Recovery: Swimming Upstream

The metaphors are plentiful, the research provides confirmation.  I am renown for 'prescribing' exercise.  Anything will do, time spent outside of one's head (as opposed to off it) is valuable to anyone - especially those in recovery.  Getting clean at this time of year has its challenges (it's hard to walk down a street without people drinking on the pavement or in the park) but so too does it have advantages - you can build time spent outdoors into your recovery regimen. 

"Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every human being, while movement and methodical physical exercise save it and preserve it."  Plato

There is an old expression containing a long accepted truth - 'when I got busy, I got better'.  The most challenging question I ask anyone during an assessment is why they want their recovery.  There is no doubt in my mind that they are deserving of it, but both they and I need more than this: they need a purpose.  Without purpose, we're lost, and if you are more likely to get somewhere you want to go if you have a direction in which to travel. 

Putting down whatever substance(s) or behaviour(s) leaves a void.  A great big gaping hole which needs filling.  Addictions in their chronic form sap energy, and the life of an addict/alcoholic is generally directed towards the getting/taking of their substance or the acting-out of a compulsive behaviour.  Take away the object of the addiction, and this is where the real work begins and this is the true challenge of recovery - the replacement of all that the addiction offered. 

An addict's identity and life becomes synonymous with their drug of choice.  Recovery involves nothing less than reinvention.  It is a creative journey and one that is full of possibility.  It also poses a big problem for those unwilling to step beyond their comfort zone, for this is a complex task that challenges the resources of even the most willing. 

I am regularly asked as to how I define the difference between sobriety and recovery.  The answer is simple: they are incomparable.  Getting clean is, for most, the easy part.  Staying clean should not be underestimated, but is not overly complicated.  Recovery, on the other hand, is a different story and entails a quality of sobriety and encompasses, I think, a 'moving on' in one's life.

Finding and maintaining leisure activities and interests is just as important as staying clean.  Humans function best when they have meaningful activities which they enjoy, and feel that they are good at.  Recovery is a personal domain, and what one person classifies as meaningful may be quite different to someone else - the point is that anyone in recovery needs to have things to do, places to go, and people to meet.  In short, we need to import new areas into our lives to preserve and protect our sobriety and promote serenity.

Exercise is but one example of a recovery-friendly recreational activity as it fulfils some important criteria - firstly, it has the capacity to meet our need for immediate gratification.  Rarely has someone been known to come out of the gym, pool or studio, and felt exactly as they did before they started on the cross-trainer, or put on their boxing gloves. 

Recovering addicts need to learn to take time out to enjoy.  We need to re-connect with our bodies, and our physical, felt experience.  Many who come into recovery have all but forgotten how to be playful with self esteem that struggles to leave floor level.  Addiction deprives people of so much more than money.  It is destructive of the very things that allow us to feel what it is to be human - we forget that we have abilities, and talents, we neglect our potential and forget our accomplishments. 

Exercising in company is even better and can help build motivation and commitment, as well as providing a social dimension and source of camaraderie and support.  Exercise simulates the effects of an anti depressant; the dopamine released can help to minimise cravings and provide a healthy distraction from rumination.  The endorphins released during physical activity appear to stimulate the brain in positive ways.  They seem to be natural pain relievers and are perhaps the body’s own way of combating the muscular changes that go along with exercise as well as elevating the participant's mood.  Recovery relies on discipline, and exercise instills this whilst promoting empowerment and alleviating stress.