What works for you?


So I’ve been struggling with my recovery… I need to keep at this bcuz I’m tired of living like this, risking everything I have right now. What works for you? What is a typical day for you in recovery? Readings? Exercise? Meditation? Meetings? Etc? I’m just looking for other suggestions on things I could try in my recovery to help me get some clean time under my belt. My demon right now crack cocaine :frowning:

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I’m only 6 days sober myself so I’m not expert but what’s been working for me is exercise, both cardio and weight training, reading as much as I can about addiction and recovery (NA Basic text is good and am easy read, lots of blogs are a Google search away), and coming on here. I’ve learned a lot in just a couple days just by reading this forum. Lots of people on here with lots of clean time.

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pretty much all the things you mentioned as well as journaling and staying in close contact with others in recovery. and a lot of prayer, i’m not religious but i do pray. that’s just me though

my whole day used to be focused on getting inebriated so to get out of that shit hole i had to put my whole days focus on recovery.

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Considering that most face to face meetings are dark right now, I would definitely start participating in some online meetings. Become a regular in some of them and get to know the other people there. There has been such a huge increase in online meetings that they’re looking for people to be of service as well. Reach out to some of the women in this group and in those online groups. There was a woman online this morning who told a new comer to message her their phone number so that they could talk and help to stay accountable. It’s a little tougher right now, but it’s still possible to stay clean and sober. I think that’s a good way to start. If you believe in a power greater than yourself, ask for help. Get in the practice of conversing with your higher power and start building that relationship. It grows like any other relationship in your life if you work on it. You can do this! Stay strong and remember that no matter how bad it may seem, there is hope! :blue_heart:

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My recovery plan has included…

Being active on the following apps…

Talking Sober
Reddit r/stopdrinking
Women for Sobriety (WFS)
Soberistas
She Recovers

Yin yoga, bicycle riding, HIIT fitness classes, hatha yoga, walking, yoga nidra, running, hiking

Meditation and sleep meditations. Mindfulness has been particularly helpful in keeping me in the now. Staying in the now, I know I can be sober today.

No wine in house

Journaling

Hot epsom baths or soaking in the hot tub (especially helpful when anxious)

Drinking a LOT of LaCroix, now I drink water and tea

Reading and rereading a LOT of sober memoirs/novels (there is a great list of them on here)

Keeping a list of how I want to live my life/what sobriety offers…I keep it on my phone and when I start thinking, hey, maybe just one glass of wine, I read my list and remember how desperate and unhappy drinking made me. Here is some of that list…

No hangovers ever!!

Treating my husband with respect and no drunk fighting

Self respect gets a major boost

No more internal conflict about drinking and if/how can I cut down or stop

Restful restorative uninterrupted sleep!!!

Major pride in myself and all that I have and can accomplish

A sense of peace and calm

No more embarrassment and shame because of my behavior

Forgiving myself for past mistakes and terrible judgement

No wondering what I did or how I hurt husband or others while drunk

No treating people I love, including myself, poorly while drunk

No drunk driving and possibly hurting self or others or jail

No upset stomach from drinking

No anxiety and near constant agitation when hungover

No dark suicidal thoughts

No shame around neighbors if I was loud and yelling or loud music

No blackouts ever

No overwhelming shame at my behavior

No oversharing with strangers while drunk or making plans I will need to cancel

Not having to check my phone in the middle of the night to delete social media posts - no drunk texting/emails/posts/calls

Not be bloated and puffy and look haggard

Clear skin and eyes

Major pride in myself and a boost in self esteem

No hangovers ever again

No more excuses or lies

Peace of mind


It’s no secret I was desperately suicidal and broken when I stumbled onto this app. It has been a life saver for me. Checking the threads, reading, posting and then moderating. I have left and returned a few times over the 3 years (today!!!) that I have been on this app.

My early days were mostly napping or reading in our bedroom as my husband still drinks…so I had to keep myself distant for awhile. I ate a lot of sweets and drank a lot of seltzer. I bicycled A LOT and did a lot of yoga. I read a ton of sobriety memoirs…constantly. I read on here constantly. I slept as much as possible. I cried a lot. I hated life a lot. I felt prickly and irritated and ready to jump out of my skin. Did I mention sugar? I pretty much replaced alcohol with sugar…and I started or continued…my true work of recovery…figuring out how to heal the hole in my psyche / soul / self that needed healing.

Sorry for the book!! Hope some of this resonates a bit. And I kicked the coke (snorting) about 4 or 5 years ago after a 20 year off and on run.


“But sometimes illumination comes to our rescue at the very moment when all seems lost; we have knocked at every door and they open on nothing until, at last, we stumble unconsciously against the only one through which we can enter the kingdom we have sought in vain a hundred years - and it opens.”

~ Marcel Proust, “In Search of Lost Time.”

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A taking and practicing of the 12 steps. It’s especially important for me now that I can’t do face to face meetings. I be of service to others. I talk with my sponsor. We are starting an online big book study. And most importantly, I don’t pick up no matter what.

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Early on I made a plan of each day.

Get the kids to school.

Watch a sobriety vid, do worksheets, etc first thing, to get in a good frame of mind.

Then do (whatever) (for me work prep, tidy cupboard, etc)

Lunch

Some relaxing activity (watch a drama, yoga youtube, etc)

Pick up kids

If u work, then write that in. (My job is currently spring vacation)

I also analysed when I am likely to relapse and prepared. I would drink in the train home, so always had a flask of tea, and a study app to keep mouth and hands occupied. Or I would drink when cooking, so bought ginger ale instead.

So great u are asking on here. With that kind of motivation u can do it!

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Reading books about recovery and checking in here almost everyday is working for me.

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Whenever in doubt, remembering this. :point_up_2:

Then, like others, working a program of recovery or talking to someone else in recovery about it.

And remembering whatever happens: Do not drink today, no matter what!

Drinking never made a single thing better, and almost always made it worse. If I’m forgetting that, I can “play the tape through.” Where’s that drink really gonna lead me? No where good.

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I’m 6 months into my sobriety. I’ve been listening to a lot of historical videos on YouTube ranging from Roman, Chinese, Japanese, Aztecs, Incans, Spanish, etc. I’ve also been listening to a particular Marcus Aurelius Meditations video. Brief summary but it gets to the point and I find myself listening to it over and over again. To keep myself entertained I also have been playing Star Wars with my older brother on PS4 and a Japanese strategy game as well. Pretty soon I’ll be transitioning over to working out after my sciatica tapers off. I’ll be strengthening my core and running. Also, swimming since I now have a place I can do it for free now!

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I’ve employed many of the things mentioned above, with positive results. But the thing that has been my absolute saving grace is my focus on mental health. Having to live with how terrible drinking and drugs was making my mental health was the last straw. I didn’t have it in me to down my entire bottle of benzos (followed by beer, of course) so I decided I had to call it quits on the torture that I had turned my life into. If I couldn’t quit life I has to quit the things that made me want to quit life in the first place.

Therapy, self care, stays in a mental institution, psychiatry, medication, mindfulness, a touch of CBT and DBT, and much more have been my program since day 1. I am proud to have been in a psychiatric unit, it saved my life. I am proud that I risked absolutely everything, gave up my free will and responsibility, walked into the emergency department at Western Psychiatric Hospital and let someone else take the reigns for 11 days. This was just after my detox. Then I did IOP for almost 4 months. I went back to work after 5 months total. And I am proud and happy that I did every single bit of it.

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