Stress Management Techniques for Individuals in Recovery
Stress management in recovery is essential to helping you:
- Regulate your mood
- Understand your emotions
- Learn not to give in to cravings
- Manage triggers
- Boost mental and physical health
Stress management in recovery is a vital resource for anyone looking to better understand themselves and their environment, regulate how they feel, and stay focused on the present moment and things that matter most. With these techniques, individuals can control how they respond to triggers or take a moment to pause throughout the day and recognize their emotions instead of letting their emotions get the best of them.
Ritual Recovery is a trusted drug rehab in North Carolina. Contact us today to learn more about available treatment options.
What Are Stress Management Techniques?
Stress management techniques are things you can use during your recovery, while you are in treatment, or any other time in your life to manage daily stress. Too often, people get overwhelmed by unnecessary stress, and they worry about things that they don’t have control over, or they get stuck ruminating about the past.
Stress Management in Addition Treatment: What to Expect
When you come to Ritual Recovery, you can expect different forms of stress management in addiction treatment based on your recovery plan.
Exercise
One of the best forms of stress management in recovery is exercise. Exercise should be something in which you participate while you are in treatment and during the rest of your recovery.
How do these stress management techniques work to your advantage?
If you are feeling overwhelmed by anxiety, stress, anger, or frustration, you can use those feelings for the best by channeling them into a challenging workout. After completing your workout, you’ll feel better, you’ll have better regulation over your mood, and you’ll boost your endorphins.
This can be a viable way to avoid giving in to emotional stress or fatigue by relapsing.
Exercise is also an effective form of stress management in addiction treatment because it gives you control over the present moment and a way to slowly incorporate mindfulness and meditation.
Different forms of exercise can be applied to different situations. For example, if you are dealing with a lot of frenetic energy and different thoughts bouncing around in your head but can’t quite seem to focus, something like yoga can help ground you in the present moment and give you clarity for what is most important at that moment.
Meditation
Stress management techniques should include some form of meditation. When most people picture meditation, they think of a monk sitting perfectly still or someone looking out over a vista, but meditation can take the forms of:
- Seated meditation
- Walking meditation
- Moving meditation
- Eating meditation
- Driving meditation
You can incorporate meditative breathing and a focus on present sensations with light movement like stretching or Tai chi, walking a simple path in your area, or being more mindful while you are driving and eating.
Sleep Hygiene
Stress management in recovery extends to how you care for your mind and body through sleep hygiene.
Sleep Space
In order to improve your mental health and sleep quality, start by making your sleep space a comfortable and relaxing space free from distraction. This means having soft lighting and cool temperatures enough that your body can cool down while you sleep without tossing and turning due to discomfort.
There shouldn’t be unnecessary sounds, lights, or even devices in your room. If you can, consider investing in a traditional alarm clock that doesn’t flash numbers into the room and leave your devices like smartphones in another room.
Sleep Schedule
It’s best to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day, regardless of whether or not you are working. Too often, people experience extreme disruptions to their sleep hygiene because they let themselves sleep in several hours longer than they normally would, or they stay up later than they normally would for the same reasons.
Sleep Preparation
Having a good sleep space and sleep schedule is important, but you need to prepare yourself by turning off devices like television screens, tablets, and smartphones several hours before bed or, at the very least, 1 hour before bed.
If you can, substitute unnecessary screen time with beneficial activities that calm your body mentally and physically, like gentle stretching done on the side of your bed or meditation followed while you get in bed.
Avoid heavy meals right before you go to bed, as well as caffeine or alcohol consumption.
Stress Management with Ritual Recovery
Stress management techniques are generally the same, but they have derivations based on circumstances and needs. For example, one person might prefer walking meditation and yoga, while another might prefer the challenge of rock climbing and eating meditation.
When you come to our center, we will work with you to curate personalized stress management techniques that you can apply during your treatment and continue to enhance for the rest of your recovery process. Our Asheville addiction treatment center can help. Let our team give you a tour and assessment to decide which stress management techniques will work best for your circumstances.
