Throughout your treatment process, you have likely gained a variety of coping skills to help you manage your substance use disorder (SUD). You may feel comfortable applying these skills in the treatment setting. However, it can be difficult to continue to use these skills in your newfound life outside of treatment.
It is often necessary to adjust the skills you are currently using to adapt to your new lifestyle. While living in a sober living home, it is a great time to experiment with these ten coping skills and add them to your recovery toolbox.
#1 Practice Breathwork
Oxygen is required for your body’s survival. Breathing is something that you typically do subconsciously. However, focusing your attention on your breathing patterns can increase the functionality of your breathing. Breathwork is commonly used to help reach a state of meditation, separating the mind from external stressors.
Breathing has a large impact on our cognitive functioning and ability to maintain homeostasis within our body. Taking deep breaths and focusing on different breathing techniques can help ensure you are receiving an adequate amount of oxygen for your body to function at its best. Practice diaphragmatic breathwork and other practices to see what works for you.
#2 Check Your Needs
It is important to understand the difference between your wants and needs throughout your recovery journey. It can be easy to confuse the two during this time. Understanding what your body and mind need to function at their best can help you get the most out of your recovery journey.
It is hard to ask for help from others if you are unsure of what your needs are. Knowing your needs allows you to seek appropriate help. This is a great starting point for problem-solving and working through any obstacles that you are currently dealing with.
#3 Contact Your Support System
You may forget to contact your support system after joining a recovery home. It can be easy to lose the relationships that you built in treatment because you are no longer in treatment and are adjusting to the outside world. If you find that you are struggling and need assistance, reach out to your support system.
The individuals within your support system are always important to keep in contact with. You never know when you will reach a downfall in your recovery journey and will feel the need for extra assistance. Staying in contact with your support system can help to ensure you always have a strong social network to rely on when things get hard.
#4 Stay Busy
While in recovery, staying busy is a great way to cope with potential stress and keep yourself on track in your recovery success. If you find you have a large amount of downtime, it can be easy to feel compelled to use substances again. When you are bored, you are at risk of falling into negative actions to temporarily entertain yourself.
Staying busy with work, school, enjoyable activities, or recovery practices can help focus your mind on whatever you are currently engaged with. This takes up a great deal of thought, taking away your ability to focus on substance use and cravings. While staying busy can provoke more stress, it can also help you to cope with other stressors when managed appropriately.
Keeping a daily schedule is a great way to help you stay busy. If you set a list of expectations for you to complete each day, you can engage yourself in those actions rather than sitting around and thinking about whatever comes to mind.
#5 Journal Regularly
A great way to express your emotions in a safe and enclosed space, free from judgment, is journaling. There are various prompts and journaling techniques that can be applied as a coping skill. Many individuals find that simply keeping a daily journal, explaining the events that occurred and how they feel about them, gives them a great deal of satisfaction.
The practice of journaling can also be used to write down moments of gratitude, track your goals, and follow up on your progress through recovery. It can also be used to scribble your thoughts down. This form of journaling is a great way to release negative emotions in a healthy way. You may reflect on these entries and lack understanding of your thoughts at the time. The benefit of this type of journaling is that it does not need to make sense. It is a way of expression at the moment.
#6 Practice Mindfulness
A meditative practice that involves being present in the now is known as mindfulness. By becoming fully aware of the present moment, you can forget your worries regarding the past or future and focus on what is right in front of you.
Meditation can be used to assess your current standpoint in recovery and develop an acceptance of your reality. It is a great way to reduce stress and anxiety and healthily cope with your emotions.
Reaching a state of mindfulness may take practice and patience to achieve. Once you are comfortable with the practice, it can be used in nearly any setting. Since you are altering your mental focus, you can tune out from your surroundings temporarily and come back with a fresh viewpoint. The versatility of this meditative practice is one of its greatest benefits.
#7 Wait and Respond
When moments of anger or any other negative emotion arise, it can be easy to act upon your impulses. As you experience a negative emotion, step aside and look at the situation from a realistic viewpoint. Take deep breaths, tie in with the breathwork coping mechanism, and wait until you reach a state of calmness and relaxation. Then as you look at the stressor provoking the emotion, you can determine how to handle the situation.
Responding impulsively can often result in decisions you are not happy with later. This may be experiencing a relapse, lashing out at another individual, or engaging in any behavior that you are not proud of.
In moments of anger and frustration, reacting can feel like the best solution. However, waiting to respond is a great way to ensure you are responding appropriately to the situation instead of engaging in a rash reaction.
#8 Avoid Triggers
To avoid your triggers, you must be able to recognize the triggers you commonly experience. For example, if you previously went to a coffee shop every day and used a substance directly after, you may relate the experience at the coffee shop to the use of the substance. If you continue to visit that same shop, you may feel a trigger impulse and feel a desire to use the substance again.
By being aware of potential triggers, similar to the example above, you can ensure to avoid those specific situations. This awareness and avoidance can help eliminate the possibility of you getting into a situation where you may relapse. Being aware of your potential triggers can also help you recognize the onset of relapse early on so you can get the help you need to avoid it.
#9 Be Honest
Being honest thorough the recovery process seems to be common knowledge; however, it is often one of the most difficult aspects for individuals in recovery. While you may be an honest person in general and even honest with others, being honest with yourself is not always easy. It is vital to be honest with yourself, your support system, and your treatment team through recovery.
If you feel close to encountering a relapse or perhaps already have, it is essential to be honest about this. You may feel shameful and wish not to disclose this information. However, it is essential for the long-term success of your treatment.
#10 Take Care of Your Body
Self-care has likely been a focus of your treatment program. These practices often contribute to the well-being of your body and mind, as they are often tied together. While many of these coping skills can help you to care for your mind, it’s also important to care for your physical body.
Taking care of your body may sound intimidating, perceiving that you must eat and work out like a star athlete. Caring for your body can be done in simple actions without much commitment.
One of the best things you can do for your body is to eat healthily. Consuming a well-balanced diet, eating vegetables, and staying hydrated can drastically improve your body’s ability to function.
Along with eating healthy, it is also important to stay active. Staying active could include playing a sport for fun, going on a hike, swimming, or simply going on a walk.
Being active does not always mean you are required to go lift weights at a gym. While going to the gym is a great option, it is not the only option available. Walking for thirty minutes a day can increase your cardiovascular health, boost your endurance, strengthen your bones, and burn excess fat.
The Importance of Coping Skills
Coping mechanisms are often overlooked, as many of the practices seem relatively simple. As this may be the case, overlooking them can negatively impact your recovery success and overall health. It is important to know how to best manage your emotions when stressful situations arise and understand what mechanisms work best for you.
One of the most important roles of coping skills is to help you avoid relapse. When difficulties arise in your life that you are struggling to handle, you are highly prone to engaging in the use of a substance again.
This is especially true if you previously used substances to cope with stress. Having these tools available in your toolbox can help to ensure you are ready to take on the world ahead of you.
Since stress can cause you to fall back into old habits, it is essential that your new tools and coping skills are practiced so that they become second nature.
It is necessary to use coping skills after discharge from treatment. While you have likely gained many coping skills through your treatment journey, they can easily be forgotten or may not be relevant to cope with the stressors you are dealing with in the outside world. When adding these ten skills to your recovery toolbox and engaging in a sober living community, you can ensure you are prepared for any obstacle life throws your way. Breathwork, checking your needs, contacting your support system, staying busy, journaling, mindfulness, waiting to respond, avoiding triggers, being honest, and taking care of your body are all important coping mechanisms that you can use today. While these might not all resonate with you, they are worth trying to ensure you are prepared for the world ahead of you. To learn more about each of these coping mechanisms, reach out to Real Recovery Sober Living at (727) 290-9156.
