Nurturing and finding self-love is vitally important during addiction recovery. Because addiction can leave you with feelings of low self-worth and low self-esteem, this is especially true. Moreover, self-love can boost your motivation changing your life for the better. Choosing to love yourself in recovery can be an incredibly hard choice—even a courageous one. But doing so will ultimately help you heal and progress as you navigate the early stages of recovery. The programs and services at Serenity Light Recovery have ways you can cultivate and find self-love in your recovery from addiction.
Finding Self-Love
There are several practical, pragmatic habits you can develop to foster positivity. Engaging in these will help in finding self-love. However, it’s important to remember there is no ‘winning’ when it comes to self-love. Rather, it’s something you do a little bit all the time to keep yourself motivated and cared for. Thus, approach these knowing you only have to try your best. There is no failure.
Actions You Can Take
Hygiene: When addiction becomes a person’s priority, everyday things get left by the wayside. Often, when you try to approach them again, they feel almost impossible. The feeling can be crushing to your self-esteem. Thus, while it may sound simple, a little self-care in personal hygiene can go a long way. Putting extra care into your hygiene–time, effort, attention, and patience–can help you break the addiction cycle. You develop a routine, while actively take charge of your self and your surroundings. You grow in self-love as you care for yourself.
A well-rounded diet: Finding self-love involves nutritious eating. Control matters and actively deciding what food to put in your body is one way to get it back. Thus, rather than giving in to cravings that will only harm your physical health, strive to fill your body with the nutrients truly needed. A diet rich in whole grains, protein, fruits, and vegetables improves how you feel both physically and mentally.
Yoga: Yoga allows you to spend time drawing your focus away from everyday stresses. The time spent meditating lets you focus on positive thinking. Even in a group setting, you are encouraged to focus on what your body can and can’t do without comparison to the people around you, allowing you to embrace yourself for who you are.
Exercise: Even if you decide that yoga isn’t for you, it’s important to find forms of exercise that you will enjoy. Regular exercise can give you a “natural high,” leaving you with an increased sense of well-being. For instance, activities like swimming, jogging, weight lifting, and cycling are all great for strengthening the body and can always be tailored to your capability.
Changing Your Attitude
Addiction stirs up negative emotions prompting negative self-talk. Therefore, finding self-love means stopping this before it happens by making positive affirmations. There are several ways you can practice positive affirmation;
- Write a list of your strengths and positive qualities
- Say positive things about yourself in a mirror
- Repeat a positive thought as you meditate
The point is when you do catch yourself thinking or saying negative things, reshape it as a positive thought. For example, if the thought was, “I am bad at coping with stress,” you might instead say, “I am learning how to cope with stress as I progress through recovery.” It’s a small thing, but it can have a massive impact on finding self-love.
Serenity Light Recovery knows your journey is unique. We can supply you with the programs, services, and support you need to grow and heal as you recover. Call us today at (281) 431-6700 to find out more.
As our CEO, Heather’s main calling is to stay true to the vision of the organization, which is saving lives and striving to redefine statistics by raising the standard of care with evolving treatment methods. Heather studied psychology at LSU and both the main and Clear Lake campuses of the University of Houston, and she is a certified IASIS provider and CPI instructor. She’s been helping people in recovery since 2011. Heather’s motto to live by is “I am not what I’ve done; I am what I’ve overcome.”
