1. Using Exercise to Overcome Addiction
April 18, 2013
| Last Updated on Thursday, 25 April, 2013 15:27
As far as addiction is concerned, it’s important not to underestimate the value of exercise. Exercise is
an extremely valuable element when it comes to maintaining mental health as well as overcoming
addiction. In order to help a person produce significant amounts of endorphins it’s important to come
up with a daily exercise routine that won’t just keep you in shape-it will help regulate the way that you
feel as well as stabilize your moods.
If you unaware of the way in which exercise can be beneficial to you the best thing that you can do is
try and see the positive results that are yielded. Make sure that no matter how you go about
implementing an exercise plan that you do so carefully. Chances are if an individual is entering
recovery for the first time, they haven’t been used to a daily routine of working out and exerting their
bodies in an aerobic way. It is for this reason that you’ll often need a partner, motivator or personal
trainer to help you slowly ease back into the work out process.
Exercise isn’t just therapeutic because of the endorphins it produces for your body-it has a
wealth of other benefits as well. Your muscles will need to be trained over time in order to
reach their full potential.
This means that you might want to start out at a slower pace and work your way up to strenuous work
outs. If you start out by pushing yourself too hard you might feel ill or even worse, hurt yourself. It’s
important that you pace yourself and at least in the beginning, always work out with a “buddy” or a
partner. That being said, once you’ve made the decision to start exercising you are already on your way
to living a happier and healthier lifestyle.
Yoga is a great form of exercise when it comes to helping people who are in recovery. Not only is it
strenuous and helpful for building muscle, it is relaxing and has been proven to relieve a range of
mental health issues. Yoga is good for anyone who is suffering from anxiety, depression, PTSD, drug
addiction, anger issues and even insomnia. Oftentimes, frequent drug and alcohol users have trouble
falling asleep at night and it’s important to remember another great benefit of working out is the
physical exertion will help you fall asleep at night.
Not only will you be better rested, the type of sleep that you get is deeper and more
beneficial to your brain when you work out. This is a win win situation.
The hardest part about working out is trying to motivate yourself to actually do it. This is where having
a partner really comes into play. It’s also important to remember not to switch addictions because
working out can become another obsession if you fail to remember to keep everything balanced.
Balance is key when it comes to all aspects of your life, so remember to keep a positive mindset and
know that you are doing the right thing in order to overcome addiction.