Sustainable recovery is achieved through daily practices, rituals, and disciplines.
Fitness and Exercise
Our bodies are made to move. Grown to roam the earth, hunt, build, and explore, the body needs to be strengthened and conditioned regularly in order to sustain life’s challenges. Fitness and exercise is about more and the body. Research has proven that regular exercise is immensely beneficial to mental health. The production of endorphins, increased blood flow, and the circulation of oxygen all contribute to better mood, manageability of emotions, and reduced stress. The less stress in the body, the less inflammation is created, which reduces the risk of developing illnesses and diseases later in life. Recovery from drug and alcohol addiction should serve as more than abstaining from drugs and alcohol. Optimizing physical health creates a foundation for performance in mind and spirit as well. The body that can sustain, succeeds.
Diet and Nutrition
What we eat, we feed our body. Food doesn’t just disappear into a vacuum of our stomach that is either good or bad. Food is broken down for short term energy and long term energy, interacting with our muscles, our tissues, our fat, and our brains. Food affects our mood and focus, energy and endurance, as well as our strength and ability. For recovery, diet and nutrition sustains us throughout the course of every day. We learn to feed our bodies in healthy ways to avoid the stressful experiences hunger can create both physically and mentally.
Meditation
Meditation is a spiritual and a scientific practice for the body and the mind. Relaxation and stress relief are two of the primary benefits of meditation, but the importance of practicing meditation every day has a ripple effect beyond the immediate. Meditation is a platform for living. Sustainability in sobriety comes from creating a strong core- mentally, physically, and spiritually, for engaging with all of life. Meditation creates that core. To receive the benefits of meditation, science has found all we need is ten minutes of focused, deep breathing and quiet time a day.
Activity
Put to the test, we are able to witness what we are made of. Activity keeps our minds, body, and spirit moving forward through challenges, rest periods, celebrations, plateaus, and more. Getting into nature, planning adventures, creating meaningful purpose, and engaging with life keeps us alive and reminds us of why we continue to sustain our sobriety: freedom from addiction.
Tree House Recovery is a men’s addiction treatment program teaching men to find freedom from recovery and create sustainable change in their lives. For information on our Portland programs, call: (503) 850-2474
