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Summer Is Here! 5 Ways To Bring Your Recovery Into Summer

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction Recovery, Healthy Living. No Comments on Summer Is Here! 5 Ways To Bring Your Recovery Into Summer

June 21st marks the summer solstice when the days officially get longer, the sun shines brighter, and all that glorious summer energy is alive. Summertime is a great time to be sober, just like every other time of year.

Summer is the time to enjoy picnics, barbeques, beach bonfires, pool parties and more. It’s also the perfect time to stay sober because you can fill your long summer days with meaningful activities.

Even though it’s a season associated with celebration, and many such celebrations include or encourage drinking, for those who have completed treatment, there are ways to participate in the season’s festivities without jeopardizing one’s commitment to recovery.

From outdoor activities to recovery bonding, to special seasonal meetings- it’s time to celebrate being alive and being sober for another summer season.

Summer Sober Activities:

  1. Make The Most Of Being Outside: Open the windows, draw back the blinds, and get outside. The extended daylight hours of summertime can combat those long winter blues and replenish the body. All the extra Vitamin D and Vitamin C will do wonders for your mental health by boosting positive moods and hormones. Don’t forget your sunscreen.
  2. Attend Summer-Specific Meetings: Summer time means the weather is warmer for longer. In many areas, the summertime means unique meetings which only happen during the summertime. Bonfires on the beach at sunset, hilltop hike meetings, and more only come one season a year.
  3. Attend Summer Recovery Parties: Everyone is enjoying the sunshine and the gift of being alive another summer. However, summertime can be triggering. Many spent summers getting loaded on the beach or staying trapped in doors, imprisoned by an addiction. Many AA groups host summer barbecues, beach days, and events. Spending time with peers cooking food, playing games, and enjoying the day is good for the soul.
  4. Start A New Hobby: Starting a new hobby can be a boost for self-esteem. Summer is the perfect time to pick up outdoor hobbies like swimming, surfing, hiking, running, or gardening. Whatever new activity sounds interesting, give it a shot. You’ll be spontaneous, increase your confidence in yourself, and build neuroplasticity while learning something new.
  5. Cook For The Season: Recovery is mind, body, and spirit. Part of attending to the needs of the holistic self is feeding it healthy food. Experiencing cooking is enhanced by cooking for the season. Walk through a local farmer’s market or grocer to find out what’s in season near you. Look up summer recipes for that crop and create something delicious.

Life has seasons of change. Recovery is constant among them. At Enlightened Recovery, we’re showing clients how to develop a spiritual lifestyle of recovery for a lifetime. For information on our partial care programs, call us today at 833-801-5483.

Need Something New For Self-Care? Take An Adult Bath

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Healthy Living, Recovery, Relationships, Sober Living. No Comments on Need Something New For Self-Care? Take An Adult Bath

Bath time is dreaded by many children- until they get in. Submerged in the warm water, surrounded by beloved bathtime toys, and receiving the loving touch of a doting parent helps children relax before bedtime. Science has proven that being submerged in water changes body chemistry and balances pH levels, causing relaxation. As adults, bathtime becomes a luxury for which there is rarely time, unless at a spa. Reader’s Digest suggests that taking an adult bath is exactly what is needed for total restoration.

Stress is a chronic problem, particularly when you’re living with an addiction or mental health disorder. Managing stress is essential for emotional regulation, keeping the body healthy, and maintaining focus on recovery. During a bath, focusing on relaxation is all that can happen. Otherwise, you’re just simmering in stress- literally. Instead, bath time can be a private time for self-care.

Self-care is a critical concept in recovery from addiction and co-occurring disorders. Taking time for self-care is the way you show yourself the same tender, loving care a parent shows a toddler in the bath. Instead of rubber duckies and Johnson’s baby shampoo, though there may be a time, there are other ways to enhance a bath time to rejuvenate mind, body, and spirit. Incorporating an adult bath into a self-care regime is healing for mind, body, and spirit.

How to bring together recovery and bath time? Here are some suggestions:

  • Practicing alone time and practicing self-care aren’t always synonymous. Make bath time one of the ways you practice being alone with yourself. Turn off your phone, shut the door, and mark your calendar as busy.
  • Since you aren’t bringing a glass of wine or champagne into a bath, bring another delicious beverage. Try making a tea which blends together relaxing herbs like chamomile and lavender with vanilla. Add a squeeze of lemon to help the body detoxify as it sweats in the warm water and a drizzle of honey for luxurious sweetness.
  • Use aromatherapy to enhance the senses and promote relaxation. Put a few drops of essential oils into the bath. Light scented candles or an incense. Turn on an aromatherapy diffuser in the room so you can breathe it in with every inhale.
  • If you feel like meditating, practice a mindfulness body scanning technique in which you become aware of the way the water is surrounding your body and offering you relaxation.
  • If you don’t’ feel like meditating, bring an inspiring book with you. Doing recovery “homework” in the bath might not be relaxing. Reading inspirational books about spirituality, personal stories of recovery, and healing from mental health disorders will energize you as your bath relaxes you.

Enlightened Recovery brings together the best of holistic healing, alternative therapy, 12 step philosophy, and clinical treatment. Our partial care programs for dual diagnosis addiction and mental health disorders help clients grow along spiritual lines. Start your recovery with us by calling 833-801-5483.

Treatment For Addiction And Mental Health Should Be A Blend Of Eastern And Western Medicine

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction, Alcoholism, Drugs & Alcohol, Healthy Living. No Comments on Treatment For Addiction And Mental Health Should Be A Blend Of Eastern And Western Medicine

People are turning toward naturopathic, alternative, homeopathic medicines and treatments for a reason: Western medicine isn’t working. Finding a balance between eastern practices and western practices is bringing people to a holistic state of healing in which they find they are healing mind, body, and spirit. Western medicine largely focuses on the symptoms, rather than the core of the problem. Eastern medicine is more preventative, focusing on the core of the issue. Much of eastern medicine is spiritually connected, working under the philosophy that emotions are energy and emotional energy has the capacity to make us sick. Living a healthy and balanced lifestyle has to include balance for emotions and the spirit. Medications, tests, and examinations in western medicine tend to lead to an answer of “stress” and needing to get rid of whatever is causing stress. Eastern practices have the ability to pinpoint the cause of stress.

Acupuncture, for example, can identify emotional energy blockages by working with the body’s acupressure points. Massage can find tension in the muscles and release them, often releasing emotional energy. Essential oils can be calming, invigorating, grounding, and releasing. Crystals tend to only have effect when their specific energy and attributes are necessary, highlighting what the problem might be. Not reacting to rose quartz? Your heart is probably doing fine. Feeling a tingle or some kind of draw to obsidian? You might have some issues from the past to work out.

A blend of both kinds of medicine is necessary because Eastern medicine can sometimes fall short in the western body. Treatment for addiction and alcoholism as well as other mental health issues has to be taken seriously in its holistic approach. How many oils would it take to balance depression and anxiety which are becoming a clinical issue? Should cravings be considered an emotional issue or warrant a prescription for drugs like Naltrexone? The goal in treatment is to make clients comfortable, help them relax, heal them, and show them how to live a fully sober life in recovery. Balancing east and west is a primary example of doing so.

At Enlightened Recovery Solutions, we’re bringing together the best of clinical therapy, holistic healing, and 12 step philosophy. Recovery starts with you. Start your recovery with us. For information on our integrative programs for partial care, contact us today.

5 of the Most Common, Unhealthy Ways People Cope with Grief and Loss

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction, Healthy Living, Mental Health. No Comments on 5 of the Most Common, Unhealthy Ways People Cope with Grief and Loss

  1. They turn to external substances/processes to heal their internal pain: Drugs and alcohol are a choice for self-medication to people in any number of circumstances. Quite literally, drugs and alcohol are anesthetics and analgesics. Meaning, many different substances like alcohol and opiates, actually numb pain. Searching for an external way to heal internal pain will always be temporary. It takes internal emotional work to heal emotional pain. Whether it is sex, drugs, gambling, risk taking, thrill seeking, spending, or other forms of self-sabotage, they will only ever temporarily heal the pain.

  2. They don’t give themselves any time to process their emotions: Time heals all wounds, it is said. Grief and loss takes time, which isn’t always linear. There are days of feeling so good people think they are finally “better” than they have been, only to be disappointed by days of difficult and challenging emotions once more. People expect their emotions to run on the demands of their mind. Unfortunately, that’s not how emotions work, especially not grief and loss.

  3. They isolate themselves from others who want to support them: There is a challenge in surrounding oneself by others during time of grief and loss. Initially, everyone is grieving in some way. People who are at the center of loss are often burdened with carrying everyone else’s grief. Rather than be able to heal themselves, they have to focus on consoling others. When months or years have gone by and the grief cycle hasn’t completed, it could be because one has turned to isolation in order to wallow in their grief without resolution.

  4. They stop taking care of themselves: Self-care is important for every phase and occasion of life. Life is full of ups and downs, celebrations and disappointments, gains and losses. Throughout every twist and turn, self-care is a way to stay centered and stable in recovery and in all areas of life. Hygiene, eating, sleeping, health, and wellness must continue to be a priority.

  5. They forget to take grief and loss one day at a time: Grief is a process with many stages that repeat, in no particular order, over and over again. Each day in the process of grieving, sometimes each hour, is an adventure and a process. Everything can change in a short amount of time. For that reason, it is important to take the process of grief just one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time, and assess it all as it comes instead of trying to jump ahead. There is a saying used in recovery, stop trying to skip the struggle. Each moment of struggle is full of wisdom you need to move forward toward the next struggles to come.

Your recovery starts with you. Start your recovery with us. Enlightened Recovery offers individualized partial care treatment programs for men and women seeking to recover from drug and alcohol addiction as well as co-occurring mental health issues. Bringing a harmonious blend of holistic, clinical, and 12 step care, our programs transform mind, body, and spirit for a transcendental experience.

For information, call us today 833-801-5483.

man passed out at a bar with alcoholic beverage

Responding To Fact, Not Feeling, When It Comes To Body Image

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Healthy Living, Mental Health. No Comments on Responding To Fact, Not Feeling, When It Comes To Body Image

There is a growing movement of empowerment and awareness when it comes to discussing the fragile topic of body image. Most often, the topic of body image includes the topic of body weight. Recovery from eating disorders, addictions and other mental health issues is often a journey for the body as well as the mind. There might be weight loss or weight gain, depending on what the individual body needs to go through. For example, though cocaine is a stimulant and often creates weight loss, long term cocaine addicts tend to put on a lot of weight called “cocaine bloat”. Each body is unique and different. Supporting the physical journey of recovery as the supporter of someone on that journey can be a challenge in knowing the right thing to say.

Body image and especially comments about body image are deeply impactful on mental health. Your loved one is working hard to create healthy and supportive narratives in their mind which frame their relationship with themselves in the most positive way possible. It takes time and effort to recreate and redefine an entire vocabulary about self, body, image, weight, appearance, and more. One writer at Refinery29 puts it the most simply: there is no right way to use the triggering terms about body image. The author explains that saying something about body changes now indicates there was something negative about body-state in the past, which continues to reinforce the narrative of good vs bad, right vs wrong, and beautiful vs not beautiful regarding body and self. Instead of addressing the details, the author suggests, address the feelings.

Feelings about body image typically land in one of two areas: positive or negative. Most everyone can identify at least a small amount with both. There are days when you feel “good” about yourself and days when you feel “not good” about yourself, as manifested through the physical body. Focus on the positivity or negativity and relate empathetically to that feeling experience instead of on the physical experience. On a good day when someone is expressing pride or excitement about their body, they might use terms about feeling beautiful, skinnier, thinner, confident, or others. Offer a word of support in feeling good about feeling good and how positive it can be to feel positive, without noting anything physical. On a less positive day when someone is expressing lament toward their physical body, offer empathy and compassion to the struggle of physical changes and feeling down, without noting anything physical. This is important for your loved one’s recovery as they learn the lessons affiliated with the philosophy that fat is not a feeling. The emotional state is not dictated by the physical state. By slyly avoiding commentary on the physical state you help direct your loved one back to the emotional.

 

If you or someone you love is feeling controlled by body image, eating disorder, and other mental health issues, we believe there is healing available to you. Enlightened Recovery offers a path to holistic healing that is available to everyone regardless of the details. Our programs harmoniously balance clinical, holistic, alternative, and 12 step treatment, offering men and women a transformational partial care experience.

Call us today for information: 833-801-5483

Probiotics Might Provide Relief For Depression, Encourages Gut-Mind Connection

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Having an upset stomach usually doesn’t come with a good mood. When we don’t feel good in our gut, we tend not to feel good at all. Discomfort in our gut can feel like discomfort in our entire being. Researchers are increasingly paying attention to the connection between the gut, specifically meaning the bacteria in your stomach, called gut bacteria, and the mind.

A new study published in Gastroenterology used a placebo-controlled trial to show a connection between the use of probiotics and mood in people with IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, which has high rates of depression as well as anxiety. According to TIME, 44 adults were followed for 10 weeks to watch the effect of probiotics on their “mild to moderate anxiety or depression.” Half of the group took Bifidobacterium longum each day while the other took a placebo. Bifidobacterium longum is a probiotic which helps the gut produce healthy bacteria. The results were considerable.

For clinical trials observing depression, depression is evaluated on a scale which calculates a score. Called a clinical scale, these scores help doctors diagnose depression and the severity of depression. After six weeks of the trial, the article reports, “twice as many people who took the probiotic had decreased depression scores compared to those who took the placebo.” The numbers were 64% compared to 32%. After the full ten weeks of the trial, the results were similar. Another component was used to evaluate the effect of the probiotics on depression. Researchers used functional MRI scans and “found that improved depression scores were associated with changes in activity of several brain areas involved in mood regulation.” Mood lives in the brain. Changes in mood mean changes in brain chemistry. The trial proves that the relationship between the gut and the mind is significant. A healthy gut could mean a happier mind.

 

Probiotics are part of a healthy living lifestyle which can contribute to recovery. Recovery should be taken with a whole-person approach, taking the mind, the body, and the spirit into consideration. Enlightened Recovery Solutions creates a compassionate environment of healing by fusing integrative approaches to treatment. Our programs include nutrition, food education, and holistic health in order to empower clients toward fulfillment. For information on our dual diagnosis partial care programs, call us today at 833-801-5483.

Does Mindfulness Work For Reducing Anxiety?

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Anxiety has little to do with being in the present moment other than spending that present moment worrying about the future. Getting caught up in anxious thoughts feels like getting lost in an uncontrollable stream of worry, concern, and fear over things which might not even be real. Millions of people live with anxiety and co-occurring disorders like addiction or alcoholism but do not receive treatment. Each day, they live under the rule of their anxiety, which takes a toll physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Recently, Brigham Young University conducted a study on anxiety and the effect of mindfulness in reducing anxiety. Mindfulness helps those with anxiety accomplish three important states. First, it helps them focus on the present moment. Second, it returns them to their breath. Third, it helps them get in touch with their true emotions. “People who are not aware of ‘moment-to-moment experience’ many times void difficult emotions,” the article explains, “This behavior leads to negative thoughts.” It can also lead to a heightened heart rate, rapid thinking mind, and muscle tension.

20 minutes of mindfulness a day can effectively reduce the symptoms of anxiety before, during, and after an anxiety attack or an episode of anxious thinking. Mindfulness practices tend to include focus on the breath. Practicing breathing exercises for anxiety helps increase mindfulness and reduce activity in the brain. Deep and controlled breaths are like a reset button for the brain, especially during anxiety. When we think of being anxious, worried, or afraid, we might notice our heart rate increasing. Anxiety typically does not come with long, deep breaths, but short rapid ones. The cross-signals of the rapid heart rate and short breathing actually trigger the brain’s anxiety further and vice versa.

Breathing For Anxiety

Start by identifying five things in each of your senses while trying to slow down your breath. After you have slowed your mind down with focus, turn your focus to your breath. Try breathing in through your nose for five full seconds, holding it for five full seconds, then letting it out for five full seconds. Repeat this breathing process. You will find that your body is systematically relaxing and your brain is starting to slow down. Soon, your anxious moment will be over and you will be in a clam state of mind.

Anxiety can be a trigger for relapse on drugs and alcohol. Recovery starts with holistic treatment of dual diagnosis issues, targeting mind, body, and spirit for transformative change. Our integrative programs at Enlightened Recovery bring together the best of both worlds, helping our clients find freedom in recovery. For more information, call us today at 833-801-5483.

The H.O.W. Of Recovery: Honest, Open Chakras, Willingness

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We are repeatedly told that recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, as well as most co-occurring mental health disorders has to be holistic. Holistic healing, holistic wellness, and a holistic approach all mean the same thing. The word holistic means comprehending that everything is made of many parts and all of those parts are intimately interconnected. Addiction and alcoholism are not isolated to the mind or the body or even the spirit. When someone is overcome by addiction and alcoholism they have to recover in mind, body, and spirit. Trying to define mental illness by just one part of the equation does an injustice to the complexity of mental health disorders and often does an injustice to someone getting the treatment they need. A key to understanding the holistic approach is understanding that the only way to explain mental illness is by referring to the whole person- mind, body, and spirit.

Spiritual wellness, spirituality, and spiritual healing are an important part of the recovery process. Most treatment centers take the holistic approach and include some therapeutic components in their programs which reflect spiritual wellness. Massage, acupuncture, yoga, meditation, reiki, are common examples. One area many treatment centers don’t focus on is healing the chakras and opening them up. Opening the chakras allows the energy in the body to effortlessly flow from head to toe. Chakras which are closed and have been closed for many years stop the flow of energy which can cause emotional as well as physical health problems.

Chakras are seven energy centers in the body starting from our sacral region in our low back and center all the way to the top of our head. We work with our chakras through yoga, meditation, and reiki to release the energy. Breathing exercises focused on opening the chakras can help release the blockages there. Most often, our difficulties in treatment are reflected in which chakras are closed. There are correlations between what each chakra represents and regulates to what we go through on a daily basis. Keeping the chakras open helps us to be more open to live, recovery, and the freedom recovery promises.

At Enlightened Recovery we provide an integrative program of holistic healing, clinical therapy, and 12 step philosophy for total transformation. Our partial care programs are designed for dual diagnosis patients needing healing for substance use and mental health disorders. Recovery starts with you. Start your recovery with us. Call us today for more information at 833-801-5483.

Which Essential Oils Can Aid In The Therapeutic Process?

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Holistic science and psychological science are increasingly going hand in hand. Therapy is done in treatment for drug and alcohol addiction through traditional methods and new innovative methods. One of the most important parts of therapy during treatment is the special work a client does one on one with their individual therapist. Among the many group therapies, educational groups, and holistic healing activities, an individual therapist helps guide treatment. Through their work, a client can begin to see the path they are following and process specific issues which come up in other areas of treatment.

However, not everyone is open to traditional talk therapy. Sitting in a room in front of someone who is a relative stranger with a pen and paper can be intimidating. Therapists learn many different tools for helping clients open up and discover more about themselves. The best treatment programs use integrative methods for aiding in the therapeutic process. Essential oils can be used to promote relaxation, enhance energy, open chakras and encourage emotional release. Essential oils used through a diffuser or on the skin can help bring a client fully into the treatment process and help them through therapy.

Orange Oil

Orange zest always brings about feelings of being refreshed and rejuvenated. As an essential oil, orange is helpful in creating an energized and uplifted mood. For therapy, orange oil can be used to work through trauma, put a positive end on an otherwise difficult session, or help lift the symptoms of depression in order to examine it through a different light.

Eucalyptus Oil

There is little doubt that Eucalyptus oil is healing. Many ointments used to treat pain or sickness use eucalyptus oil. This powerful oil helps open the nasal passage and the lungs, inspiring deep breathing for relaxation. Used for purifying and balancing, eucalyptus can be an oil for strength and hope during times of doubt and sickness.

Rosemary Oil

Rosemary makes any dish delicious in the kitchen. In therapy, rosemary can be an empowering scent. When fears are being faced with uncertainty and doubt, rosemary oil can help settle nerves and bring clarity to mind.

Lavender Oil

Few scents in the world have the instantaneous relaxing effect that lavender does. Lavender has the ability to heal wounds, relieve stress, and reduce tension. During times of anger, rage, or extreme emotional distress, lavender can create a sense of calm, feeling of being grounded, and a soothing sensation of comfort.

Using essential oils are part of the life skills we teach our clients in our integrative programs. Bringing together holistic healing and clinically proven therapeutic modalities, our programs for treating addiction and dual diagnosis issues are designed for transformative healing in mind, body, and spirit. Call us today for more information at 833-801-5483.

Creative Arts Therapies Are Beneficial For Wellbeing

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Few things, if any at all, in treatment are planned without a copious amount of research behind them. Every didactic lecture, experiential activity, physical exercise, holistic healing, and creative arts therapy is integrated into a treatment program for a very specific reason. Most often, they are for two specific reasons. First, they are proven to reduce the symptoms of addiction, alcoholism, and many of the mental health disorders which are often co-occurring. They relieve stress, enhance relaxation, as well as encourage physical, spiritual, and mental wellbeing. Second, they provide priceless instruction in “relapse prevention”, which is a general term for the collection of tools and skills those in recovery take with them after treatment. Though it can feel like it, treatment doesn’t last forever. One day, the structure and routine are gone. When difficult moments of triggers and cravings arise, it is up to those in recovery to utilize the tools they’ve picked up to get themselves through.

Creative arts therapies are an important practice and skill set in recovery. Treatment programs contain such an array of modalities because not one individual will recover in the same way. No two people experience their alcoholism or mental health disorder in the precisely same fashion. As a result, treatment programs have to be flexible enough to be tailored to the unique needs of each individual. Some people express themselves and work best in an academic setting while others find their best communication through art. Creative art therapies help create a bridge for grasping wide concepts in recovery, learning to communicate with others, finding ways to express emotions, and creating tools for self-care in the future.

According to Mindful, new research from New Zealand has found that “creative acts” in every day life can contribute to a greater sense of wellbeing. “Results showed that people who were engaged in more creative activities than usual on one day reported increased positive emotion and flourishing the next day, while negative emotions didn’t change,” the article explains. Interestingly, the opposite response did not occur. “People who experienced higher positive emotions on day one weren’t more involved in creative activities on day two, suggesting that everyday creativity leads to more well-being rather than the other way around.” Specifically and directly, the researcher behind the project explained that there was no sham around the effect of creativity and well being. “Research often yields complex, murky, or weak findings,” she expressed, “But these patterns were strong and straightforward: Doing creative things today predicts improvements in well-being tomorrow. Full stop.”

Integrative treatment is what we believe to be the solution to the problem of drug addiction and alcoholism. Our programs at Enlightened Recovery bring together a balance of clinical, holistic, spiritual, and twelve step approaches. For more information on our partial care programs, call 833-801-5483.