Self-care is one of the fundamentals of recovery. Self-care means taking care of yourself without medical or professional assistance. The ethos “I have nothing to offer anyone else if I’m not taking care of myself first” refers to self-care. It is important to take care of yourself in recovery because it helps keep your stress level down. Self-care can make it easier to take care of whatever life throws your way. Cravings, triggers, relationships, feelings, and learning how to live without drugs or alcohol can cause major anxiety. Without self-care life can seem more challenging. Incorporating self-care into your recovery can make life become better.
Sometimes it difficult to figure out what to do when it comes to self-care. The best way to learn how to take care of yourself in sobriety is by making sure your basic needs are being met.
HALT in recovery stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired. This acronym can serve as a simple guide to see which part of self-care needs to be addressed. If any of these are out of sync, fixing one or more of these can usually help you overall.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is another good reference point on how to start self-care. The idea is to begin with the lowest form of survival and work your way up the hierocracy. This can expand your options to pinpoint what area of self-care should be looked at.
- Physiological survival needs are air, water, food, shelter and sleep.
- Safety and security is being free of dangers.
- Need for belongingness is social acceptance, social interaction, and social affliction.
- Need for Esteem is self-worth, competence, appreciation, recognition, and respect.
- Need for self-actualization is physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual means.
The first stride you took with self-care was to get sober. Continue activating your self-care with proper nutrition and sleep. If you keep adding new ways of self-care into the mix, soon you will have a regimen of self-care that will be beneficial for you. Your self-care should be tapered to what works best for your recovery. Make sure you have balance and that you are meeting self-care needs to help invigorate yourself. Taking the action of self-care can help in learning to love yourself. This will also open you up to love others and care for them while broadening your sense of strength and compassion. Ultimately self-care teaches you how to enjoy things that your addiction seemingly overshadowed.
Serenity Oaks Wellness Center seeks to adorn each client which comes through our 5 week program by taking their life and making it more beautiful with the tools of recovery. Call us today for information: 844-720-6847
