have major impacts on every aspect of our lives and our mental and physical health as well.

 The negative effects of burnout, when left unchecked, can affect our work, relationships, and even our bodies. It can lower your immunity and make you vulnerable to various illnesses and other long-term issues, and can lead to a premature death.

 So how do we take care of ourselves when something like burnout can seemingly happen without warning? Here are some small things you can do for yourself every day to keep burnout at bay and live a less stressful life.

Reevaluate your priorities

When you’re feeling burned out, this is a sign that something in your life just isn’t working, and this chronic stress is most probably attributed to your job. While you might not want to think about the busy schedule you have ahead of you on a given day, it’s important to think about what needs your attention and to consider what’s more or less important, as you may be neglecting things that are much more significant to you and in the long run.

Learn how to set boundaries and not to overextend yourself at work so that you have more time for yourself and your loved ones. Learning proper work-life balance can make you feel much more accomplished at work and more satisfied with your personal life.

Prioritize your sleep

Burnout affects all aspects of your life, and that includes sleep. It can be easy to forego sleep when you think you need more time in the day to accomplish your tasks, but not only will this end up being detrimental to your work quality and performance later on, but it will also have long-term effects on your health.

Studies show that burnout has been associated with insomnia, high blood pressure, and heart strain. Going to bed at a regular hour every night and getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep can help decrease burnout significantly.

Do something you love to do for yourself

When you let work overshadow your entire life, you forget to take any time for yourself. Think about what you love to do, whether big or small and dedicate time for that activity.

Take at least an hour every day to take a walk, read a chapter of a book, or do your makeup, as things like these can do wonders for your mental health. Such small activities involve minimal mental effort but can benefit your health and wellness, helping you to destress and take a moment to care for yourself at the start or end of the day.

Take vitamins to boost your immune system

Burnout negatively affects your immune system and can cause you to catch colds and the flu frequently and, if left untreated, can severely and negatively impact your physical health permanently.

Aside from exercising and having a good diet to take care of your body, taking vitamins for your heart, bones, and overall health can fill up gaps in your diet to help you get stronger and feel better.

Final Note

The effects of burnout are long-lasting and heavily impactful on all aspects of your life, so it isn’t something you should simply brush aside. It’s important to take active steps to combat and prevent it for the sake of your emotional, mental, and physical health.

Self-care is something you can do for yourself even in the smallest of ways every single day, and these accumulative actions can help your health significantly when they become a part of your routine. By mindfully taking small steps to care for yourself every day, your life as a whole can improve drastically.

Stay Motivated to Move This Winter

Maybe you set the alarm early with every intention of going out for a morning run, but the snooze button and the sheets win every time when you think about facing the winter weather. But all is not lost. You can still get your exercise in without freezing in the name of fitness. Ready to make the most of your winter fitness regimen? BluePrint Health invites you to read on.

Remember the Rewards

It can certainly be tempting to let your workout routine fall by the wayside in winter since bulky sweaters and cozy sweatshirts are more forgiving than skimpy swimsuits and shorts. But working out isn’t just about staying trim and toned. Regular exercise offers a wealth of physical, mental, and emotional benefits. For instance, research shows regular exercise helps prevent or control a wide variety of health concerns including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, a number of types of cancer, arthritis, and even falls.

Exercise can also help relieve the symptoms of anxiety and depression and may help keep them at bay in the future. That’s because it releases mood-boosting endorphins and other natural brain chemicals that increase your feelings of well-being. Physical activity can also help take your mind off your worries, build confidence, increase social interactions, and provide a positive way to deal with mental and physical health concerns including everything from obesity to addiction.

In fact, when seeking therapy for substance use, many counselors also recommend pursuing a physical wellness plan to combat not only the physical effects of substance use but also to promote the general well-being of patients. So, regardless of your current conditions and concerns, physical activity can boost your body, mind, and spirit all year long.

Indoor Exercise Inspiration

 Winter weather can make outdoor workouts impractical or impossible for even the most devoted fitness fanatics. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to work up a sweat inside. Here are some tips for staying fit and focused this season.

If your budget allows, consider enrolling in a class that will keep you motivated. For instance, many gyms and trainers move boot camp classes indoors in cold weather. But these sessions still torch calories with cardio and strength training intervals. Or maybe you can sign up for a session to try something you’ve never done before. Pre-paying for a pack of cardio dance, kickboxing, or spin classes will also motivate you to attend even on the coldest days rather than let your fitness funds go to waste.

At-Home Alternatives

If you prefer the privacy of exercising on your own or don’t want to spend much money, there are several ways to exercise on the cheap at home. For instance, jumping rope provides a great cardio workout. Burpees, stair climbing, jumping jacks, and mountain climbers will also get your heart pumping. And you can integrate intervals of push-ups, tricep dips, crunches, planks, lunges, and squats, according to ACTIVE.

If you invest in a set of dumbbells, you can add exercises like bicep curls and overhead presses to give yourself a full workout with a minimal investment in gear. When you want to build a bigger home gym, look to sites like Craigslist for deals on weight benches, racks and other types of equipment. If you need help moving furniture or something especially heavy like a treadmill, don’t risk injury, and instead, turn to local professionals to help. Simply search for furniture movers near you through an online directory, and then use ratings to make your choice.

To mix up your moves, try exercise DVDs or online videos. If you don’t want to spend any money, local libraries offer options, and the internet also provides plenty of free content. For instance, the Fitness Blender site offers free full-length workouts to fit any fitness routine. You can select the difficulty level, body area focus, training type (styles include yoga, strength training, and cardio, to name a few), the equipment you have on hand, and even whether you want a male, female, or mixed-gender training team.

Whether you choose to exercise in the gym or in the comfort of your own home, it’s important to stay active all year for your physical and mental well-being. And having a better body come summer is a nice bonus benefit.