Nostalgia During Recovery: What You Need to Know

As summer rolls around, it’s easy to get nostalgic for your former days of hanging out on sunny days or warm nights drinking or doing drugs with your old group of friends. After all, addiction was likely a substantial part of your life and it’s pretty normal for these memories to pop into your mind now and again. 

But if you find yourself romanticizing and daydreaming about these times you need to take notice. This is because nostalgia can be a slippery slope into relapse. 

Let’s first talk about nostalgia – what is it and how can it hurt or help your recovery? 

Nostalgia is often defined as “a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, and often for a period or place with happy associations.” Feeling nostalgic isn’t always negative, especially if you’re summoning past memories that help motivate you to stay on the sober path. In this way, a bit of nostalgia can serve as a great reminder of why you’re working so hard in your recovery. 

However, if you begin longing for a past way of life that included abusing alcohol and/or drugs, it can be dangerous. For one, when you’re nostalgic, you tend to focus on only the good and not the bad. In other words, you’re not daydreaming about being hung over or embarrassing yourself or all the hurt you may have caused friends and family members. And this type of nostalgia can easily make you lose your way and forget why you’re sober and even help you rationalize an unhealthy decision. 

Certainly you can’t stop nostalgia, but you can redirect your thoughts so they better serve your recovery. And you can also make sure that part of your recovery includes meeting new friends, experiencing new things and making new memories that keep your mind busy. And, hopefully, one day you'll look back fondly on all you've learned on your journey toward lasting sobriety.  

Making New Memories at HAUS Recovery

We believe that sobriety is the beginning of a fun, fulfilling, and lifelong adventure. Our schedule of activities is designed to strategically fill your time, nourish your body and enrich your spirit. To learn more how we can help you transition from rehab to everyday life without losing your way, call us today: 888-551-4715.  

5 Key Components of Lasting Sobriety

To maintain lasting recovery and to find meaning and joy in life requires more than just steering clear of your drug of choice. Healing from addiction is a long-term process – and something that you have to work hard at daily to be successful. These five key components of sober living, which we support and encourage at Haus Recovery, can help you stay focused, care for yourself and reach full recovery potential.

1. Self-honor: Repeat after us: “You are a good person intended to do beautiful things.” Believing in and caring for yourself is a big part of relapse prevention. To this end, it's important to eat nutritious meals, exercise regularly and get enough sleep so your mind and body are rested and refreshed each day. Taking good care of yourself in recovery also means making time for relaxation, having fun, connecting with family and friends, creating goals and discovering your passions.
2. Community: No one expects you to stay sober without support. Now more than ever it’s important to build the types of relationships and friendships that will offer hope, support and encouragement as you work toward lasting sobriety. 
3. Employment: Finding and keeping a job, and making a contribution to society, is a pillar of recovery. After all, accountability and being self-supporting are vital steps to the reintegration process. Plus, working can help you build self-confidence, self-esteem, self-efficiency and a sense of wholeness.
4. Gratitude: Learning to have gratitude, or to focus on what’s good in your life, is a crucial recovery and life skill. Gratitude can help increase your self-esteem, boost your outlook and serve as a constant reminder of why you are working so hard for a sober life. 
5. Mindfulness: We all need a reminder to slow down, focus on the present and quiet the mind chatter – and mindfulness can help you do just that. This is a great tool to use in your every day. Try it the next time you are taking a shower. Tune out the world around you and direct your attention to the experience at hand, without judgment or words. Think about what you smell, taste, feel, hear and see. 

Sober Living at Its Best

At Haus Recovery, we offer the support needed to maintain abstinence, embrace the fun in a life of recovery and acquire the skills needed to make these changes last. To learn more, call today: 888-551-4715.