Every sobriety journey is different. Some folks do best when supported by large groups while others thrive with the support of a few trusted friends.
However, most people who have been through addiction recovery understand the value of cultivating new hobbies and passions in sobriety. Put simply, you can’t expect to stay sober if you don’t find new ways to fill your time that do not include drinking.
This claim is supported by recent research published in Substance Abuse: Research and Treatment. Researchers found that relapse was most likely to occur during times of day “related to patterns of unused time,” and that “a lack of structure or unoccupied time” led to higher rates of relapse.
Fortunately, there are plenty of fulfilling hobbies and passions that you can use to fill your time. Some can be completed from the comfort of your own home, while others will help you socialize with a supportive group of new friends.
Fitness
If you’ve suffered from alcohol addiction for some time, your physical health and well-being may have taken a tumble. Long-term alcohol misuse is associated with high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, cancers, and accidents. These conditions are detrimental to your health and are a major reason why many people seek help for addiction recovery.
However, alcohol addiction doesn’t have to condemn you to a life of poor fitness and health. Instead, you can make a positive change in your life and cultivate a fitness hobby that consumes your time and motivates you to follow through with your recovery plan. Cross-sectional studies show that people who regularly access experience 40 fewer “bad” mental health days per year, too.
If you’re new to the idea of fitness, start small with achievable goals. For example, rather than stating that you’d like to lift a certain weight, focus on incremental goals like “I’d like to go to the gym three times per week every week for three months”. These goals are motivating, time-based, and achievable. They’ll give you time to figure out what you do and don’t like about fitness and wellbeing, too.
Don’t let logistics stand in your way of improving your health, either. You may be tempted to skip the gym and miss exercise classes when you’re too tired to drive to the local leisure center. You can remove this obstacle and support your long-term fitness development by starting a home gym in your garage. You don’t need to break the bank, either. Start with simple equipment like:
- Pull-up bars;
- Yoga mats;
- Adjustable dumbbells;
- Skipping rope.
This equipment is relatively cost-effective and can give you a great workout. You can maximize your garage workout further by incorporating activities like 15-minute home workouts and Yoga for Lifelong Strength into your daily routine. There are plenty of beginner exercises that don’t require any equipment at all, meaning you just need a clear space to work up a sweat and cultivate your passion for fitness at home.
Learning a Trade
Sometimes, your path toward sobriety means you need to make a major change in your life. Learning a trade and switching careers is the perfect way to make a hard break from a previously toxic work environment. Learning a trade is fun, too, and you’ll quickly develop a passion for joinery, plumbing, or electrical work while developing skills in a structured environment.
This sentiment is echoed by the therapist group Centre for Growth, which finds that “physical labor is strongly connected with our mental health.” Picking up a trade is a great way to engage your mind, avoid lethargy, and boost your mood. Working with your hands may even stimulate the release of endorphins that give you a natural high.
As well as being engaging, learning a trade can be lucrative. Skilled labor is on the rise currently and there is a significant shortage in the labor market today. This is particularly good news if you’ve ever thought about becoming a joiner, HVAC technician, or electrician. If you’re unsure of where to start, consider pursuing a career path that aligns with your current interests. Take a good look at projected growth and pay in your industry, too, as many fields are growing fast and will pay a premium for your services.
Learning a trade doesn’t mean you need to make a career change either. Many people attend plumbing classes or electrician courses simply to learn more and take care of their own homes. This can be particularly empowering if you take pride in your home but need a structured learning environment to ensure you stay on your recovery course.
Art and Crafts
Recovery journeys can be emotionally taxing. You’ll go through your fair share of setbacks during your detox and will need the support of trusted friends and family if you want sobriety to last. Rather than bottling these emotions up, consider expressing yourself through an art medium that brings you joy.
Crafting can improve your mental health, too. This is confirmed by a Behavioral Psychology article titled “Creative Arts Interventions for Stress Management and Prevention”. Researchers found that creative arts can be a powerful tool during interventions. Investing your energy in art can help you destress and help you express yourself.
If you haven’t flexed your artistic muscles since high school, you may want to join an art group in your local area. Art groups are close-knit community groups that will understand your struggles and help you stay accountable. Developing relationships with a group of art-oriented friends can help you experiment with new techniques, styles, and materials, too.
Alternatively, you can start creating from the comfort of your own home. Start simple and focus on learning techniques. Learning techniques like cross-hatching, shading, and underpainting gives you the skills you need to produce prints, photos, and pottery that you’re proud of. Practicing techniques associated with art can help you cultivate an ethos of self-love. Soon, you won’t judge yourself when practicing at the easel, and can practice mindfulness when throwing clay.
Tools for Getting Sober
If you’re still struggling to light your inner fire for these hobbies in your sobriety journey, you’re not alone. Luckily, there are plenty of options that can help you. For one, you can maintain your sobriety and reinforce accountability through remote alcohol monitoring systems like Soberlink. This tool aids individuals in recovery by offering a discreet, user-friendly method for tracking alcohol intake. Soberlink Devices use advanced technology, including wireless connectivity, facial recognition, and tamper detection, ensuring the integrity of each test. The system also allows users to instantly share test results with their support network or recovery team, helping them remain accountable and on track.
Systems like Soberlink are not just effective in monitoring sobriety milestones but also instill a sense of responsibility and structure. This is particularly valuable for those in early recovery, as it supports the establishment of new, healthier routines and hobbies.
In conjunction with alcohol monitoring, you can also leverage local recovery support groups. Here, you’ll find a community of individuals going through a similar experience, which may provide guidance as you seek out new hobbies to include in your routine.
Conclusion
Idle hands and free time will undermine your addiction recovery journey and increase your risk of relapse. Instead, try to fill your time with new hobbies and passions that engage you mentally and boost your well-being. These hobbies can prove to be powerful alternatives to AA and may help you follow through on your recovery addiction plan.