The prospect of returning to daily life without knowing how to have fun in sobriety can be overwhelming. Completing rehab gives you new freedom and a chance to remake yourself, change your group of friends, and integrate fun, sober activities into your life.
But what exactly are fun, sober activities?
What Happens After Rehab Treatment Ends?
Many people wonder what happens after rehab treatment ends. Do they immediately return to their lives before addiction? People ask how to have fun in sobriety because that may be an entirely new concept for them.
When treatment ends, it’s up to you to use all of the skills you’ve acquired during your treatment. These skills extend to coping mechanisms, stress management skills, and a way to have fun soberly, usually with the network of like-minded individuals you met during your treatment.
Finding sober activities and people with whom to do sober activities is made a lot easier when you reach out to the network of support you create during your group meetings.
Spirit Mountain Recovery is an Eden rehab offering wilderness and experiential therapy in Utah. Contact us today to learn more about how our programs can help you in your recovery journey.
What is the Importance of Hobbies in Recovery?
Hobbies in recovery serve many essential functions.
Avoid Backsliding
Having sober hobbies helps you to avoid backsliding. When you leave rehab treatment, you need a way to fill your spare time, distract you from any triggers in your area, and otherwise occupy your mind so that you aren’t sitting around worrying about a relapse.
Backsliding is when you slip or slide back into the same mental patterns of addiction you experience before rehab treatment. But knowing how to have fun in sobriety gives you access to fun sober activities you can use to fill your time, distract you, and avoid backsliding.
Reward New Behavior
One problem with addiction is that it trains your brain to associate drug use and alcohol consumption with your normal reward system. Your body has an existing reward system that is supposed to give you good feelings when you stimulate your brain and participate in rewarding activities like exercise, healthy food choices, and social activities.
When you participate in sober activities during your recovery, no matter what it is, you can retrain your brain to activate that same reward system and stimulate positive chemicals like serotonin when you read a new book, participate in a softball league, go on a hike, or do something crafty.
Build Self-Worth
Addiction can have devastating effects on how you view yourself, especially if your addiction leads to damaged relationships along the way. Sober hobbies give you a chance to rebuild your self-worth. This gives you a personal space where you can boost your confidence and your sense of achievement by learning a new skill.
It doesn’t matter if your activity involves learning how to use watercolors to paint a landscape or slowly acquiring skills to use woodworking tools and build a table. Whether it’s a small victory or a milestone, as you progress in new activities and share your accomplishments, it gives you a chance to recognize that you are valued, loved, and worthy of being happy.
Cope with Adversity
Stress will arise in your everyday life once treatment ends. This is a simple fact of being alive. When you deal with stress or challenges, you might be tempted to use old coping habits like drugs and alcohol. Hobbies allow you to better appreciate how to manage stressful situations and handle challenges.
For example, learning how to rock climb forces you to figure out how to solve problems. It forces you to focus all of your energy on the present moment because getting distracted could lead to injury. It also allows you to overcome those challenges and manage your emotions. These problem-solving skills are things you can transfer to your everyday stressful situations.
How to Have Fun in Sobriety?
With Spirit Mountain, we help you know how to have fun in sobriety.
- You can continue (or join new) yoga and meditation classes to help you meet new people, stay focused, and learn to cope with difficult situations.
- You can join sports groups or hiking clubs where you get a chance to be outside and test your physical and mental limits by accomplishing a new climbing route or hiking to the top of a mountain.
- You can participate in community radio programs where you are actively involved in a project that improves your community while also maintaining social relationships with sober individuals.
- You can learn new hobbies like woodworking, painting, sewing, metal work, auto repair, candle-making, and more.
Ready to learn more? Contact Spirit Mountain for info on sober hobbies and our Utah addiction treatment program.
