8 Tips – Support for maintaining sobriety
For some of our members, group meetings and the connection to other sober people are crucial for their recovery and maintaining their sobriety. It is about attending recovery meetings, group therapy, exercise classes, or other cultural and recreative activities.
And we know that people might feel anxious and worried about coping strategies in times of physical distancing, self-isolation and a hibernating society.
Here comes our list of eight tips for maintaining sobriety.*
Protect your mental health during the coronavirus pandemic
There are two important resources we would like to make available for you:
This podcast is exploring how to cope with the natural fears that arise during challenging times, the difference between useful and harmful anxiety, and how people can grow the inner strengths needed to thrive when things get tough.
Coronavirus has plunged the world into uncertainty and the constant news about the pandemic can feel relentless. All of this is taking its toll on people’s mental health, particularly those already living with conditions like anxiety and OCD. So how can we protect our mental health? An important collection of tips…
Participate in online support groups
Our friends at The Temper have compiled an awesome list of English-speaking virtual platforms that provide sobriety community and support. Here is a diverse list of ten recovery and sobriety support communities that offer the kind of support you need.
Our German members run an addiction emergency hotline that you can call whenever needed.
Our Swedish members provide support for people with alcohol and other drug problems. Their hotline is free of charge in Sweden.
And our Swiss members offer special support for children from families with parental alcohol and other drugs problems – through a phone line, an online chat and on social media. Their support service is called Kopf hoch – meaning “keep your chin up” and is available in several languages.
Arrange phone conversations with your mentor, sponsor or therapist
If you regularly meet your mentor, sponsor or a therapist or counselor, make arrangements to continue the conversations, just over the phone rather than in person.
Talk to loved ones, friends, and connections in the sober community
If you’re feeling lonely or vulnerable, sad or anxious, know that it’s okay and important to reach out to your family, friends and/ or other connections in the sober community.
Most people like to be there for their loved ones and these times are special, so that the community has surely a heightened sense of solidarity and compassion.
Limit the time you read the news and scroll through social media
Spending too much time online can exacerbate anxiety and spending too much on social media can be addictive and detrimental to your health. Therefore, make sure you to limit screen time and unplug.
It is an exercise in practicing boundaries between yourself and the avalanche of information and stimuli that is coming your way constantly. It also helps create space for healthy habits.
Invest in healthy habits
As society goes into hibernation, there are many scary consequences but there are also opportunities to really focus on what’s important, what you can control, what you need to do to be healthy – both mentally and physically.
Physical exercise, meditation, yoga, breathing exercise, long walks in nature, educate yourself about healthy and sustainable diets, hydrate, make sure to have a healthy sleep routine, and try taking cold showers – these are all small actions that you can do to improve your mental and physical health.
Investing in these will be of tremendous benefit to you once society goes back into hyperdrive.
Food for thought and intellectual nourishment
A sense of meaning and belonging often comes from our ability to challenge ourselves. Therefore, food for thought and pursuing your path to some intellectual growth is essential and deeply satisfying.
Starting a new hobby, reading, journaling or writing a blog, listening to podcasts, or watching mind-blowing documentaries are some fo the examples for activities that are the good kind of challenging and that provide intellectual nourishment.
On the page “Wellbeing resources“, we provide you with inspiring sources of food for thought.
Get some boring tasks done
Often the biggest feeling of accomplishment comes from getting something done that we’ve been avoiding, dreading even because it was a boring task. Replanting flowers, spring cleaning, sorting out and getting rid of clutter, rearranging the furniture are some of the examples. We are sure Marie Kondo has even more awesome tips for practical things you can do to enhance your immediate environments and in this way increase your wellbeing.
Share your tips with us
We are happy to receive tips from you! Yes you! How do you deal with stress and anxiety and maintain your sobriety? What advice and inspiration would you like to share with the wider community?
Get in touch and we will share your tips on our social media.
*Note: We thank The Tempest and their recent article about how to keep your recovery strong during the coronavirus outbreak. We have adapted and developed their list.
If you would like to organize online meetings for your members and you do not have any good electronic platform for that purpose, feel invited to let us know and we will make our virtual meeting platform freely available for you.
The Best Nine for a healthy way of life