Spirituality, however you choose to embody it, gives you purpose, love, and perspective through connections that matter most in your worldview. For some people, spirituality may be listening to a sermon in a congregation. For others, it’s a long solitary walk in the woods. Just as it’s crucial to find a therapeutic method that works for you, using a form of spirituality to help with relapse prevention means you have the right tools to preserve wellness.
In Stillness, There’s Authenticity
When someone struggles with substance use disorder (SUD), alcohol use disorder (AUD), or a dual diagnosis, it defines all of their actions and reactions. Rarely do they have the option to tap into their authentic self and come to a point of stillness where everything makes sense.
Some individuals rely on faith to provide awareness, cope with challenges, seek a calling, and show support for others in their community. Spirituality can also mean using certain techniques to help you stay present, interact positively in the world, have a guiding purpose, and create an intention to be your best self.
For example, if you were raised in a household that followed a particular religious denomination, that may still be your preference for finding calm and solace. Then again, the opposite might be true: perhaps organized religious doctrine isn’t something you believe in, but you find growth, calm, and comfort by being of service to others.
The Greater Good Science Center (GGSC) outlines key factors of research that identify what it takes to be your “authentic self.” They include:
- Don’t lie. “Being authentic is at its core about being in total integrity with what is true for us,” GGSC states.
- But don’t always speak the truth. “Sometimes it’s not kind to say what you are thinking. But that doesn’t mean that you get to lie. You can still ‘be you’ whilst keeping your mouth shut.”
- Listen to your body cues. “What is true for us tends to make us feel stronger and more free. And lies tend to feel like constraint and constriction—our shoulders ache, our back hurts, our stomach churns,” GGSC notes.
- Stay in your truth. “Authenticity is always about being ourselves, rather than about helping other people be something other than they actually are. Who they are is their business.”
- Accept your “ugly bits.” “Loving and accepting ourselves—and all our flaws, including our anger and fear and sadness and pettiness—is, in the end, the only thing that enables us to be authentic,” GGSC indicates.
So if any aspect of spirituality is going to reinforce your sobriety and provide peace, it has to develop from your true nature to help you:
- Remember to love yourself and others
- Navigate negative thoughts and emotions
- Understand the world
- Renew your sense of purpose
- Be happy
Tips to Expand the Concept of Spirituality to Prevent Relapse
Maybe you’re not ready to think of seeking sacred understanding at the moment. Perhaps you just want to adopt new ways of being to maintain the due north of your compass. Even a small centering step makes a difference when repeated over time. Try these methods to learn if they speak to you.
- Mindfulness and meditation. Using these techniques as a spiritual practice is what expert Jon Kabat-Zinn calls “paying attention on purpose.” We all have the ability to be mindful of the present moment, and this deliberate pause provides numerous benefits.
- Reflecting on gratitude. There are many ways to practice this in your daily life, and you reap many benefits when you do:
- Heightened awareness of taking care of your health
- Reduced stress
- Better sleep
- Enhanced empathy for yourself and others
Make a list of what you’re grateful for, and say thank you for the positive results that haven’t happened yet. Also, change “I should” to “I want,” even with the most mundane tasks. So, “I should do dishes” becomes “I want to do dishes.” This allows you to focus on why doing dishes may be important to you, and why you’re grateful to achieve that goal.
- Try positive affirmations. Research supports this exercise because there’s evidence that our brain changes with an increase in neural pathways and a shift in how we perceive potentially threatening information as more valuable and self-relevant.
- Rely on important routines and rituals. They reinforce stability and your intention to sobriety, so when an obstacle blocks your path, it’s easier to trust you have the positive means to work through and around it. You may find routines and rituals useful to provide:
- A touchstone to control triggers
- Grounding in daily life
- Enhancement of your ability to be mindful
- Better self-control
- A sense of peace
Intentional actions mean you place value on a constant aspect of life, instead of swaying to and fro as a result of whatever happens.
Find Balance at Great Oaks
At Great Oaks Recovery Center outside of Houston, Texas, we honor the human dignity of everyone we work with. Our board-certified professionals know how only you can invest in the work required to heal—but we make sure you don’t have to do it alone. We’ll help you find the path to wellness that reinforces your true self and supports how you choose to embody it. Talk to a member of our admissions team today to learn more about our approach.
