When you’re recovering from an addiction, you might find yourself experiencing a relapse every now and then. While it’s common, it could get you thinking, what can you do to prevent it?
Relapses usually come up due to specific triggers, so you want to know how to handle it correctly. This way, you can maintain your recovery progress.
We have fun relapse prevention activities you can try when you experience tough times to get you started.
Support Meetings
Many people who are recovering from an addiction attend support group meetings to build back confidence. Moreover, it’s an excellent way to improve how you communicate and empathize with those around you.
Some common activities you may experience during support meetings include the following:
- Role-playing
- Group discussions
- Trigger management exercises
- Sentence completion
- Motivational sharing
Meditation
In overcoming addiction, you learn more about your thoughts and emotions and how to control them. So, meditation is an excellent way to ground and enlighten yourself.
Meditation exercises can be as simple as deep breathing exercises to manage anxiety and keep you calm. You can also do more interactive activities that use your senses and focuses on positive feelings.
Note that you can take your time meditating until you feel better or more calm, emotionally and mentally.
Affirmation Board
Many recommend having an affirmation board or journal to prevent relapse signs. With this, you write goals and create visual reminders of what you are working towards. This way, you can stay motivated to achieve them.
This method also helps you identify triggers to get a better understanding of what you should do to get through a relapse. You can include them in your list or add notes about your observations and the solutions that work for you.
It would also be great to purchase some items that you can use as a remembrance of your accomplishment. Check out some of the best gifts for recovering addicts, as they can surely help in your recovery.
Being Active
Relapse prevention skills can also vary based on how active you are. Most learn that finding a new hobby helps you pay more attention to other positive aspects of your life.
It can be through exercising, joining a sports team, gardening, doing art, and more. Try to focus on activities that allow you to practice thinking and creativity.
You can also consider hobbies that allow you to keep moving. This way, you can improve your mental and physical health together.
Learning About Wellness
Overcoming addiction means improving other aspects of your life, including your overall health. So, you can consider learning more about wellness.
It usually includes nutrition education and eating healthier, along with spending more time on physical activity. As much as possible, you want to balance it out with helpful mental activities to ensure you progress in all aspects.
Animal-Assisted Therapy
You can get a relapse prevention program that involves animal assistance, where you turn to animals for ease. It’s one way to teach you how to feel more responsible while receiving unconditional love from a pet.
Note that you can get animal assistance from different kinds of animals, from cats and dogs to horses and rabbits.
Learn How to Handle Triggers Better With These Relapse Prevention Activities
With the right relapse prevention activities, you can maintain your progress and walk closer to recovery. It’s all about knowing your triggers and figuring out the best way around them.
Most activities include focusing on mental and physical health. This way, you can improve yourself in every aspect.
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