The environments we choose to place ourselves in can significantly impact our ability to maintain a healthy mental state and work through recovery. Considering the different types of environments that you will encounter in your daily life can help you determine if your surroundings are helping or hindering your recovery. Doing this can also prompt you to think of ways that you can change which environments you frequent or alter the physical or emotional aspects of those environments to help you live a healthier and more peaceful life.
Physical Environment
The physical environments we choose to frequent can have a great impact on our ability to recover. If you choose to put yourself in situations that involve the use of substances and drinking regularly, recovering is going to be much more difficult. If you are surrounding yourself with influences and opportunities for relapse, you are nearly setting yourself up for failure. You may have strong willpower and be able to work through these situations every once in a while, but repeatedly putting yourself in unhealthy situations can often lead to relapse.
Nature
Consistently surrounding yourself with nature and fresh air can help you clear your mind and regain focus on the importance of recovery. Engagement with nature can be an excellent coping mechanism that provides many benefits to your mental and physical health. Getting outside and exercising in the fresh air can help you to get moving, increase blood flow, and rejuvenate your body from breathing the clean outside air. These physical benefits may seem minimal, but even small alterations can greatly benefit your ability to focus on recovery.
If you are consistently surrounded by excessive pollutants and hazardous environmental factors, the subtle health effects can take a toll on your ability to recover. Without you noticing, extreme levels of pollutants can cause disruptions within your respiratory system. Dealing with alternative health effects while going through the withdrawal symptoms during recovery can be overwhelming.
Social Network
Similar to how nature can positively influence your recovery process, being surrounded by individuals that make you feel peaceful and inspired contributes to recovery success. If you do not feel safe or comfortable around the individuals that commonly surround you, you will be less likely to disclose potential concerns with them. Conversely, when you trust and respect the people around you, you will be more likely to turn to them for support, advice, or comfort. If you don’t have individuals who uplift you and encourage your recovery process, spend some time and energy building a healthy social network.
Participating in social engagement in healthy situations is essential to ensure you are not hindering your recovery. If you choose to visit friends at a party scene with the presence of substances, your social engagement will not help you succeed in recovery. Conversely, if you choose to engage in activities that improve your level of self-care, free from substances, your social engagement can be extremely beneficial. The situations you choose to engage in can make a large impact on your recovery.
Social media can also be considered a part of your social surroundings. If you find yourself consistently engaged with the use of social media, you may discover some negative factors feeding into your recovery. Many individuals who get stuck in the realm of social media develop a negative self-image that can hinder their recovery. The people we present ourselves as online are often not a true reflection of who we are. Allowing the media to influence your self-portrayal can hinder your focus on genuine personal improvement during recovery.
Workplace
Individuals seeking treatment who currently have a job should consider their workplace because a healthy one can play a strong role in your motivation to recover. If your coworkers and management are encouraging you to recover and are supportive, your motivation to continue recovering can be greatly increased. On the other hand, if your work environment is full of coworkers making fun of each other and bringing each other down, you may feel embarrassed to work through recovery and subconsciously stop yourself from focusing on the aspects of recovery that are essential for progress.
The same concept applies to situations with friend groups, family, acquaintances in school settings, and the people in any group you are consistently engaging with. Ensuring that the way you treat others is spreading positivity into their lives will help you to receive that energy back from others, but if certain people are always a source of negativity for you, it may be best to give them less of your time and energy.
Home Environment
Your home environment is extremely important to regulate during the recovery process. If you find that your living space is consistently cluttered and filled with stressful tasks that need to be completed, your focus can easily stray from sobriety and onto other factors in your life.
Make sure your home environment is full of opportunities for self-care and relaxation to help you keep your focus on your recovery goals and enable you to relax. Having the support of family or roommates as well can benefit your recovery by providing you with a safe home space. Ensuring your surroundings are beneficial to your mental health can positively influence your recovery.
The environment and individuals you choose to surround yourself with during the recovery process can greatly influence your ability to accomplish your sobriety goals. Maintaining a healthy environment that allows you to have a safe space to reflect upon your recovery progress can help you to continue moving toward success. Spending time in nature and breathing some fresh air is one of the most beneficial ways to reset your focus. Ensuring the individuals you engage with are positively influencing you can greatly impact your motivation to recover. Spending less time with sources of consistent negativity and becoming a source of positivity yourself can help you build healthy relationships. Managing your surroundings is a way to set you up for recovery success and care for yourself during the process. To learn more about how your surroundings can impact your recovery, reach out to Dream Recovery at (949) 732-1960.