Systematic Physical Fitness – A Critical Step in Drug and Alcohol Recovery
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
When the alcoholic or drug addict takes a drink or a drug, we’re looking for some kind of emotional charge or a release from the stresses of daily life. We’re seeking some way to control our physical bodies to alter the way we feel inside. And while alcohol and drugs provide a short term charge, they leave the body and mind weaker than before so that we require even more drugs or alcohol to return to a point of normalcy.
Physical fitness on the other hand provides a similar emotional charge and gives us the strength and focus to cope with the daily stresses of life. Unlike external sources of energy that we put into our bodies, physical fitness leaves us stronger, more agile, more alert, more centered, and more emotionally relaxed than any drug or drink could ever accomplish.
Benefits of Physical Fitness in the Addiction Recovery Process
One of the major benefits also of a daily workout is that it allows our bodies to get rid of “emotional energy” which has been stored as a result of the daily stresses of life. This process of a physical work out allows a space for calmness and peace to enter. It allows us to start our day all over again so that at the end of the day we’re not so frustrated and stressed out that we think of reaching for drink or drug to relieve the stresses of the day.
At the Mark Houston Recovery Center, we believe firmly in the fact that a regular, systematic physical fitness program is of critical importance to successful addiction recovery. At the Mark Houston Recovery Center, residents are required to take part in a physical fitness program ranging from mildly active to intense, depending on their ability.
An amazing thing happens when these men bring systematic physical activity into their lives. They begin to reclaim the masculinity that has been stripped away over years of living as a powerless victim to drugs or alcohol. They begin to take control not only of their bodies, but of their lives as well.
Instead of looking to external sources for an emotional charge, they learn to generate strength from within. This discovery plays a major role in the of the addiction recovery process and in the ability for a person to sustain long term sobriety.
The men coming through our addiction recovery program have mentioned the tremendous increase in self esteem due to the changing shape of their bodies. The body is the portal to God and working out allows us to really come into our bodies and to know and experience the God of our understanding.
[...] Dr. Richard Browne wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptPhysical fitness on the other hand provides a similar emotional charge and gives us the strength and focus to cope with the daily stresses of life. Unlike external sources of energy that we put into our bodies, physical fitness leaves … [...]