4 Tips for Improving Addiction Recovery

How to improve your chances of staying sober? Journal your sobriety. 

One major problem with post addiction recovery is feeling very awkward and extremely uncomfortable around sober and normal people in social settings. Social awkwardness can be as painful as entering into addiction recovery. Not knowing what to say, how to feel and how to act in front of others in a social environment can throw you back into a relapse. Meaning in social situations you might feel dizzy, disorientated, sweating palms and forehead, anxious and sometimes frightened as well as hypersensitive and vigilant. This happens because all the years of isolating from social situations and people and addicts lose all his or her social skills.

Writing is a powerful personal vehicle. Writing is a very healing experience that can aid you in releasing buried pains, process your grief and express your vision and create a sober future. Do not underestimate the power of writing. What better way that daily journaling?

1. Journaling enhances addiction recovery

One way of gaining social and verbal skills is to write in a journal. Journaling is extremely important part of the recovery process after the detoxing phase. To journal, you don't have to be an English major or an aspiring author to incorporate writing into your life. Writing is a way to express your hurts and why your addiction has been harmful to yourself and life. Writing is crucial to a successful sobriety and health as well as emotional development and well being. 

2. Journaling gives you a comfortable and positive vehicle

                     To become more communicative

                     To express emotions

                     To be seen (even by you)

                     To collect thoughts

                     To express desires and wishes

                     To become creative

                     To create a vision for you and your future

                     To become heard

                     To be understood

                     To be totally honest with no reprisal or being wrong

                     To release secrets

                     To record your journey and successes

                     To unload your resentments and regrets

                     To address your insecurities and lack of skills

                     To discover new directions

                     To work with emotional calmness and mental peace

                     To keep your thoughts in order and reduce ruminating

                     To self-reflect on who you are no longer and 

                          author a new you

                     To keep you connected to the moment

                     To focus on releasing what is not serving you

                     To express fears

                     To become more comfortable being social

                     To increase life skills

3. Creating a Supportive Environment

Journaling allows you to express without rational constraints.  It helps you to create a comfort zone that you can express whatever your mind wants or needs. Journaling allows the safety to permit your thoughts to express in words to flow naturally upon literal or virtual paper. Seeing your writing make your beliefs and thoughts real. 

The process of journaling can be the support mechanism that will let you forget for an instant your anxiety, pressure, stress or pain of being in an unfamiliar world until you gain enough confidence to venture into reality with others. Writing is powerful and once you write your anxiety will decrease.

4. Journaling can be your Personal Recovery Coach

If you want to give journaling a shot as your personal recovery coach here are some suggestions. 

Go purchase a cheap notebook and a pen that you like and express your true identity, thoughts, and feeling in your writing. Writing is very powerful and life-changing if used right.

Carry your notebook around with you all the time and free association in your writing, or chronicling your experiences of sobriety as well as express writing whether you alone or even in a 12 step meeting.

Write in an environment that you feel comfortable and safe to be yourself. Go sit at a coffee shop, go to a park, a garden or park by a river or lake. Freely write whatever comes to mind. Do some people watching, record observations or jot down anything that ignites your interest. Write down your ideas, your dreams, your needs, your wants, your feelings. In fact, write whatever you want that makes you feel better.

After Thoughts

If you are consistent, diligent and give journaling some time, hopefully, you master being more comfortable with your thoughts and feelings. This will benefit your health both mentally, physically and socially. Take an expressive risk and your journaling will empower you to be healthier, more fulfilled and stronger with yourself while enhancing your sober journey. 

Journaling will aid you in developing a new way of seeing yourself and help you master social skills as well as allow you to develop a new relationship with yourself. 

Blessings in your journey out of addiction.

If you need more support in your sobriety journey, visit my website. Click here to download free eBook.

           Coach Bill