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Staying Connected When You Travel

Written by Enlightened Recovery on . Posted in Addiction, Healthy Living, Recovery, Sober Living. No Comments on Staying Connected When You Travel

A new year’s resolution for many people in recovery is to travel more. Given the gift of life, they are inspired to set out and see the world. Drug addiction especially tends to isolate people to their locations. For fear of not being able to purchase drugs and having to suffer withdrawals, many don’t travel. While both drugs and alcohol are available worldwide, it can be much more risky to buy drugs internationally. Alcohol is globally celebrated and normalized. In advanced stages of alcoholism, alcoholics are too sick to leave their houses while not intoxicated. As a result, they miss out on experiencing life beyond inebriation.

Traveling Sober

Traveling while sober is a wonderful experience. Not spending money on drugs, alcohol, parties, or other related things gives someone the ability to truly enjoy the world. However, traveling requires responsibility and accountability. Temptation is everywhere! Many people fear that once they get sober they will not be able to have fun anymore because they won’t be able to resist the temptation of drugs or alcohol anywhere they go. This simply is not true. By staying connected and committed to your sobriety, there is little you cannot do and few places you cannot go.

“Assuming we are spiritually fit, we can do all sorts of things alcoholics are not supposed to do,” write the authors ofThe Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. “Our experience shows that this is not necessarily so,” the authors assure the readers. “An alcoholic who cannot meet them, still has an alcoholic mind; there is something the matter with his spiritual status.”

Get Connected

Maintaining that “spiritual status” of sobriety is easy to do when traveling. Alcoholism is a worldwide disease, meaning that recovery is a worldwide solution. Meetings of alcoholics anonymous exist all over the world. You can find information and schedules about them online, or by asking a local when you arrive to your destination. For personal support, make sure you are able to get in touch with your therapist, counselor, or twelve step sponsor as well as your closest recovery peers. Everyone will be supportive of your recovery inspiring you to get out and see the world. Should you run into temptation or difficult times, you know you have a support system back home, and global network of people who also struggle, everywhere you go.

Enlightened Recovery is multilevel treatment program offering residential care, intensive outpatient, partial hospitalization, and more. For information on our programs and how we can help you live the life you’ve been waiting for, call 833-801-5483.

Starting The New Year On Step One

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“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable.” This is the text within the list of twelve steps which dictates the infamous “first step” of solving any problem- admitting you have one. Step one is step one for a very important reason. It is impossible to carry on treatment for, or healing from alcoholism if one doesn’t admit that alcohol is a problem. Any attempt to rectify a problem that hasn’t yet been distinguished as a problem would be considered a moot cause.

First Steps First

In the primary text of Alcoholics Anonymous,The Big Book, step one is listed on page 30 in a chapter titled “More About Alcoholism”. The text reads, “We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people or presently may be has to be smashed.”

The delusion of whichThe Big Book authors Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith speak of does not exclusively apply to alcoholism. Part of the “work” done in recovery is to expose the underlying issues which have contributed to one’s development of alcoholism in their lives. These other issues are commonly called “ism’s” of which many alcoholics suffer. Each day is an opportunity to confront more than the problem of alcohol, but the many problems so many of us face due to our humanity, our struggles, our personalities, our pasts, and more.

Reflection

December is usually a time of year for reflection. We take the time to reflect on the last 12 months of the calendar year. Did we meet our goals? Have we exceeded our expectations? Can we easily see where we could have done better and need to improve? Are there sore spots in our lives which need attention? Taking a look at our year, we can see where we need to fully concede to our innermost selves we are in need of help yet again.

Constantly returning to step one is not an indication of failure, inadequacy, or shame. Rather, it is a mark of courage and determination to stay committed to bettering oneself. Step one holds a hidden secret to resolve this feeling of suspicion or self-consciousness. In both the 12 step text and the text from the book, there is the word “we”. You are not alone in your endeavors to stay sober. Identically, you are not alone in your mission to find where you are weak and resolve to make yourself more strong in that area. Step One is a demonstration of your willingness. After all, you have to get through step one to actually change.

Enlightened Recovery wants to help you make and keep that new year’s resolution to get and stay sober. Our program incorporates 12 step philosophy with holistic healing and traditional, proven therapeutic methods. For more information on our programs of treatment, call 833-801-5483.

Saying “No” Is Easy To Do

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No means no. We might mean to say no, but somehow it always turns into a yes. Learning to say no is an important part of addiction recovery. Each day we are saying no to our very impulses and brain chemistry asking us to go back out and drink or use.

Start Small And Work Your Way Up

Empowerment isn’t always comfortable and neither are boundaries. When we are raised in a home without healthy boundaries, we grow up without understanding what they are or how to set them. Learning how to say no and set boundaries can feel awkward at first because of this. Before you start saying no in big situations, try starting off small. You might be surprised to discover the amount of times per day you are given the opportunity to say no.

Learn More About “No” As You Go (And Grow)

Boundaries, or the lack thereof, are not the only reason we have a hard time saying no. How We think and feel about rejecting what we don’t want, don’t need, or can’t do, has been molded over time. Part of the empowerment process is learning about ourselves and what makes us who we are. Investigate how you’ve been shown “no”throughout your life. You might discover some of the insightful information which helps you release your past attachments and make more no decisions in the future.

Stop Apologizing For Saying No

Part of the framing we have around no often has to do with guilt. We might have been shown that it is wrong or bad to say no to people. In the past, we might have been shamed or even abused, for saying “no” to something. As a result, we experience pains of guilt and remorse when we simply say no. Overtime we learn not to apologize for standing up for ourselves, setting boundaries, and setting healthy limitations on what we are capable of committing to at any point in time.

Make Your No’s Clear And Concise

When we are learning to be empowered and still feel uncomfortable with saying no, we might try to find ways around just saying no. Being unclear in our assertions removes the assertiveness of our statements. It is unfair to ourselves and to the people we are communicating with notto be honest, concise, and clear about the limitation weare setting. No means no, and that’s okay.

Enlightened Recovery seeks to empower men and women to live their best possible lives in recovery, free from the damaging effects of drugs and alcohol. For more information on our dual diagnosis residential treatment programs, call 833-801-5483.

Meditation Better Than Opioids

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In an opiate-based world for treating pain, how do you treat pain without opioids? As the opioid overdose epidemic worsens around the world, health practitioners are looking for alternative treatments for pain. For chronic pain patients who rely upon opioid based medications to provide them pain relief, the sudden governmental campaign against opioid use is detrimental. Chronic pain patients are rightfully frightened to lose their sense of security and relief during the day. Not every person who takes opioids will end up abusing them. Even when abused, not everyone who abuses a substance becomes addicted. some doctors argue it is heinous to take opioid medication or limit opioid medication availability to patients who do not abuse the drugs. Others are encouraging the scientific community to more research in an effort to prove opioid medications are not, and never have been, necessary.

Medication Assisted Therapy

The treatment industry for mental health rehabilitation and substance abuse rehabilitation faces the same argument. Medication assisted therapy or drug substitution therapy uses prescription medications which still have trace amounts of morphine- or- cause an opioid-like effect. While some argue that taking a pill is better than, say, shooting up heroin, others argue that the ongoing presence of opioid substance in the body is harmful. Treatment for opioid addiction includes a vast variety of methods and modalities of care. From traditional talk therapy to innovative biofeedback, mental health practitioners and scientists have collaborated to find what works best to end the life threatening chemical dependency on opioids.

Mindfulness Alternative

Mindfulness meditation is one of the alternative methods used to treat addiction. It has even been suggested to show significant results of symptom reduction in chronic pain patients. As the struggle to find opioid-free pain relief treatments carries on, mindfulness meditation poses itself as a considerable candidate. Recent research published in the Journal of Neuroscience discovered that in patients whose opioid receptors were actively being blocked and those whose were not- the daily practice of meditation reduced pain by over 20%. 20% less pain in chronic pain patients is an astonishing accomplishment. Chronic pain patients are not the only population who benefit from this finding. Withdrawal from opioid drugs is painful, causing muscle aches, spasming, weakness, discomfort, and even the feeling of brittle bones. Mindful meditation can support the withdrawal from opioids both on a neuroscientific level and on a basic physiological one.

Enlightened Recovery is a unique treatment center offering a hybrid approach to the rehabilitation of men and women from addiction to drugs and alcohol. Combining holistic healing and spiritual methods with traditional twelve step philosophy and progressive scientifically backed treatment methods, Enlightened Recovery provides an integrative approach to treatment. For more information on our programs, call 833-801-5483.

Massage For Addiction Treatment

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In 2015, more than 20,000 people suffered from a substance use disorder. Substance use disorder is the general, blanket term given to describe addiction and alcoholism. Addiction to various substances and alcohol use disorder can affect up to 23,000 people per year in the United States. Problematically, only a small percentage of those people are able to receive any kind of treatment.

Multiphase Approach

Treatment for drug and alcohol addiction needs to be multi phased in its approach. Most treatment centers, like Enlightened Recovery, has found that a holistic approach to treatment is the most effective in providing healing, learning, growing, and skillbuilding. Treatment must combine healing the body, healing the mind, and healing the spirit to encourage lifelong recovery. If someone does not physically feel good, is mentally unwell, and spiritually void, they are less likely to find meaning in recovery or feel healthy enough to try and continue staying sober.

Massage Helps

Massage therapy has become a normalized part of addiction treatment. Once considered a luxury accommodation unnecessary for treatment, research as proven the contrary. Massage therapy has a evidential effect on patients undergoing detox, residential inpatient treatment, and other levels of health care for their addictions.

A therapy provided through human touch, massage can help heal negative effects of trauma, abuse, and isolation. Healing touch has been shown to increase feelings of being loved and accepted which in turn promotes confidence in therapeutic work. Massage releases tension in muscles while also releasing toxins stored in them. During the early treatment months of recovery, the body needs support in clearing out the harmful toxins left over from chronic substance abuse. Providing deep relaxation, massage therapy can reduce symptoms of stress and distress which often arise in treatment. Anxiety is common both as a symptom of withdrawal as well as a co-occurring mental health diagnosis with substance abuse. Creating a sense of peace and calm, massage therapy provides numerous benefits to those in need.

Enlightened Recovery incorporates the healing modality of massage as well as other holistic treatment modalities as part of the solution to the problem of addiction and alcoholism. We believe a combination of twelve step philosophy in addition to holistic healing is the answer to lifelong sobriety. For more information on our programs, call 833-801-5483.

Between The Extremes: Where Drinking Isn’t Alcoholism, But Still A Risk

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Alcoholism either is or it isn’t. That’s how media portrayal and social stigmatization would have it. You’re either a wild and reckless drunk or you are a moderate drinker who likes to enjoy themselves on occasion. For the people in between the black and white ends of alcoholic-extremism, they are stuck in limbo. They’re unlikely to become moderate drinkers. They are likely to develop a more fatal version of alcoholism. Problematic drinking is problematic drinking, at any stage.

Without a clinical, cultural, or social focus on regular, extreme drinking, there is an air of justification in the middle. Because one isn’t an “alcoholics” or hasn’t “hit bottom” yet, their problem is not as desperate. However, their health, of both body and mind, continues to be compromised. Speaking about her new documentary Risky Drinking, on HBO, filmmaker Ellen Goosenberg Kent describes, “…what people don’t understand though, [was]the vast spectrum of drinking. Most people fall between having no problem and alcoholism…” That “middle spectrum”, she emphasizes is worth investigating.

Holding On

The popularized idea of somebody “hitting bottom” threatens millions of lives. For the majority of problematic drinkers who are not diagnosed alcoholics, they still have a lot they are holding onto. What society deems as functioning tends to perpetuate ongoing alcohol abuse. Most people who have problems with alcohol do not look like the stereotype alcoholic. Due to the stark comparison, even though there is a sliver of doubt in a drinker’s mind, it’s quickly assured by the fact: I’m not that bad.

If You Think You Might Be An Alcoholic, You Probably Are

“That bad” is extremely dangerous and problematic drinking for an alcoholic. It is not signification that alcoholism hasn’t developed yet, but that it already has. Breaking down the sentiment, a drinker already recognizes there is concern with their drinking, slyly admitting that their drinking is “bad”. Second of all, such a sentiment indicates that the topic of someone’s real or not real alcoholism has been a relatively recent topic of contemplation. Most persons in recovery from alcoholism and treatment professions alike commonly agree, if you have to question whether or not you’re an alcoholic, you probably have a drinking problem.

Though the world tells you differently, there is no shame in admitting you have a problem with alcohol. If you are concerned you might have a problem, call Enlightened Recovery today. We offer a spectrum of care options to treat a spectrum of alcoholism. For more information, call 833-801-5483.

Acceptance And Change In Recovery

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Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

This is the foundational prayer of 12 step community around the world but is also used by millions of people who are not in recovery. Serenity, courage, and wisdom. Three essential spiritual principles by which we learn to live, on which we learn to thrive, and through which we practice acceptance. Serenity

Stand in front of the ocean and try to stop the next incoming wave. Have any luck? Try it again. You’re unlikely to succeed. In life, there are many things which we cannot change. Serenity comes to us from learning to accept those things. Unfortunately, not all of the things we cannot change are obvious. Through the therapeutic work of recovery, we identify the things we have adopted a belief about and created habits for in our effort to change what is not in our control. We try to change other people. We try to change the way other people think, feel, behave, and act. We try to control external factors that we cannot. Serenity means accepting things as they are. In a personal story of The Big Book called “He Sold Himself Short”, an author writes, “Acceptance of things as they are has replaced the old impatient chomping at the bit to conquer the world.”

Courage

Sometimes it is easier to try and control or change others than it is to change ourselves. Placing the blame of what is wrong on other people relieves us of the responsibility to be accountable for ourselves. Taking an honest look in the mirror is scary! We are afraid of what we might see, that it might be worse than we thought or that we might not be able to “fix” it. Rarely is this true. Everyone is capable of courageous change.

Wisdom

Knowing what you can change and knowing what you cannot change is the true wisdom of acceptance. Acceptance doesn’t mean you condone what isn’t right or you permiss things that hurt you. It means you are wise enough to know you have to change how you relate to the world, not how the world is. As Michael Jackson famously sang, “If you want to make the world a better place, better look at yourself and make the change.”

Enlightened Recovery strives to help each client make the necessary changes in their lives so they can live without chemical dependency on drugs and alcohol.Our integrative program fuses traditional twelve step theory with holistic methods of healing. For more information, call us at 833-801-5483.

5 Benefits Of Spending Time Around Trees

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Trees are gifts to the world which grow out of the ground. Enhance your recovery by spending time in the greenery provided by trees and reap the benefits.

Benefits Of Spending Time Around Trees

  1. Clean Air, Clean Breathing, Clean Living. Trees are natural anti-pollutants. Ever driven up a mountain to the forest and notice the air just smells and feels different? High density tree areas create cleaner air which helps you breathe cleaner air. Studies have found that spending time in nature can inspire you to take more action environmentally and ecologically. All that clean oxygen goes right to your head and your heart.
  2. Tress Live Long And So Can You. Seeing, visiting, and living in green areas increases longevity, some research suggests. Greenery and green spaces help people feel more relaxed, breathe deeper breaths, and reduce their stress. As a result, their immune system enhances in its functions, preventing a wealth of diseases from developing. The more green space the better.
  3. Trees Make You Happy. Not everyone is a nature person. However, it is difficult not to be moved emotionally or spiritually by an especially beautiful tree. Trees have a deep and mysterious energy, like wise sages. Spending time around trees has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety while increasing feelings of wellbeing, safety, and self-esteem, as well as body image.
  4. Trees Make You Sleepy. From the subtle sound of the air moving through the leaves, to the rich oxygen, to the calming presence of their stature, trees help you get better sleep. Studies have found that there is a correlation in patterns of sleep and proximity to trees. See trees all day and sleep soundly.
  5. Trees Are Regenerating. John Muir was no stranger to the healing benefits of trees. In fact, he quite literally wrote the book(s) on it. Muir felt that regular retreats to the forest and the mountains were necessary for optimal health and happiness. Spending a weekend walking among the trees can help you recenter, reboot, and revitalize your recovery.

Enlightened Recovery is located in beautiful Egg Harbor City, New Jersey, surrounded by beautiful trees and lush green landscape. Our residential treatment programs use spiritual twelve step philosophy with proven holistic treatment methods to provide a program for mind, body, and spirit. It’s time to learn how to enjoy life again. For more information, call 833-801-5483.

Enlightened Recovery Step Study: The Spirituality of Service in Step 12

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After Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, had his breakthrough spiritual experience, wrote out the inventory of his grievances, and made amends wherever possible, he began to help other alcoholics. Throughout the hospitals and wards he had once resided in as an incurable patient, he sat, sober, at the bedside of other men who were struggling with alcoholism. Day by day, man by man, Bill shared the wisdom of his experience, strength, and hope. As Bill related his story to others, many men found they shared a common ground. Inspired by Bill’s miraculous ability to recover, they began to think recovery might be possible for them as well. This is the foundation of Step 12.

“Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs,” is how the twelfth step reads. “Nothing,” the authors describe in The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, “will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics. It works when other activities fail…You can help when no one else can.”

Feeling misunderstood is the plight of many suffering alcoholics. With as much love, anger, urgency, or patience as they could withstand, family members and loved ones of alcoholics tried to point out their problem. In the depths of misery and despair there is a certain self-centeredness that disallows the perspective of another to get in. Many alcoholics experience a deep and toxic sense of shame, guilt, or stigma for being an alcoholic. Before they can recover, they must believe they have a problem. Additionally, they must believe that problem is not without a solution.

Having experienced the power of recovery, treatment, and transformation, you have the responsibility, which is truly more life a gift, to give back and give it away. Often it is said in recovery that in order to “keep it” we must “give it away.” Think of it like this: when one finds a diet that works, they are quick to tell the world. Whatever the gimmick that helped them lose weight, the underlying celebration is that they feel better after not feeling well at all. Step 12 is our spiritual diet. We feel better after we were practically banging on death’s door. Being of service to other alcoholics is the way to carry that message and say, “If I can feel better, so can you.”

 

Enlightened Recovery uses 12 step philosophy to help clients grow along spiritual lines as a way of enhancing their recovery. We believe in the power of participating in a positive and supportive community, like the one 12 step fellowships encourage. For more information on our programs of treatment for men and women seeking to recover from addiction, alcoholism, and co-occurring disorders, call 833-801-5483.

The Scientific Benefit Of Prayer And Meditation

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“The spiritual life is not a theory,” the authors of The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous boldly state. When Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in the 1930’s there was no answer for the disease of alcoholism. The insanity which drove a man or woman to continuously drink to excess despite the impending and well known negative consequences lying ahead was bewildering. No doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, wife, husband, or man himself could explain it. Moreover, no one could seem to make it stop. Until, that is, founder Bill Wilson had what he would come to famously described as a spiritual experience. Once he discovered the healing of a power greater than himself his phenomenal obsession of craving for more alcohol ceased to exist. Of course, it took some work to maintain his sobriety. However, the foundation of his life became a spiritual one. The twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, and all reflective twelve step programs, are a program of living for a spiritual life. They are a guide for discovering and building a relationship with a spiritual power of being that one gets to define for themselves.

Step 11 calls upon a recovering addict or alcoholic to engage in prayer and meditation for the purpose of improving a conscious contact with a Higher Power. Regarding step 11, The Big Book text reads, “We shouldn’t be shy on this matter of prayer. Better men than we are using it constantly.” Later, they write, “it works- it really does” For years, the 12-Step philosophy has fallen under ridicule as a model of treatment for addiction and alcoholism. Spirituality and science have long been at war, struggling to find a common ground. Ironically, most spiritual people fully embrace scientific evidence. What occurs through spiritual experience feels like a scientific revelation to many. Changing one’s thoughts, behaviors, and ways of thinking is in fact a neuroscientific process but feels remarkably spiritual. That is precisely what happens when one chooses to leave their destructive relationship with drugs and alcohol behind and seek a closer connection to spiritual sources greater than themselves.

Fifty five percent of Americans say that they participate in prayer every day, according to a 2015 poll. Seventy five percent of Americans believe prayer is an important part of life. Some doctors are bridging the crossroads between spirituality and science and looking at just how important prayer might be. Prayer and meditation have great physical and psychological benefit that help deal with a deadly factor: stress. Addiction and alcoholism are stressful. Recovery can be stressful. Life itself is often stressful. How one deals with that stress has a direct impact on their health and wellbeing. Prayer and meditation have been found to create a sense of calm, lower blood pressure, support regulation of challenging emotions like anger, and generally reduce symptoms of stress.

Reduction of stress due to prayer and meditation, the constant conscious contact with God or a Higher Power of one’s own understanding might relieve so much stress for another reason. “We alcoholics are undisciplined,” The Big Book authors explain, “So we let God discipline us…” Spiritual practices like prayer and meditation are a form of discipline which help guide a recovering addict or alcoholic into a new way of living.

 

Enlightened Recovery brings together the spirituality of 12 step philosophy with natural healing modalities for holistic health. Our program is designed to help you break the harmful bonds of drug and alcohol addiction and support your transformation from co-occurring disorders. For more information, call 833-801-5483.