Guest Post: Back on Track - How Fitness Helps Recovery

Statistics from 2014 reveal that 

21.5 million people aged 12 or 

older had a substance 

abuse disorder that year alone. 

Over the last 25 years, the 

addiction treatment industry 

has tripled in size, currently 

raking in about $35 billion in 

annual revenue. So it seems 

that, for all the money spent 

on addiction prevention, 

addiction still hasn’t been 

prevented. Instead, it morphed into a 

business, while the failsafe way to getting 

clean has been endlessly debated.

If you are recovering from drugs and alcohol, here are some tips to 

maintaining a healthy lifestyle to help you find your way onto the 

right track to recovery.

Back on Track

Perhaps the first step in picking up the pieces of your life after an addiction 

is not so much physical as mental and emotional. People who base their 

schedules and relationships around drugs for years often feel lonely or 

rudderless once they quit. One way to overcome this sense of isolation is 

to get a support network around you. That might include family, old friends, 

or other recovering addicts.

Also, take care of yourself: Get enough sleep. Eat healthy foods such as 

fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and omega-3 fish like salmon. Declutter 

your life. That could mean cleaning up your apartment, throwing out clothes 

you don’t wear, cutting people who are toxic out of your life, or deleting the 

apps that you don’t use off your iPhone. Whatever steps you take, make 

sure where and how you live is light, bright, open and full of possibility.

Get a Routine

Now that you’ve begun to address your mental health, turn to how you’re 

doing physically. Drugs wear down your body and fully recovering from them 

means adopting a healthy, active routine that you keep up through the years. 

A natural midway point between attending to your mental and physical states 

could be yoga, which focuses on deep-breathing, meditation, relaxing and 

staying in tune with your body. Biking, tennis, running, baseball, basketball, 

swimming and weightlifting are all solid options, too. Pick something you 

love, because you’ll keep doing it, rather than view it as a chore. Moreover, 

physical activity has been shown to sharpen memory, lower cholesterol, 

combat inflammation and fight off type 2 diabetes.

Anger and Addiction

Mental illness and substance addiction frequently co-occur. According to the 

Journal of the American Medical Association, roughly 50 percent of people who 

suffer a serious cognitive disorder abuse drugs. Anger, meanwhile, is often 

symptomatic of a range of mental problems including mania and depression 

in bipolar disorder, among others. After you go cold turkey from drugs, many 

factors may still cause you to become angry. These might include unpaid 

debts, broken friendships, or any that anxiety you may have harbored for 

years while on drugs.

Fitness has been shown to moderate anger by releasing chemicals such as 

serotonin and dopamine in your brain. So if you’re recovering from an addiction, 

do any of the exercises listed above to relax. If you are unable to control your anger, 

decide whether competitive sports fuel your stress or not. For instance, if you know 

that losing a game of pickup basketball will upset you, you might opt to drive out 

to a forest to hike through the pine air and feel at peace.

Finding your way out of the darkness of addiction is nearly a miracle. That’s 

why it’s important to keep moving. Exercise rewires our brain and helps stave 

off depression, so we can muster the strength to keep on the track that leads 

toward recovery.

Image via Unsplash

About the Author

Molly knows what it’s like having a loved one suffering from an addiction. Through 

her writing, she offers support and advice for those with addictions and their loved 

ones. Molly writes for RecoveryHope. She’s passionate about supporting those in 

recovery and their family and friends.

Guest Post - Improve Mental and Physical Health by Taking Up a Hobby

Working long hours at the office, rushing the kids to soccer practice, doing the dishes, folding the laundry. No wonder so many people are overwhelmed by stress! Our lives are hectic -- both at work and home. So when do you find time for yourself? If your answer is “never,” then it’s time to take steps to change that and take up a hobby. Carving out free time to pursue a hobby leads to happiness and fulfillment, and it improves your quality of life in several ways. Read on for information on how hobbies can improve your mental and physical health.

Hobbies for Mental Health

When you pursue a hobby, it provides a wealth of mental health benefits. Hobbies temporarily take you away from work-related stress, allowing you to briefly forget about your responsibilities. Most people even feel happier as they pursue a hobby. In fact, studies have shown that people who pursue hobbies have a lower risk of depression. They also experience lower risks of dementia.

If you pursue a hobby that requires you to play sports or engage in other physical movement, it can be a great outlet for daily frustrations or anger. As a result, this more positive attitude carries over into other aspects of your life. You may experience improved relationships with family members and co-workers. It also prevents you from getting burned out from your job if you have an outlet for relaxation.

Learning a new hobby can also boost your self-esteem. When you learn a new instrument or take a cooking class, you feel better because you’re improving yourself. Pursuing hobbies even boosts mental fitness. Writing a novel, reading books, learning how to design a website, completing crossword puzzles, or taking a sewing class improves memory and problem-solving skills.

Hobbies Improve Physical Health

One study showed that people who engage in hobbies that require physical activity for at least 20 minutes experienced less fatigue, and their waist circumference and body mass index were lower. They also enjoyed decreased amounts of cortisol as well as lower blood pressure. Additional health benefits of hobbies include better sleep, increased flexibility and a boosted immune system.

Hobbies Boost Social Interaction

Some hobbies require you to join a team or class. Sharing your love of a hobby with like-minded people provides you with social benefits too. You get to meet new people, collaborate with them and accomplish something together. Whether you join a sports team, take a dance class, play in a community orchestra, or join a chess club, you encounter other people who are enjoying the same interests as you.

Staying Safe While Pursuing Your Hobby

Hobbies provide countless benefits, but some downtime pursuits can be dangerous. For example, if you enjoy woodworking or building, follow basic safety procedures to prevent a trip to the emergency room, as power tools and saws can cause injury if not used in the right way. Playing sports without wearing the proper equipment can also result in injury. Going for a hike in the woods? Take a friend with you so you can look out for each other.

Deciding on a Hobby

People come in all shapes and sizes. And their interests are just as diverse. So how do you decide which hobby to pursue? It all depends on what you enjoy. Maybe you’ve always wanted to pick up a tennis racket but never had the opportunity. Have you always wanted to make your own scarves or winter hats? Why not try knitting? Maybe you have dreams of being a famous actor. Well, you may not end up winning the Academy Award anytime soon, but you can join a community theater and immerse yourself in drama -- onstage or behind the scenes.

It doesn’t matter whether you like basketball, ballet, painting, piano, building birdhouses or anything in between. If it helps you relax and decompress from life’s stresses, it just may be the perfect hobby for you.

When you feel like you never have time for yourself and life has become dull and routine, pick up a hobby that will put some sparkle into your everyday existence. Hobbies enhance your mental health and physical health, and they influence other areas of your life, helping you cultivate positive relationships with people at home and the workplace. So don’t let your life go by without finding something that brings you joy. Make time for a hobby!l

By Constance Ray

Constance Ray started Recoverywell.org with the goal of creating a safe place for people to share how addiction has affected them, whether they are combating it themselves or watching someone they care about work to overcome it.

Photo via Pixabay

I Cannot Help Others Until I Help Myself

Every time this season comes around I swear I'll be more prepared than last year and every time, I'm bombarded and swamped with activities and/or physical ailments.

Is it stress from the season that causes more physical problems? Very likely. I had a conversation with my body yesterday and it basically threatened me that if I did not slow down, relax, and find ways to relieve stress it would manifest a way for me to do so. 

Yikes!

When your body tells you to slow down, relax and relieve stress or else, I think it's time to listen. 

I have been suffering from severe arm pain, so much so that it interrupts my sleep. I get very little sleep, most of it painful. I've seen a doctor, had x-rays and am waiting for the results or the next step. 

Living for so many years with Bipolar Disorder, I understand the need for sleep to keep the disorder in remission. I must be very cognizant that I can relapse at any time without sufficient sleep. Living with a pain so debilitating that it causes me to go without sleep for hours every night and toss and turn the rest of the night frightens me in many ways. I can't function without sleep, I'm useless without sleep and those around me suffer as well. 

The end of the year means our family celebrates many happy events: birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. Every year, I seem to get further behind in preparations however much I attempt to prepare earlier in the year. 

The Florida Writers Association holds its annual four-day conference every October and as a founding member, Board member, and Board/Writers Group Liaison I attend and work very hard. This year I'll also be giving three workshops over the four days. 

Speaking of workshops, as a writer's coach I tend to overextend myself when it comes to committing to giving craft of writing workshops because I know groups are trying to fill their end of year speaker slots and I become quite popular as a guest speaker. I know, it's so difficult to say "no" when saying "yes" makes so many people happy. 

As a freelance writer and editor, my gigs increase as well. It's hard to turn down a paying job to write mental health articles or edit novels. The money is good, it helps pay bills, and I like the jobs. 

But, what's behind curtain number three, you ask? 

I decided to take some classes this Fall semester to help become certified as a journal workshop facilitator. It's about a degree that will help build credibility for me when giving workshops to others helping them understand how writing can heal. The extra time and effort put in now will result in greater dividends in the end for WRITECOVERY. I'm learning from the best and studying techniques I'll be able to apply in my workshops. 

So, even now, I understand what my body is trying to tell me. 

Slow down. 

I haven't even mentioned my weekly writers group I attend, weekly Bible study group, and the twice weekly physical therapy appointments. 

And, before this week I had a very aggressive blogging schedule. I keep up with several blogs some of which I write twice a week. I'm usually a week or so ahead of schedule so that I never have a lapse in posting. 

Until this week. 

My brain just can't seem to wrap itself around the number of blog posts I write and timing. I'm going to give my brain a break and post when I can, writing future posts when I can, and schedule be darned. 

My health needs to come first and without sleep there isn't much I can do that is productive. 

The needs seem to be many, and with my body's resources depleted, my options are few. 

I must slow down. 

So, with a heavy heart, I bid you adieu. Know that I'm thinking of all of you and will write as often as I can. I must heed the advice of my body and help myself heal.