Developing a strong and consistent routine can restabilize and revolutionize recovery, especially if done in early recovery. While it will take some time, practice, modification, and repetition, the payoff of having established self-care routines and set activities can transform your life!

• Predictability can be healing after a life of chaos, uncertainty, and instability. Structure. can improve time management skills, and greater abilities to plan and be ready for life.
• The routine of checking in with a sponsor, attending recovery meetings, or other healing groups can strengthen, sustain, and secure your sobriety. During triggers, sticking to your routine can keep you safe, on track, and focused, since coping techniques and strategies for recovery are already in place. Self-esteem, resiliency, and resourcefulness will grow.
• With set hygiene and health routines, you will feel better in your body, mind, and heart.
  This type of consistency is a form of tremendous self-care and self-love. If you commit to taking care of and loving yourself more, you may be more inclined to keep positive patterns going. Additionally, if you are feeling confident, motivated, and positive, you may be more likely to continue to integrate new, healthy, and supportive activities.
• Commitments like relationships, work, school, or training can be more successfully integrated into a structured life. With these responsibilities of life, a routine can keep you balanced, grounded, and connected to you and your commitments to recovery.
• If you start to struggle in one area of your life, a routine that holds you accountable for self-care and other healthy commitments can ease the impact. With an ingrained self-care routine, your energy won’t be distracted, and you can focus on resolving the painful situation.
• Routine encourages the development of self-trust through the power of consistently showing up and following through. This can facilitate a deeper relationship with yourself and others. If you are able to show up for yourself completely, you will be able to show up for others in a more wholehearted and reliable way.
• A routine can set the foundation for your future that everything can be built on top of.
  You may be inclined to agree to bigger challenges or commitments or feel prepared to pursue the deeper work of your dreams in the world.
• With a rewarding routine, a sense of responsibility develops, and you can be more likely to prioritize self, say no or limit destructive behavior, and make better decisions for you.
  A consistent routine can prevent confusion or doubt around what you are doing, what you are working towards, or where you are going in life.
• If you love the life you are living, and feel good in your body, the temptation to use will lessen, and the likelihood of relapse will decrease. Using will not seem worth it if you are fully engaged in healthy and rewarding activities.

A consistent, scheduled routine can be helpful in early recovery as well. If someone asks you to go to a bar or hang out, but you feel that it might not be a safe situation for you, using your planned activity can be a way out of a situation, if you are feeling unsure, hesitant, or aren’t comfortable yet saying no.

A conversation could go like this:

“Hey Bobby, come smoke with us!”
“I’m meeting a friend at the gym.”
“What about after?”
“Smoking will mess my body up. I love working out, and I won’t be able to if my lungs hurt.”

(While you never need an excuse and you never owe anyone an explanation for not wanting to engage in harmful behavior, sharing that other responsibilities and activities are more important than using can be a strategy until you feel more confident saying no.)

If you are consistent in your routine and attend the same meetings, go to the same gym, or to the same yoga studio, or do any other activity regularly, you will develop deeper relationships within that consistency.

There will be a greater chance of connecting to communities, developing friendships, and becoming a part of something if you continually show up. If you are seeing and being seen at the same time at the same places and the same meetings, there will be greater accountability, and the desire to constantly show up for yourself and your collective will grow stronger.

Additionally, if your peers know your routine, they can have your back if you start to self-isolate, pull away, or withdraw. The work of a routine is worth it and can revolutionize your recovery if you commit to it, and continue to show up for yourself.

Learning ways to take care of and prioritize yourself can be so challenging, especially while struggling with a substance use disorder. But help is available if you are wanting to address your addiction, heal your mind, body, heart, and spirit, and create a rewarding routine for your future. At Ashley Addiction Treatment, we walk the path of recovery by your side and provide comprehensive and therapeutic support every step of the way. Our restorative campus is located on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay, in Northern Maryland, and there you will feel safe, seen, and held as you embark on the brave and beautiful path to well-being. You deserve to live a calm, stable, and peaceful life.
For more information, or to take the next steps, contact us at 800-799-4673.