Exercise, Wholeness, and Recovery
When talking about exercise for addiction recovery, we are talking about a wholeness approach to recovery. What we mean by that is there is no single silver bullet to overcoming addiction. It is a new outlook, a new heart, a new life.
Recovery is healing. It is whole life transformation. To talk about your body and your health—what you eat, how you move, when you sleep—these things are intimately tied to recovery simply because they are tied to health and wholeness.
So, if you are looking to get going, or need a little motivation, here are some of the reasons to exercise for addiction recovery. At the end we will give you a short roadmap on how to start.
Reducing Stress and Anxiety Levels
Physical exercise minimizes the level of stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) and triggers the release of endorphins in the brain. This elevates your mood and helps you relax, thus reducing stress and anxiety levels. You have probably felt it before, but after you run 3 miles, your body feels good, and your brain feels good. Good choices tend to follow.
Better Sleep
Lack of quality sleep is common in addiction recovery. Sleep is vital to overall health and outlook. It affects mood and irritability; it improves our attention span and memory; and it helps us make good decisions. And—you guessed it—studies show exercise is the best way to get quality shut-eye. Better, deep sleep matters for addiction recovery.
Elevate Your Mood
Are you a grumpy sober? It’s okay. It does happen. You have experienced a major life change, and your body/psychology is relearning how to find fun and comfort.
Exercise releases endorphins in the brain to give you a feeling of pleasure and well-being that elevates your mood positively. Just being active has a physical and psychological effect on your mood. And in the realms of relapse and recovery, this can make all the difference.
Increasing Energy
Harvard Medical School research shows that exercise increases oxygen circulation speeding up aerobic activities in the mitochondria. This process releases more energy to enhance proper body functioning, perfect for addiction recovery. More exercise means more energy to do more things and feel better doing them.
Strengthening Your Immune System
A strong immunity is good for addiction recovery. With a strong immunity, your body keeps you clear of common ailments and can even make a difference for conditions like cancer, stroke, heart disease, and diabetes.
How to Start Exercising for Healthy Recovery:
Understand your bigger reasons
Around week three, the excitement of starting exercise again may give way to the desire to just sit here and do nothing. Before you begin, come up with one or two BIG reasons you want to exercise. These could be: for my kids, for my recovery or simply, “So I don’t die.” Get clear on your big reason, and bring it up often.
Do something you enjoy
Exercise doesn’t have to be pounding the pavement with blood and tears 7 days a week. Unless that’s your jam. If you love kayaking, go find some water. If you love strolls on the beach with your dog, find a beach; get a dog.
Start Small
No need to start off with 7-days-a week of high-intensity interval training. That is a quick route to burnout. Set goals that are small and realistic, and you can always increase after you have a month or two under your belt.
Make a Plan
There is nothing like a plan to help us stick with it. Something about the decision and commitment of planning your day, week, or month helps cement actions. When “workout” is on your calendar, it’s as simple as that.
Moving Mountains in Recovery
We mentioned before that exercise for addiction recovery is a wholeness approach. Of course, wholeness is going to look different to every person in recovery. So will your exercise regime. Just because you have finally quit the substances that were slowly (or quickly) killing you, doesn’t mean you can go out and run 26.2 miles in under 3 hours.
But … then again … you might! Now that you have a new life, there is no telling what you might be able to accomplish. And like going through other difficult life-circumstances, a person who has gone through addiction treatment and is walking in sobriety has made a major life accomplishment.
You have gone through heroin rehab. You have taken the steps it takes to get addiction treatment for alcoholism. You have come in contact with and overcome one of the most dangerous drugs on the street and gone to a fentanyl rehab in Austin.
This should make you feel like you have some power. You can do incredible things. It has been proven.
Heartwood Drug Rehab in Austin
Heartwood Recovery is a drug rehab in Austin, Texas for men. Our focus is to give you the tools that will help you succeed in full recovery. One of those is our fitness program for addiction treatment. We believe in getting men off to a good start right from the beginning of treatment.
If you have questions about how our programs work together with individual addiction treatment, 12-Steps immersion, and residential addiction treatment in Austin, call us today. Our team is ready to help you find your next step.
