The changing seasons can present many challenges for those navigating their sobriety. Especially for those still beginning their sober journey, the turn of seasons can upend established routines and present additional stresses and dangers to their continued sobriety. Overcoming the stresses of springtime is necessary for maintaining each person’s hard-earned sobriety at all stages of recovery. However, while spring can present its stresses, being prepared for them and finding ways to use the season to a person’s advantage can change a person’s perception and attitudes surrounding the season and their continued sobriety.
Adapting to the Changing Seasons
Each time of year will come with its own feel in recovery, and those who have not yet navigated their sober needs throughout all seasons can be met with unique challenges whenever the seasons change. While moving out of the winter months and into warmer weather often presents a number of advantages and excitement, those in recovery will still have to amend their recovery strategies and daily routines accordingly.
Working with peers and professionals to create a collection of strategies is necessary to adapt to the changing season. However, while some opportunities may change, it is important to focus on the things that each individual can control to maintain consistency in daily life. Mealtimes, morning routines, regular bedtime or nighttime rituals, and more are all most effective when kept as consistent as possible. Adapting certain strategies or outlets depending on the season may be necessary, and opening up and exploring seasonal activities can be instrumental in keeping a person’s recovery well-rounded and effective. However, it is best when supported by a consistent structure of regular routines and the schedule of continued outpatient care.
Preparing for the Stresses of Spring
Springtime, while often a time of excitement and new opportunities, can also carry some dangerous connotations for those exploring their newfound sober lives. For some, the season can instead come tied to spring break cultures, which can be intimately linked to the use of drugs or alcohol. Others may have dangerous associations with social gatherings like cookouts or parties that commonly begin during this time. Being prepared to cope with these expectations and pressures is necessary for maintaining a person’s sobriety while continuing to engage in outpatient care.
Others may have additional stresses associated with the spring season, such as social anxieties or concerns about body image, as these social events become more common. Navigating these challenges while managing sobriety and exploring new, sober outlets is incredibly difficult. Developing a comprehensive set of strategies to overcome these unique stresses is necessary for continued success in sobriety.
Creating Your Plan for Spring
While the spring season can come packaged with unique stresses for those overcoming substance use disorder (SUD), it can also create new sober opportunities and benefits. Addressing the stresses of the season and utilizing its advantages can create a comprehensive, transformative approach to sobriety throughout the spring season, all while setting new expectations and creating new mentalities about the season.
Using the Warmer Weather
The most notable change while moving out of the winter months is the increase in outdoor temperature, and with this change comes a myriad of new opportunities. For some, this can facilitate getting out in nature and the many physical and spiritual advantages therein. Going on walks or hikes can be a great way to process urges and cravings that may manifest throughout the season that may not have been available during colder temperatures.
Simply getting out for a walk can help challenge feelings of isolation or stagnation that are common throughout the winter months when the chill and waning daylight keep people inside. Incorporating nature into daily life is necessary for not just overcoming the emotional challenges of ongoing sobriety, but also for creating new traditions and outlets. Family trips to outdoor activities such as zoos, parks, and more can open up a plethora of new options that can challenge personal challenges.
Situating these activities around challenging times, such as spring break, can add new attitudes and traditions to these once-challenging and stressful times.
Gardening With Therapeutic Value
Starting a garden can also be a great way to focus a person’s recovery efforts. Not only can tending to these gardens provide a regular, consistent outlet on which to build a routine, but a person can also reap the benefits of their efforts in real time. Being able to see the result of dedicated effort, and even use these gardens as a sense of pride for a person’s continued effort and accomplishments as they grow, can be a major source of motivation available in the springtime.
Keeping Your Days Full
Spring can also provide a wealth of newfound daylight, and those in recovery will be tasked with filling this time with new and sober activities. Boredom, downtime, and more can all be incredibly dangerous, and it is common for those in recovery to fall into previous routines and reengage with addictive substances. Keeping each day filled with activities, consistently engaging with self-care outlets, and keeping to such a schedule are paramount for safely navigating this newfound time. Structuring a person’s day around their continued outpatient program commitments and developing new activities, family traditions, and more can all be instrumental in maintaining a person’s hard-earned sobriety throughout the changing season.
Spring can be an incredible time of change. At Redpoint, we are here to help you embrace the spirit of change prevalent across the season for a healthy and successful future. We are prepared to not only challenge the difficulties that may be inherent in the season throughout your recovery but also help you embrace new, transformed strategies to allow you to rebuild new practices and traditions in your recovery journey. Each program is personalized to address your unique needs and goals in overcoming addiction. Addressing the stresses of the season while balancing your personal life throughout our effective outpatient care programs is just the first step in a truly transformed life. For more information, call (303) 710-8496 today.
