5 Ways to Embrace a New Life After Substance Use

Are you concerned about your child’s substance use?

Do you find it challenging to enjoy life?

For parents of a child struggling with substance use, getting your life back can be a struggle.

You may be looking for a quick fix to solve the problem and shortcut the process. Of course, you want the healing to begin sooner rather than later.

I remember when all I wanted was to get back to my comfort zone, my earlier “normal life” without the stress and emotional exhaustion that I was now feeling.

I believe all things come for a reason. Sometimes life throws us a lesson that we need. From this lesson, life can change for the better.

Developing new habits helped me when I was struggling. They helped me feel more centered and at peace. I realized I could be happier if I gave these new habits a little effort.

Do not let your child’s struggles rob you of the life that you so deserve to have.

Going inside to find the answers continues to lead me to a better place of discovery, where I feel more in the moment and calm.

We all have our journey. We all have our path in life. None of us are happy that we have been affected by substance use. However, this is what life has brought us.

Accept the situation, so that you can make the very best of what is happening now.

Drug and alcohol issues change everything and everybody. I learned it was up to me to decide how these changes would influence my life. I continue to work on making every day a good day. Seek out what works for you so that you can get back your peace of mind.

When you look inside yourself, you will begin to find the answers that you seek. Life will continue to be a work in progress, an ongoing search for the truth.

My experience led me down a path of new discoveries that I never anticipated, nor planned for, and yet my life feels richer because of it. I am learning to enjoy all that is within my reach.

My hope is that you will find your own way and discover new habits that work for you.

“Sometimes it’s necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness…until it flowers again from within.” ~ Galway Kinnell

Embrace your new life by taking on some new healthy habits. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Yoga helps with substance use

Yoga is the practice of celebrating what is. At the end of the hero’s journey, he finds that he did not need to go anywhere, that all he sought was inside him all along. ~ Rolf Gates

Yoga was my first experience of taking time to quiet my mind and to learn more about myself. It’s possible for anyone who is interested in yoga to learn. It does take practice. You go to the studio or a quiet place in your home to stretch, but you leave with so much more.

Yoga trains your body and your mind to work together at the moment. As you stretch, twist, and turn, your body begins the process of becoming more limber and gives in to your demands. Your mind is focused on each pose.

Your ego pushes you to try the more demanding poses, but eventually, you learn to let your ego go and attempt only what you are ready for. With patience, your body will begin to respond to your requests.

Meditation

Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It is a way of entering into the quiet that is already there–buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day. ~ Deepak Chopra

Meditation is the simple act of sitting and listening to your breath. It is a way to balance a person’s physical, emotional, and mental states. It can benefit everybody. Meditation allows you to notice your breath, let your thoughts float by, and explore the quiet of your mind.

Meditation can seem very simple, yet it can feel challenging to be still. It has been helpful to me to have a meditation practice in my life, and it might help you as well. Sit quietly and let all other distractions go. Even one minute of simple breathing helps you to relax.

Taking a short amount of time to meditate in the morning starts off your day with peace, quiet, and calmness. As you begin to meditate more often, your inner calm will linger and help you throughout your day.

Writing

For me, writing is exploration; and most of the time, I’m surprised where the journey takes me. ~ Jack Dann

Writing can be a fulfilling outlet that allows you to release many of your thoughts on paper. After reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, I followed Julia’s suggestion and began to write what she calls the morning pages, the habit of writing three pages each day.

I love Julia’s morning pages It has worked for me, and you might find it comforting as well. (Stay tuned for my upcoming interview with Shelley Richanbach, founder of Next Steps for Women who discusses how the morning pages have changed her life.)

There are many alternatives to the morning pages such as journal writing of any length, as well as a daily gratitude list. Writing of any kind helps calm the mind chatter.

Writing each day gives you a place to get your thoughts on paper. When we are dealing with substance use, there will be many pent-up emotions. It’s a release to write about your feelings. It can be a vehicle to formulate answers when you are struggling.

Writing the morning pages gives you a starting point and a place to release your thoughts. It relieves pent up emotions and you feel lighter as you go about your day.

Exercise and substance use

Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person’s physical, emotional, and mental states. ~ Carol Welch

Most of us at some point in our lives have exercised regularly.

When substance use or any other life trauma occurs, this can easily be put to the side and forgotten.

Setting exercise goals for yourself seems daunting at first, but once you start, it becomes easier. You begin to put your focus on the training that you must do each week, the clothing you will need to prepare, bringing enough water, and how wonderful you are going to feel when you have completed your workout.

Just taking a walk can make the world seem like a calmer place.

Walking is a regular part of my week. Having a dog helps, as she needs her daily walk. Just getting out there, setting a time limit, or possibly clipping a pedometer to your waist gives you a sense of accomplishment to get those strides going. The goal could be 10,000 steps per day, but the benefit of a 10 or 20-minute walk is immeasurable.

Find Your Passion

If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you. ~ T. Alan Armstrong

When we are dealing with family substance use of any kind and are ready for a new lifestyle, it’s essential that we look at our lives and see where we can make positive changes. We need to fill the void of substance use with something that will make us want to get up in the morning, something that we can get excited about.

Find your passion so that you can feel the deep joys of life!

When we are focused on other people, our goals and dreams are put to the wayside. Refocus your energy to remember those things in life that you love to do and that make you feel alive. Think about what makes you excited. What is the one thing you do where you lose track of time?

If you have lost the excitement in life, now is a good time to do some research and rekindle what makes you happy. It is not enough to be in just be in “recovery”; it is crucial that you find your passion.

Let go and put some energy into you. That energy that will nourish your mind and feed your soul. You will be at your best when you give back to yourself. Pursuing your passion will renew your love of life and all that it has to offer.

Take the time to find your own peace of mind in a way that works for you. Bring some of these ideas into your life, so that you can make it better!

You may find that you finally do have your life back.

Remember–you are not alone and there is always hope when it comes to substance use.

“Life is a series of moments. If you miss the moments, you miss your life.” ~ Robin Sharma