Here is a recap of the 10 Recovery Selfie Care Practices to be the best version of your sober self, as discussed in the SOBER POP Tips Room on the Clubhouse App on Tuesday, June 15th, 2021. For many people in recovery, especially early recovery, the idea of taking good care of yourself can seem overwhelming and even a completely foreign concept.
SOBER POP Tips: 10 Self Care Tips to be the Best Version of Your Sober Self
1.) Practice Affirmations – Regardless of where you are in your recovery journey, it’s probably a good time to reprogram negative and obsessive tendencies. Those sneaky little suckers sneak back in when we aren’t paying attention. Practice positivity with affirmations. We recommend Rising Higher Meditations on YouTube.
2.) Get outside! Yes, your body is a wonderland…so get outside and WANDER! Nothing soothes the soul better than the feeling of grass, dirt, or sand under your bare feet as you work on perfecting the art of being where your feet are. Hug a tree, jump in a pool or a lake (assuming you know how to swim of course), and just feel the wind in your hair and the sunshine down on your beautiful sober face.
3.) Catch lots of ZZZ’s! Think about how much you have put your body through over the years of abuse and neglect of consuming very unhealthy toxins (and in large quantities). Your body needs to rest. Create the optimal sleep space that works best for you. We recommend using all of the tools you can to get to find your perfect sleep zone. Lots of people in recovery have shared they use a combination of the following options:
- Sleeping Mask
- Black Out Curtains
- Weighted Blanket
- Fan
- Quality Sheets
- Finding the perfect pillow
- Keep a big bottle of H2O nearby (and drink it down first thing in the morning)
- Sound machine and/or soft music
- Using the Calm App or Insight Timer
4.) Practice Meditation Regularly – Don’t go rolling your eyes just because you’re tired of reading this or listening to people telling you it works. It really does work! We are BIG fans of the Calm App and Insight Timer for guided meditations.
Want to flex your meditation muscles and indulge in a tech gadget at the same time? We recommend getting an Oculus Virtual Reality Gaming system and exploring the extensive selection of Relax & Meditate gaming apps. There is a variety of free and very affordable meditation apps to choose from. Sober Curator Pro Tip: The Calm App works in VR, too!
5.) Take a Trip! Now, we’re not suggesting you pull a geographic and relocate your entire life. Everyone deserves a little vacation from real life. Even if that means a stay-cay at a local hotel on the other side of town. Get out of town and go discover new places. Find that perfect little hole-in-the-wall restaurant or local coffee shop. Take pictures, visit a museum and learn something. Need more tips on how to Travel Sober? Don’t worry boo, we’ve got you. Just click here.
6.) Get a pet! (or a plant!) Animals bring us so much joy. If you are in a place in your life where you can handle and afford the responsibility of owning a pet, we encourage pet ownership. While you’re re-learning how to take care of yourself, pets also teach you how to take care of others and that it’s not just all about you. (Ahem) Plus, they often make great snuggle buddies.
7.) Exercise! You’ve got to move your body. There are countless ways to hit your daily movement goals and have fun. Working out and moving your body boosts chemicals in the brain which make us feel good. Whatever you’re into (CrossFit, Yoga, Zumba, Peloton, etc.) just get to moving! Your body will thank you later.
Have you heard of The Phoenix? If you’re looking for a unique approach to recovery that fosters healing through activities, fitness, and connection you might want to check them out. They’ve been offering lots of free virtual classes throughout the last year of the pandemic. You can also check out our friends over at REVA Recovery. Their movement- and the meditation-based program will teach you how you can live your life in recovery to the fullest. They also offer a free class once a month and a free one-on-one session.
8.) Get Organized! No, this doesn’t mean you have to watch every episode of The Home Edit and organize all of your shit in clear acrylic containers. (But if you want to, we won’t be stopping you, and please send us the before/after photos, we are suckers for a good before/after photo montage) Life is simply easier to move through when you are organized. Even if all you can do today is take 5 minutes to clear off the kitchen counter and fold a load of laundry. Celebrate the little victories and start small. If the clutter in your way isn’t useful, send it to your local thrift shop or find a proper way to store it.
9.) Stay Present – We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again (and again)…be where your FEET are. Unless you’ve figured out how to clone yourself, then please DM us, because we want in on that sci-fy program. Seriously though…just stay in today. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow’s problems aren’t here yet. Ask yourself what small things you can accomplish today and ways you can be of service to others.
Sober Curator Pro Tip: NEXT week at Sober Pop Tips we will spend the entire hour talking about ways to be of service to others. Because doing good for others feels good.
10.) Practice Creativity – Think back to things you liked to play with or create before you ever started putting drugs and alcohol in your body. Were LEGOS your jam? Did you love to paint? Write? Draw? Make something with your hands? Tap back into that inner childlike curiosity and create something. Even if you claim to not have an artist bone in that beautiful sober body, we are certain you can find something to crack open the creativity that lives deep down inside you. Art therapy is a technique rooted in the idea that creative expression can foster healing and mental well-being. Maybe you’re the next Sober Picasso or maybe you’re the next big Pinterest Fail. Either way, you’re creating something with your hands. That’s a great way to relieve stress and express your feelings.
Sober Curator Pro Tip: We even have a Curated Crafts section because yes, we’ve thought of everything “lifestyle + sober pop culture” a person in recovery might want to have access to and we’re trying really hard to curate and collect all this good stuff into one place to make it easy for you to access.
Resources Are Available
If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulties surrounding alcoholism, addiction, or mental illness, please reach out and ask for help. People everywhere can and want to help; you just have to know where to look. And continue to look until you find what works for you. Click here for a list of regional and national resources.