Self-care is different for everyone depending on their unique needs in recovery. Taking the skills you learn in treatment with you when you leave is important for continuing to care for your health of mind, body, and spirit.
5 Tips for Managing Self-Care after Treatment
Plan Out Your Day With Room For Self-Care: Having a daily schedule is a great way to manage your time, organize your stress, and reduce the risk of becoming overwhelmed. When you plan out your days using a schedule, you are able to see exactly what needs to be done and make room for change. Recovery is lived just one day at a time which means you have the 24 hours ahead of you, including many hours for sleep, to take care of your responsibilities. Your first responsibility is yourself. You are your main priority when it comes to your self-care. When your schedule is full, or when your schedule is empty, make a scheduled time to take care of yourself in your recovery. Schedule your meals, calling your sponsor, doing step work, going to meetings, relaxing, exercising, or doing something nice for yourself.
Communicate Your Needs For Self-Care With Others: Others may try to sway you into doing more activities for other people or to avoid practicing your self-care by telling you that you don’t need it. Communicate your need for self-care with others so that they understand self-care is an ongoing appointment with yourself that you cannot miss. You can also explain to them that self-care is important for them as well. Everyone needs to make sure that their needs are met in a healthy and sustainable way.
Find A Code For Needing Self-Care: If you feel too embarrassed to discuss your self-care, you could create a code for self-care which still highlights the urgency of making sure you participate in those activities. Come up with a name, call it a different activity, or find a creative way to describe it. Though there is no shame in taking care of yourself for your mental health in recovery, it can be understandable why you would want to avoid the shame and stigma of mental health. Sometimes you just need to focus on yourself.
Make Crying Part Of Your Self-Care: Crying might not seem like the most relaxing way to take care of yourself. Getting caught up in stagnant emotional energy can have a negative effect on your physical, mental, and spiritual stress. Crying is an incredibly cathartic act, relieving stress and helping release old energy. If you have trouble expressing your emotions, you can make inspired crying part of your routine. Watch the movie that always “gets” you and let some tears flow.
Remember Breathing Is Self-Care: Life can be miraculously full- a gift of recovery. Life can get too full, leaving little room for regular self-care. When that happens, it is important to just focus on breathing. You’ll be breathing no matter what, but taking a few special moments to focus on your breath while help your brain and body relax, giving it more ability to focus on all the busy things you have to do.
Smarmore Private Clinic is a dual diagnosis residential treatment programme offering caring and attentive care to men and women. We welcome anyone in need of restorative treatment in search of peace and meaning in their lives. For information, call to speak with a staff member today at +353 41 214 5111.
