Healing from mental illness and substance use disorder (SUD) is hard work. The process of recovery may feel foreign at first, especially if you are not used to surrounding yourself with activities, practices, and people that bring more joy into your life.
Choosing to intentionally practice activities that bring you joy takes time. It’s a process that develops as you discover what leads to increased feelings of pleasure in your life.
Audit Your Life
If you are feeling stuck, it could be that you need a shift in some areas of your life. When you’re feeling stagnant, try doing a “life audit.” Reflect on the people, places, things, habits, and routines in your life. Determine whether they add or take away from your joy and health. Then, you can begin to create a life that feels balanced and leads to wellness and root out things that do not serve a greater purpose.
Cultivating a life that allows you to reach your healing goals is a process. The things that lead to feeling more present, at ease, and content may change as you move through different seasons of life.
Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a practice of paying attention to the present moment, with purpose and without judgment. Beginning to relate to life, yourself, and others in a more mindful way creates space to lower feelings of resistance, self-judgment, and suffering. Mindfulness can teach you to be neutral, accepting, and allowing of the present moment even when it doesn’t meet your expectations.
Do Things That Bring You Joy
When you were a child, what things did you do just for fun? As adults, it’s easy to get caught in the cycle of only doing things because they have to be done, or with a certain outcome in mind. However, it’s just as important to allow yourself to engage in activities just because you love to do them. Lowering levels of stress, anxiety, and burnout requires increasing the time you dedicate to rest, play, and creativity.
Choosing to live life in a way that allows you to feel more present, connected, and centered doesn’t happen overnight. It’s something that evolves over time, and something recovery from SUD and co-occurring mental illness allows and requires.
Healing from mental illness and SUD allows you to experience greater amounts of joy, presence, and pleasure in your life. It doesn’t mean that you won’t still feel pain at times, but it means you will be able to experience the other side of the difficult emotions and experiences you are processing. At Avalon Malibu, we recognize how challenging it can be to experience life outside of suffering without help. We are here to support you in your healing journey. Call Avalon Malibu today at (844) 857-5992.
