3 Important Things You Need To Understand About Body Image

Body image issues are not gender specific. Both men and women can struggle with the way they perceive themselves and what they believe that means. You are worth more than how you look, no matter how you look. Your body is the only one you get. Learning to make peace with your physical form is an important part of spiritual healing.
 

1. The Media Is Lying To You: That includes social media, as well. Pictures can be digitally altered from a smartphone now, to create what others will see as “perfect”. Currently, there are no regulations for American media when it comes to model BMI, digital alterations, or anything having to do with beauty. Largely that is because beauty companies, cosmetic companies, and fashion companies have a lot of money to spend on lobbying. Ex-executives and lawyers make up federal boards which continue to allow the media to sell the ideals of “perfect” “beautiful” and attractive. For men and women, what you see in print and on screen is often fake. Bodies which seem to be perfectly sculpted have a very particular life. They are paid to spend hours in the gym, training, exercising, and using sponsored nutritional supplements to support them. Most people don’t have that kind of time and certainly aren’t paid to have it.

2. You’ll Never Be Perfect: Perfect doesn’t exist. If you’re trying to live up to fake images and ideals, you’ll never reach them. Most problematically, if you develop an eating disorder or body dysmorphic disorder along the way you won’t be able to see (or accept) your body for what it is. Thin will never be thin enough, sculpted will never be sculpted enough, and so forth.

3. Diet And Exercise Are Parts Of A Whole, Not The Whole Part: You are not defined by what you eat, how you eat it, or how you exercise or how often. You are defined by the unique things about you which come from within: your character, your personality, your integrity, your spirit. Diet and exercise are not really lifestyle trends. They can be part of your lifestyle. An unhealthy obsession with either one is not a sign of a healthy lifestyle but an unhealthy one. There should always be room for indulgence, laziness, relaxation, and enjoying your life without rigid routine and restriction.

Enlightened Solutions is an integrative treatment program, providing partial care programs to men and women who are seeking recovery. Combining clinical therapy with holistic healing and 12 step philosophy, we provide a well balanced program for mind, body, and spirit. For more information, call us today at 844-234-LIVE.

What To Do (And Not To Do) When You Have Cravings

Cravings are a natural part of recovery because they are such an intrinsic part of addiction. From day two to year twenty five, cravings can come on at any moment. It’s important to understand what your cravings are, where they are coming from, and how to handle them when they occur.

Don’t Panic

Cravings are normal. As recovery goes along and you earn more and more time sober, there will be a greater distance between episodes of cravings. It’s easy to fall into the false belief that experiencing cravings means you are somehow failing in recovery. Unfortunately, most people run with this fear and believe that cravings will never go away and mean they are going to relapse. Then, many people do. Cravings can come on subtly, happen like a flash of lightning, or appear through a using dream. When cravings come on, don’t panic. Remember that addiction is a disease that lives in the brain causing strange and irregular chemical reactions. Despite your hard work in recovery and the monumental changes you are making to your behaviors, the amount of time your brain has been sober compared to the amount of time it spent intoxicated is small. It’s like worrying a baby will never walk if they fall down once in awhile. Cravings are sometimes nothing more than the brain working out some kinks as you train it to live a recovery lifestyle.

To Investigate

Try not to hyper analyze the meaning of your cravings- leave that to your therapy sessions. In the moment your cravings hit, try to take a minute of mindfulness. Settle yourself down and connect yourself with a few deep breaths. After quickly doing a body scan to notice any tension, turn your attention inward. Is there anything happening in this moment, in the last few hours, or maybe the last few days that was particularly triggering? Remember, that your addictive behaviors were usually a response to challenging situations and painful emotions. Though you are learning to handle things differently the chemical responses in your brain are still catching up. Your cravings might be the result of enduring something you haven’t had to in a while.

Recovery is possible. It starts with you! Enlightened Solutions is here to provide an integrative approach to treatment which fuses clinically proven treatments with holistic healing modalities grounded in a spiritual 12 step philosophy. For more information, call us today at 844-234-LIVE

Beating Flu And Allergy Season With Essential Oils

Getting sick during treatment for recovery from an addiction and dual diagnosis issues is common. Not only are there seasonal illnesses to which everyone falls vulnerable, but there are ongoing exchanges of colds and viruses within the program. During the treatment phase for addiction, the body is still fresh from the last interaction with drugs and alcohol. Typically, the last moments of using for someone seeking treatment were not light. Years of abuse leaves the body weakened in its immune system and natural ability to heal. Specific areas of the brain which are chemically compromised due to addiction can contribute to sickness as well. For example, the production of dopamine, serotonin, melatonin, and vitamin D. Living in tight quarters, sharing bathrooms, and sitting in the same room for group therapy can cause a cold or a virus to spread quite quickly from one weakened immune system to the next. Eating a healthy and organic diet, getting enough sleep, maintaining hydration, and using holistic remedies can help stave off symptoms and improve immunity function.

How Essential Oils Work

The oils are absorbed through the skin or breathed in through the nose. Taking medications requires digestion and metabolizing the chemical compounds and waiting for them to work through the bloodstream. Oils administer their properties quickly, creating instant effects. You can use a roll on oil stick, put oil into a diffuser, or just open the cap to a bottle of oil and breathe it in for immediate healing.

3 Essential Oils For Cold Symptoms

• Peppermint: Peppermint oil naturally contains menthol which provides the cool, tingling sensation that peppermint gives off. You can use peppermint oil to soothe aching muscles, relieve tension from  tight neck, and help release blockages in the chest.

• Eucalyptus: Most menthol based remedies like Vick’s Vaporub have a bit of eucalyptus. Going straight to the source is healthier and easier. Use eucalyptus oil as a roll on around the sinus area. Both the skin absorption and breathing it in will clear a stuffy nose and provide relief for a crackling chest.

• Lavender: The worst colds come along with sleepless nights due to fevers, aches, pains, and stuffiness. Lavender is a calming agent which helps the entire body relax. Spray lavender oil on a pillow, use a lavender infused eye pillow, put it in a diffuser, or just breathe it in after rubbing it on your hands for instant relaxation.

Enlightened Solutions provides an integrative treatment program to help clients learn healthy holistic ways to care for themselves and sustain their recovery after treatment. Our unique approach to treatment provides the solution to the problem of addiction. For more information on our dual diagnosis programs of treatment, call 844-234-LIVE today.

3 Crystals You Need For Recovery

Crystal healing is an ancient spiritual practice. Beautiful crystals, gemstones, and minerals live within the depths of our planet. Beneath the surface of the ground, hidden within caves and stones, are stunning, energy harnessing crystals. Using crystals for healing in recovery is a holistic treatment method which relies on energy. Eastern philosophies of the body believe that we store energy in specific areas of the body, which creates stress. Within our bodies are natural channels and pathways for the energy to flow. Emotions, pain, grief, trauma, stress, and other negative factors can block these meridians causing both psychological and physical side effects. Crystals, along with other holistic treatments like acupuncture and chiropractic, help move or release that energy. Crystals can also provide pain relief, enhance creativity, sharpen focus, or bring good social connections.

For Goop, certified shamanic energy medicine practitioner Colleen McCann shares some of her essential crystals and some of their properties for healing. We’ll include why they’re helpful during the recovery treatment process.

Black Obsidian

Good for: grounding

Chakra: first (root)

Recovery: Anxiety is a highly occurring dual diagnosis with substance use disorders and can commonly be a side effect of withdrawals, as well as coping with difficult emotional work. Anxiety sets off the fight or flight mode, causing us to feel disconnected. Grounding is an important practice for being rooted in the present moment.

Rose Quartz

Good for: positivity and love

Chakra: fourth (heart)

Recovery: McCann writes that rose quartz “enhances all types of love: self-love, love for others, and unconditional love.” Love and compassion are essential for recovery. Helping with self esteem, confidence, emotional regulation and more, rose quartz gives extra support in recovery.

Lapis Lazuli

Good for: communication

Chakra: fifth (throat)

Recovery: The first step in recovery is admitting we have a problem. Speaking our truth starts us on the path to recovery and carries us through as we learn to live by the suggestions of a program which “demands rigorous honesty” as The Big Book emphasizes. Maintaining honesty through open, healthy communication is an essential part of growth within recovery.

Enlightened Solutions offers a holistic treatment program which utilizes alternative eastern treatment methods in addition to evidence based proven western clinical modalities. For information on our partial care programs of treatment call 844-234-LIVE.

The Importance Of Honesty In Recovery

Recovery begins with honesty. The Big Book Of Alcoholics Anonymous describes the first step this way: “We learned that we had to fully conceded to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed.” To concede means to “admit something that is true or valid after first denying or resisting it.” It also means to “surrender or yield”. Honesty is part of the first step of recovery because we have to admit that we are struggling with addiction and/or alcoholism. Often, we have been back and forth with ourselves about this part of our lives. We denied it in many ways, sometimes for many years. We resisted coming to the truth because we knew once we did, we would have to stop drinking and using, being forced to reckon with ourselves. Yet, we learned that we had to make a concession to our efforts. Honesty regarding our addiction is not something that just comes naturally. If we were suddenly enlightened with the idea that all we had to do was tell the truth about our struggles, recovery would look much different. The truth is, we were probably given the lesson over and over again. To learn doesn’t mean to just know. Learning is a process of gaining information. Overtime, we learned that there was going to be no other way to go about it. We had to get honest. We had to face the consequences.

Honesty is an integral part of recovery. We have to be honest about how we feel every day in treatment, or we lose an opportunity to heal. We have to be honest about our cravings and obsessive thoughts about using or else we risk relapse. We have to be honest about our fears and insecurities or we might fall into false pride and become delusional once again.

Addiction, in and of itself, is a lie. Addiction tells us that another hit, another pill, another dose, another drink, will make everything better. Addiction never bothers to be honest, letting us know that the next one will never be enough, that there is always going to be a next one. Honesty puts an end to the madness. It creates sanity where sanity has been lost. Recovery is your opportunity to find yourself and be found.

Start with honesty.

If you or a loved one are struggling with alcoholism and addiction and are ready for help, Enlightened Solutions has an answer. Call us today for information on our integrative treatment programs for men and women, 844-234-LIVE.

There’s A Healthy Way To Process Your Anger

Anger gets a bad reputation. Much of how we identify with, understand, and process anger has to do with what we were taught about anger when we were younger. Watching our parents handle their own anger gave us some ideas about what anger means. For example, some people have parents who got angry about everything, including the weather. Other people had parents who never got angry and shunned the child for ever displaying anger. ANger is widely misunderstood, which is unfortunate because it is an essential reaction. Anger is born out of stress, rooted in two primary emotional experiences: fear and sadness. We developed anger as a reaction. Anger is survival. When we get angry, our adrenaline starts pumping and we release other stress hormones in order to get through what we are going through. Unfortunately, we can’t get through it unless we have a way of releasing our anger.

Anger can be released in healthy ways and anger can be released in unhealthy ways. Most often, anger comes out in a toxic, violent manner because that is what we have been shown about anger. However, anger can be processed in a more calm and rational way which acknowledges and validates the anger without letting it completely take over.

First, You Need To Reduce The Stress

Once those stress hormones start flowing, you cannot objectively assess your emotions until they have calmed down. Calming down during anger is not contradicting or condoning whatever it is you are angry about. Instead, it is giving you the space and opportunity to process your anger. Try a breathing technique, take a shower, or go for a walk.

Second, Understand Your Anger

You Have a right to be angry about whatever you are angry about, because you have a right to all of your emotional experiences. It’s important to identify what exactly it is you are angry about. Often, what seems like the perfect victim of your anger on the surface is not what is really going on underneath. Furthermore, you might be more angry about the fact that you've been caused to feel afraid or sad than what has actually happened.

Create Mindful Reality

Taking the time to identify the true source of your anger helps you separate rage from reality. We want anger to punish someone for our own pain. We often here that anger is the poison we drink, intending to hurt someone else. Being mindful of your emotions helps you to identify what is real from what is not real. From there you can move forward and heal.
 

Anger management is an important part of the recovery process. Enlightened Solutions has created a program that helps clients become integrated with their emotional, physical, and spiritual selves. For more information on our treatment programs for addiction and dual diagnosis issues, call 844-234-LIVE.

Essential Oils To Aid Brain Health During Recovery

Addiction and alcoholism are matters of the mind. Quite literally, the neuroscience model of addiction shows that mind altering substances take over the brain in such a way that all of the essential functions change, becoming focused on drugs and alcohol. Recovery and treatment for addiction includes varying practices which help the brain heal, learn, and grow. Approaching thoughts, behaviors, habits, are all scientific processes as much as they are emotional ones. Emotions are chemical responses in the brain. Using therapeutic methods from psychotherapy to alternative holistic therapies are all ways to reset the flow of the brain and help with holistic healing.

Healing the brain means working to replenish various neurotransmitters and important brain chemicals which contribute to daily functions as well as the functions critical to relapse prevention. Serotonin is a brain chemical which helps regulate emotion. Cortisol is a hormone which is produced in reaction to stress. GABA is a focus of addiction research as it is being found to regulate anxiety and reduce cravings. Various endorphins stimulate feelings of happiness and wellbeing.

According to Belief Net, “Scientific research has revealed that essential oils possesses myriad beneficial phytochemical properties such as anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, anti-stress, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and analgesic…” Certain essential oils can be used in aromatherapy to stimulate the production of brain chemicals and help the mind heal during recovery and treatment. The article lists these essential oils as helpful to the specific brain chemicals:

Serotonin: lavender, lemon, rosemary

Cortisol: lavender, ylang ylang, bergamot

GABA: citronella, lemongrass, white verbena

Endorphins: clary sage, clove, lemon

What Are Essential Oils?

Belief Net writes that “Essential oils are volatile molecules obtained from the seeds, leaves, bark, resins, and other materials of nature’s most generous botanicals.” Blended into a purified oil, there are many uses for the substance. Diffusers help put the aromatic essences into the air of a room. Many essential oils can be applied directly to the skin or scalp. Add essential oils to a bath, or pour a dilution into a spray bottle for your pillow. Essential oils can even be added into food or tea for flavor and holistic healing properties.

Enlightened Solutions believes in the healing power of alternative treatment methods when used in conjunction with traditional clinical and twelve step treatment. We have found a solution for addiction that works with clients to develop their own sense of recovery and self. For more information on our treatment programs, call 844-234-LIVE today.

5 Things You’re Doing Wrong With Your Sleep

5 Things You’re Doing Wrong With Your Sleep

Sleep is essential to healing. When you are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, it is critical to get a deep sleep every night for at least 6-8 hours. Some doctors believe that 8-10 hours is better for recovery. During sleep your body and your mind are healing. Sleep is a time for the body to rejuvenate and mend itself back together. In the brain, all of the information from the day is being sorted out and organized. Addiction and alcoholism are disease of the mind, the body, and the spirit. Sleep has a great influence on spirit as well. Without a good night sleep during treatment, you will be less focused, less aware, less present, and likely very cranky. Enduring ongoing symptoms of withdrawal requires you to have energy and endurance, a great deal of which can be sourced from sleep.

1. Your room is chronically messy: Most treatment centers with residential living, or sober livings where you stay while attending a partial care program, will ask you to keep your room clean and make your bed. This is for a few reasons. First, they are likely to conduct tours for other clients. Second, it is a good practice in discipline to keep your room clean and make your bed every day. Third, having an organized room helps maintain a calm energy in your room. If you go to sleep with a messy room, you’ll likely sleep without the deepness you need to be fully rested.

2. Your sleeping environment has too much light: Some people like to sleep with the lights on. Others feel that they need total darkness. Certain kinds of light can be stimulating to the brain. Though you might sleep, you won’t be getting the deep states of sleep that you need.

3. You eat a lot of sweets before bed: Sugar is a stimulant that not only keeps the brain awake, but causes cravings and dehydration. Though you might fall asleep after a bowl of ice cream, you’ll wake up in the night to drink some water, or you might have restless sleep. Try to drink a calming herbal tea before bed or have some sugar free dark chocolate, which will help your body digest and detoxify through the night.

4. You are using your phone while in bed before going to sleep: Social media, email checking, and engaging with various apps on your phone all stimulate the brain in different ways. What is most problematic about using your phone during the time you are trying to fall asleep is the blue light. Ideally, you should put down your phone at least an hour before your bedtime to help your brain destimulate and prepare for rest.

5. You don’t help yourself sleep: There are many luxuries for sleep which are actually helpful. Ear plugs, eye masks, weighted blankets, aromatherapy, sound machines- all of these small luxuries can greatly enhance your night’s sleep. Try investing in some of these items and your payoff will be ten times the reward.

Enlightened Solutions takes a holistic approach to addiction treatment by bringing together various disciplines to create an effective program for mind, body, and spirit. For more information on our partial care programs, call 844-234-LIVE today.

Taking Yoga From Treatment To Life

Yoga is a scientifically proven treatment method for addiction and mental health recovery. Physical, spiritual, and psychological benefits can come from just 5-20 minutes of yoga a day.

Remove Judgment

Remember that you aren’t a yoga professional and your practice is in its youth. When you go do to your practices at home, don’t expect to be perfect! Approach yourself with the same non-judgment your teachers in treatment would have encouraged you to use. You’re doing yoga to help your body and your mind- not to impress anyone, including yourself.

Use Intention Setting For Each Practice

Routine is good and healthy which is why you’re bringing yoga home. Doing the same thing every day can get repetitive and boring, inspiring you to leave the mat behind instead of stick to your practice. Make each practice unique by setting a different intention. Intentions are the energy you put into your practice so you can focus.

Allow Yourself To Be Guided

Until you get your sequences down it will be helpful to have a guide. Thankfully, the internet is full of yoga teachers, gurus, and lovers who are happy to show you their favorite yoga sequences. Have a neck ache or a back problem? You can look up yoga sequences for almost every kind of benefit you need.

Modify, Modify, Modify

The simplest mistake people make in their at home yoga poses is trying to force themselves into positions their body is not prepared to be in. Modifying a pose helps your body ease into the position rather than crash into it. Modification isn’t about success or failure but about protection. Yoga is meant to help the body heal, not hurt itself.

Don’t Skip Savasana

Savasana, also called corpse pose, is the resting pose at the end of the yoga practice where you can finally rest and let the energy of the practice flow through your body. Savasana is a time for meditation and reflection as well as rest. Doing yoga at home can inspire you to skip this critical resting period and carry on with your day. Complete your practice in its entirety and don’t skip your chance to breathe deeply and rest.

Enlightened Solutions fuses the proven healing power of holistic and alternative treatments with evidence based clinical treatments to provide a transformative program for mind, body, and spirit. If you are in need of treatment for a mental health or substance use disorder, call us today at 844-234-LIVE.

5 Tips For Setting Goals

For those in recovery sometimes “what are your goals” only has one answer: staying sober. Living life sober gives you an opportunity to go after whatever you wnt in life. Here are some suggestions for getting started.

How Do You Want To Feel?

Most often, our goals come with a feeling. When we achieve that goal, we imagine feeling a certain way about ourselves and as ourselves. Perhaps more confident, more capable, or more accomplished. Envision your goal in mind. How do you imagine you will feel once you achieve it? Are there feelings assosciated with this goal that you think you can only have if you achieve it?

Keep Yourself Inspired

Goals, no matter how big or small, can seem impossible when we are in a negative mindset. Stay inspired about your goal by setting little reminders of why you’re working so hard for it. Focus on that moment where you achieve your goal and how good it will feel. Leave yourself encouraging notes. Read stories of others who have gone after a siilar thing. Everyone experiences feeling discouraged and afraid of failure.

Get A Goal Buddy!

Accountability is key to achieving your goals. Have some who is working on the same or a similar goal to help cheer you on and give inspiration to as well. Sometimes it is our pep talks to others that we personally need to hear the most. Your goal buddy will help you stay on track and keeping working toward what you want.

Set A Time Limit

Goals aren’t indefinite- they’re definite and finite things we want to accomplish. How much can you work toward your goal each day? Each month? In six months? You’re capable of accomplishing more than you know. Don’t make your goals indefinite. Set a reasonable amount of time to achieve it and you will.

Choose Something Realistic

We can’t change our body types, become millionaires in a day, or excel in a hobby we’ve never tired before when we try it for the first time. There are rare occurrencesof these things happening, but such miracles aren’t common. Make sure you know what you are going after is a realistic opportunity. It doesn’t mean you can’t dream big- dream as big as you want- but separate your dreams from fantasies.

Enlightened Soltuions is here to help s=you reach your goal of lifelong recovery. Our dual diagnosis problems serve those in need of treatment for mental health and substance use disorders. Call us today for inofrmaiton on how we can help you achieve your goals 844-234-LIVE.

5 Reasons To Stay Out Of A Relationship In Early Recovery

Emotions run high in early recovery and many people seek comfort through a relationship. Here are our top five reasons to stay out of a relationship in early recovery.

1. No Harm Will Come To You If You Don’t Date: Loneliness is not an ideal prospect. Falling in love can feel good- really good, but it can also be a distraction. Though you might feel lonely, longing for attention, and cravings for physical intimacy, living without those things won’t cause you any damage. They are manageable triggers that don’t include the overwhelming stimulus of another person. You can live without it, the same way you’re learning to live without drugs and alcohol.

2. Harm Might Come To You If You Do: Unfortunately, you’re at greater risk for desperation in a relationship than you are out of one. People are complicated and so is love. In early recovery, you’re sensitive and not completely in touch with your feelings yet. Dating another person in early recovery, or anyone, can bring up stuff you aren’t ready to work on, put you in tough situations, or, in the event of a break up, cause inconsolable heartbreak. Sadly, many people relapse and overdose because of their inability to cope with rejection, abandonment, and codependency which comes from a break up.

3. You’re Just Getting To Know Yourself: Being in a relationship is about more than being in a relationship. Romantic partnerships are about meeting someone else’s needs and your needs in a healthy way. Most people in early recovery are only just beginning to discover what their needs are. You’ve just started the journey of getting to know yourself and how you work as a person. Trying to balance that with a whole other person and all of their ‘stuff’ can be really hard to do.

4. You’ve Had Abusive Relationships In The Past: If you've had abusive relationships in the past and are in early recovery, you might miss the signs of an abuser. Repeating patterns is easy to do in early recovery. You're Dedicated to healing and changing your life in a way you never have before. There’s no need to suffer more abuse or stay in a situation that might inspire you to relapse.

5. It’s About You Right Now: Balancing your time and energy with another person is hard when you’re in such a selfish place. Right now, compared to the past, you’re in a  good selfish place. It’s all about you, your recovery, and your fight to save your life. When you are ready for a relationship, you will have new standards in who you want and how you want to be in a relationship with them.

Enlightened Solutions is a certified co-occurring treatment center, offering treatment and support for both substance use disorders and mental health disorders. If you are struggling to get sober and need help recovering, call us today for more information at 844-234-LIVE.

Why Talk Therapy?

Millions of reasons exist for why talk therapy works. If talk therapy wasn’t ass effective as it is, it wouldn’t be a major part of treatment plans for recovering people all over the world. Therapy works for people who are able to get honest, open up and receive the help they need from their therapists. Treatment programs for recovering addicts and alcoholics include a lot of therapy. Individual therapy sessions, group therapy sessions, therapy activities, groups dedicated to specific therapy types like cognitive behavioral therapy- there is a lot of therapeutic work that takes place.

Psychological Bulletin recently published a study of over 200 psychological studies on the changes people experience over time. Self-improvement is a popular subject these days as everyone is on a mission to be happier, healthier, and more productive. Overwhelmingly, the research found, the surest and most time efficient way to achieve personal change is through therapy. Reporting on the study, the lifestyle website Bustle explains that the change in therapy over the course of three months is significant. That same change can be achieved without therapy; however, it would take 30 to 40 years. Left to our own devices, change can help. Self-help books, podcasts, meditations, activities, and retreats, can all help create effective change. However, therapy proves to be the fastest and most profound method for growing.

Finding A Therapist

Treatment is not always an option for people in need of support for mental health. Due to financial strains or personal life responsibilities, any level of treatment might be hard to come by. Finding an hour to two hours a week to work with a therapist is manageable for most people. You can find a therapist by searching for someone local nearby with the specialties you need. If you have insurance, you can call your insurance provider to get information on what your behavioral health benefits are and what local therapists are covered in your area. Referrals from friends is always a great place to look for therapist recommendations as well.

Fighting The Stigma

Mental health and mental health care still face a lot of negative stigma in today’s society. Reaching out and taking time to help yourself grow in positive ways is nothing to be ashamed of. By the time everyone else has changed over a lifetime, you’ll have changed a hundred times more.

Enlightened Solutions offers a variety of partial care day programs with options for customization to meet the needs of each client. If you are ready to make a positive change in your life and are ready to ask for help, call us today at 844-234-LIVE.

Coping With The Idea Of Death In Recovery

Death is a human experience. The unfortunate condition of our life on earth is that eventually we will die. Until science confirms a way to sustainably live for longer amounts of years, if not eternally, this is the end that every human will come to. Drug addiction and alcoholism can make this end arrive sooner than necessary, or drag it out for a very long time. Intravenous drug use with heroin or cocaine can take a  life with one shot. Alcoholism can damage critical organs so severely it causes cancer illness, and death. For years, an addict or an alcoholic might feel as though they are dying. Many people describe recovery as a rebirthing process. People feel as though they are given a second chance to live, are born again, and experience life truly for the first time.

Cunning, Baffling, Powerful

However, drugs and alcohol are insidious substances. “Cunning, baffling, powerful!” is how The Big Book Of Alcoholics Anonymous describes the insanity of alcohol. The various “bottom” to which most alcoholics and addicts fall is enough for them to be convinced that lifelong sobriety is worth the struggle so that they never have to feel so sick and miserable again. Unfortunately, alcoholism and addiction are cunning, baffling, and powerful. For so many, death becomes the only bottom. Addiction and alcoholism have a way of convincing people that another drink or drug won’t hurt. In the end, many people are convinced that death is the only option and dying would be easier than living.

Each day, addiction and alcoholism claim dozens of lives. Accidental overdose or intentional overdose, liver diseases, cancers, heart failure, stroke, and more, are the results of drinking and drug use. Being in recovery among other recovering addicts and alcoholics will sadly mean having to witness death. With each passing friend is a sore reminder of the reality of the disease. Though dying might sound like a better alternative, though relapsing might sound like relief even though death could be a guarantee- there is no coming back for a second chance.

Sometimes, the loss of a fellow recovered can be triggering and cause others to relapse out of fear. The logic is nonsensical, but so is addiction. Staying sober isn’t always easy, but it is one hundred percent possible with treatment, support, and healing.

If you are ready to change your life and live the life of recovery, call Enlightened Solutions today. We are here to help you heal. For more information, call 844-234-LIVE.

The Power Of Music Therapy

Music is a series of sounds put together in a composed way. Sound is energy and vibration. We hear sound and we emit sound. We can feel sound. Certain sounds can make us feel a certain way. Opera can bring a tear to the eye. Heavy metal can raise the heart rate and help express anger, frustration, and energy. For thousands of years, music has defined cultures, societies, and civilizations. Today, music is an integral part of life. What once had to be an attended concert or performance is now accessible with the touch of a finger. Music is literally at your fingertips all the time. We can hear it through the radio, through our digital devices, and our cars. When we need to hear that one song, get lost in the sound of an instrument, or listen to the words of powerful lyrics, music is there. We receive healing from music not just by listening to it but by making it as well.

Music therapy can include listening to music, singing, writing lyrics, playing instruments, attending shows, and dancing- anything having to do with interacting with music. During a music therapy session any kind of activity with music might be present, or many at once. However someone needs to find their expression through music is made possible in a music therapy session. Unlike art therapy which is primarily psychological, music therapy has an intensely physiological effect. Music gets the body moving, the blood moving, and the heart moving. How the heart beats in terms of heart rate has a working relationship with emotions. Music can simulate stress or relieve stress.

Making Music New

During treatment, there is an opportunity to redefine yourself musically. You can learn new kinds of music and dive into new worlds of genres, redefining what you thought you liked. You can also redefine music that once meant something to you but is dangerous today. Sometimes, old music which talks about drinking and using drugs, or the kind of music someone listened to while they were drinking and using drugs, can be triggering. Even in highly triggered states, music can help someone work through the challenge of cravings by using sound and lyrics to inspire strength, cope with difficult emotions, and release suppressed feelings.

Enlightened Solutions believes that there is healing power in the arts. Our unique program fuses together creative arts with holistic healing modalities in addition to traditional clinical treatment methods and therapies. For information on our programs, call us today at 844-234-LIVE.

Benefits Of Art Therapy In Addiction Treatment

W. Somerset Maugham once said that, “Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul”. Recovery is, if nothing more, an adventure of the soul. Taking off on the exploration of a lifetime is what treatment is like- discovering hidden depths and wonders along the way. Art therapy is a healing modality which helps express that adventure in a creative way.

Relieves Pain

Art therapy can be very pleasing as well as very soothing. During an art therapy session, patients can experience feelings of joy as well as feelings of relaxation. Being able to play and create stimulates the dopamine production in the brain, sending healthy signals of pleasure throughout. In addition, the repetitious behavior of brush strokes, movements, working with clay, or other mediums can be very relaxing. Relaxation can stimulate the opioid receptors in the brain, helping the body to relax and reduce pain.

Reduces Anxiety

Art is a concentration and a focus. When people are given space to create and express themselves authentically, they fall into a state of meditation. Art can be performance, but most often art therapy is not drama therapy or performance therapy. Instead, it is a quiet time to focus on the activity at hand. Anxiety includes a lot of scattered and rapid thinking that is difficult to focus. Art makes time for that, allowing someone with anxiety to experience what it feels like to be focused on one activity which brings them joy.

Regulates Emotions

Using art as a form of expression can be helpful during what is otherwise very clinical treatment. Instead of having to talk, analyze, and process, art therapy gives people the chance to just express and create. Having a few moments of normalcy and privacy helps people to feel more human and like themselves. With art, there is no need to impress or please anyone. People are free to make whatever they want and proclaim it as art. Often this takes a lot of emotional pressure off, allowing people to feel as though they can express whatever they want. Usually this translates back into clinical treatment by helping with emotional regulation and more.

Enlightened Solutions creates a treatment program that helps heal the mind, heart, body, and spirit with traditional treatment methods, 12 step inspiration, creative modalities, and holistic methods. For information on our partial care programs, call us today at 844-234-LIVE.

10 Way To Make The Most Out Of Sober Living

Sober living is a home where residents have to meet certain requirements in order to stay the most important of which is staying sober. During treatment at one of Enlightened Solutions partial care programs, you’ll be living in a local sober living home. Here are our top 10 ways for making the most out of your sober living experience.

1. Choose The Right Home: Choosing the right sober living home is essential to making sure you feel comfortable, safe, supported, and protected. Look for homes which encourage regular meeting attendance, do screen testing once or twice a week, and have group activities. Go with your instinct and choose what feels right for you.

2. Follow The Rules: Sober living is usually the place of residence during partial care treatment, such as intensive outpatient, or after residential treatment. After long hours of treatment programming it can be easy to go home to sober living and not want to do anything. It can feel like a safe space to break the rules, act out, and rebel- what you might call relaxing for someone in early recovery. Support the change in your habits by abiding by the rules.

3. Do Your Chores: Most sober livings assign a weekly chore to each member of the house. You are part of a team working together to stay sober and keep a comfortable home. Not doing your chores will cause you to feel guilt and shame, even if you don’t want to admit it. Your lack of participation won’t be fair to you or your housemates. Do your part and keep your space clean out of respect to yourself and to others.

4. Be Nice To Others: Your sober living housemates don’t have to become your new best friends, but they are likely to become friends you keep for a lifetime. Early recovery can be difficult and emotions often run high. Your learning how to have relationships and friendships again without the presence of drugs and alcohol. You’ll have more fun by learning how to be vulnerable and close to the people you live with.

5. Encourage Group Activities: There’s a lot of sleeping that goes on in sober living. Recovering bodies need sleep to heal. Ongoing symptoms of withdrawal can be exhausting. In between naps and long night’s sleep, encourage your group to come together and participate in an activity. You’ll have fun, make memories, and remember why you got sober: to live again.

6. Make Outside Friends: Going to meetings gives you an opportunity to meet people from other sober living homes or who are new to the recovery community like you. Ask people for their phone numbers and invite them over to hang out. You’ll diversify your group of friends and never be short of someone to call and talk to.

7. Go To Meetings: The only way to meet people at meetings is to go to them. Your sober living will probably have one or two meetings that everyone goes to together. Lookup new meetings in different towns and venture out to find recovery. It is always inspiring to discover that recovery is everywhere and you are never alone.

8. Have Adventures: Another way to combat sober living laziness is to get out and explore. If you don’t have a car, take walks around your neighborhood. If someone has a car, choose a new spot nearby to go and explore.

9. Support One Another: Early recovery is hard. Making it through requires the love and support of peers. Always lend a listening ear, a prayer, or going with someone to a meeting. You’re all there to help each other.

10. Report Relapse: There’s no need to be a tattle-tale, but you are learning to take steps to secure your sobriety. If someone has brought drugs and alcohol into the house, it is your right to report it. If you fear you or your housemates might be at risk for relapse because of someone else’s actions, talk to your house manager immediately.

Enlightened Solutions works with trusted sober living homes and residences to support our clients during their treatment programs. We provide references and can happily connect you with our community. For information on our treatment programs for men and women seeking recovery, call 844-234-LIVE.

The Challenge Of Relapse Prevention In Eating Disorders

How do you prevent a relapse for an eating disorder? Food is a choice everyone has to make throughout the day every day. Unlike drugs and alcohol, there is no option to “not pick up no matter what”. Recovering from an eating disorder requires eating differently, thinking differently, and living life in a different way. Through treatment for eating disorders, we learn how to regard our bodies and minds with compassion. Therapy, physical activity, meetings, and meditation are all tools we pick up in order to live a healthy lifestyle without abusing ourselves through harmful behaviors. Like any recovery program, we are prone to slip up on our practice. Cutting a few extra calories from our meal plan might seem innocent when we are struggling with uncomfortable feelings of poor self-esteem. Taking therapy time as “self-care” time and missing an appointment can become an easily repeated pattern. These small changes can seem harmless. Recovery is not meant to be rigid without a margin for error. However, the flexibility can only go so far until it has a negative effect. Eating disorders live in the part of the brain which create habits. Habits are one of the most difficult psychological processes to change. Once a new habit starts leaning toward an old habit, it can quickly change. Old thoughts and voices can come creeping in, encouraging dangerous behaviors, critical observations, and more. Though we live in a world that obsesses about diet, exercise, food and body regularly, it can be life threatening for someone recovering from an eating disorder to go there.

During the early recovery months, it is important to stick to routine, including diet and exercise plans, as well as treatment plans. Stay honest about your experiences with challenging thoughts and moments. We are likely never the only one who is struggling with recovery. If the pressure of an eating disorder comes on too strong, make sure to reach out to someone immediately. We are equipped with a lot of tools to help ourselves, but sometimes the most powerful tool is asking for someone else’s help.

Recovering from eating disorders is absolutely achievable. One day, the voices will get quiet and the choices will become easy. Time, work, and dedication are required. You can find the support and encouragement you need with Enlightened Solutions. Our day treatment programs provide care for eating disorders and co-occurring mental health or substance use disorders. For information on our holistic method of healing, call 844-234-LIVE.

8 Tips For Making The Most Of Free Time

Early recovery can include a lot of down time in between treatment programming and activities. Sometimes downtime can be triggering because the impulse to use or drink still remains. One day you’ll learn to be comfortable with nothing to do, but you don’t have to be! Here are 8 ways to make the most of free time and live a full life.

Get Physically Active

Exercise is often a normal part of someone's routine so it never really feels like an option for down time. Getting physically active doesn't have to mean going to the gym.Taking a walk through the neighborhood, cleaning the house, reorganizing your room, or having a dance party can help you pass the time and get your body moving.

Learn Something New

Always wanted to learn a language? Interested in learning how to change the oil in your car yourself? Thanks to the internet, you can teach yourself how to do just about anything. Set yourself to a task and work on it a little bit each day. You’ll be amazed what you can accomplish!

Take Time For Reflection

With daily therapy and treatment programming you’ve probably had your share of sharing. Personal reflection time is helpful for taking quiet time to yourself and looking honestly at what you are accomplishing.

Choose A Hobby

Doing the same old same old can get boring. Boredom is a trigger for most people who are in recovery for an addiction. Instead of doing the same things, try something completely new. Choose a new hobby that is totally out of your comfort zone.

Go On Adventures

Everything can be an adventure if you want it to be! Adventuring in nature is proven to be good for mental health. Get some friends together and head to some local hiking trails, beaches, or whatever nature is nearby.

Travel

Traveling in early recovery can be difficult when there is a financial challenge. Travel doesn’t always have to be exotic to a far away place. Take a short drive to visit a friend or family member, explore a new area, or visit a new town. Getting out of your element broadens your horizons and helps you grow.

Practice Self-Care

Self-care is a special time for helping nurture and care for yourself in a healthy and positive way. Whatever it is that helps you relax, take time for yourself, and feel good is what you need to do for self-care.

Tend To Your Needs

Usually when we talk about tending to our needs in recovery, it is followed by discussion of self-care. Life has a lot of demands which become personal needs. However, we don’t often label them as personal needs. For example, you need to pay rent, pay your phone bill, and take care of what needs to be taken care of. When you neglect these things you put yourself at risk for creating stress, guilt, depression, and anxiety.

Enlightened Solutions is a partial care program, offering day treatment services at partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, and outpatient services. If you or a loved one are looking for a certified treatment center for healing co-occurring disorders of addiction and secondary mental health disorders, call us today at 844-234-LIVE.

Essential Life Skills For Lifelong Recovery

Empathy and Compassion: Living with compassion and empathy is not something many would call an essential life skill. However, in order to be a good human who does good things on earth, empathy and compassion is a must. We are tasked in recovery to always reach out our hands. As the saying in Alcoholics Anonymous goes, “love and tolerance is our code”. We are inherently self centered human beings. After developing an addiction, we tend to be even more selfish. Empathy and compassion are the ways in which we connect with others and step outside of ourselves in order to connect with someone else. Our relationships and connections with people are made deeper by practicing empathy and compassion.

• Time management: Change is the only constant, it is said, and time is constantly changing. We only have so many waking hours in a day, days in a week, and so on. How we use our time is incredibly important because we’re either wasting it or making the most of it. Learning how to use a calendar, schedule appointments, prioritize activities, and make enough time for self-care in a day are essential life skills.

• Asking for help: People who have had to make the decision to ask for help in finding treatment understand how life saving this life skill can be. We can’t possible know it all. In order to get things done, we often have to ask for help. Help you help yourself by feeling no shame when it comes to asking for assistance with something.

• Active listening: We can go our entire lives without really listening to what someone has to say. From instructions to suggestions to someone's expression of their needs, if we don’t actively and reflectively listen we miss out on what is being said.

• Meditation: Taking time to quiet the mind is more than calming- it helps grow new brain muscle memory, reduces symptoms of stress, reduces intensity of mental health disorders, and radically improves health.

• Financial Management: Some people never learn how to manage their money. Living in chronic debt or without any money can lead to stress and hardship which could eventually cause someone to relapse. Money comes and goes. Learning how to manage finances for the long term and the short term are essential for reducing stress and creating a sense of security.

• Healthy Living: Eating organic, having a balanced diet, staying nutritionally well, and having basic cooking skills are all a part of healthy living. Your long term future depends on your physical health as much as it does your mental wellbeing.

• Communication: communication is a part of everyday life >learning how to communicate honestly, tactfully, and articulately is helpful in every single area of life.

Enlightened Solutions believes that people entering recovery for an addiction are in need of developing or redeveloping essential life skills for life after treatment. If you or a loved one are ready to learn a new way of being, call us today for more information, 844-234-LIVE.

What Does Organic Really Mean?

Think about the word “organic” and understand a few vague pieces of information. Generally, most people understand organic to mean two things: better for you, and more expensive. Since the release of controversial and eye-opening documentaries like Food, Inc. the world has been made aware of the importance of eating a mostly organic diet. Genetically modified foods and processed foods are not as healthy as they claim to be. However, due to the intricate relationships between government boards like the Food and Drug Administration and the United States Department of Agriculture with multi billion dollar food corporations, the definition of organic has been blurred.

USDA Definition

Recently, the USDA updated its definition of what organic is supposed to mean when it comes to the food you buy. According to Lifehacker, “Under current standards, the label ‘organic’ doesn’t have much to do with animal welfare. It basically just refers to restrictions on what the animals are fed and when they’re given antibiotics.” Until recently, consumers have been mostly concerned with what kinds of hormones and chemicals are given to the animals and plants they buy to eat. Since organic is supposed to mean healthier food, most assume that the food is treated with a higher quality of care. Today, animal cruelty is a major consideration for purchasing animal products, specifically. “Free range” for example is an important label, for purchasing chicken and beef. Unfortunately, not all organic animal products come from humane farms or factories.

“With the new rule,” Lifehacker explains, “farmers have to give animals access to the outdoors at least once a day on vegetation or soil—enclosed porches don’t count. It also sets guidelines for minimum space requirements and prevents certain physical alterations to the animal (like de-beaking).” These are huge strides in the organic food industry, which is estimated to be a $40 billion industry.

Government agencies have come under fire for their loose treatment of the word organic and the regulations with which they use to determine what is healthy for consumers. These new restrictions ensure another level of consideration which food producers and manufacturers must abide by in order to create a quality product.

Increasingly, people are turning to a mostly organic lifestyle. Supporting a healthy lifestyle of proper nutrition and food choices is essential for persons recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, in addition to co-occurring mental health disorders.

Recovery is a healing process of mind, body, and spirit. Enlightened Solutions is committed to providing clients with a one hundred percent organic diet as well as nutritional support and counseling on keeping a healthy lifestyle long term. If you are interested in our programs of healing, call us today at 844-234-LIVE.