Healthy Living

The word grateful is an adjective. According to definition, it is a “feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness; thankful.” Gratefulness, or gratitude, is about thankfulness. It’s a feeling as well as an action. Being grateful is more than saying thank you or showing appreciation. It’s a feeling that you embody and embrace, incorporating it as part of your lifestyle. For recovery, gratitude is an essential practice, as well as feeling. Without gratitude, there is a lack in appreciation for recovery. Recovery isn’t always easy! Staying sober, not relying on old behaviors, staying away from destructive patterns, takes a lot of work. On some days the work is easy. Other days can be quite the challenge. Gratitude is easier to practice when things are good. We can be appreciative and thankful for what feels good and easy. We can feel less defensive or aggressive toward what doesn't cause us stress or challenge us in any way. Unfortunately, life isn’t always easy. Recovery is about learning to “live life on life’s terms” which means accepting that there are good days and bad days. Gratitude can be the bridge which walks us over troubled waters when the storms are raging. Even on the bad days, we can be grateful for a number of things in life. All we have to do is practice gratitude to find it. Here are a few ways how:

Mind, body, and spirit- this is the most simple definition of what approaching something from a holistic standpoint means. The holistic approach is being used to treat all areas of mental health, from addiction and alcoholism (substance use disorders) to depression and anxiety (mood disorders) to bipolar and borderline (personality disorders). Any kind of mental health disorder, it has been discovered, doesn’t only affect mental health. Instead, most treatment providers have discovered that mental health issues affect both physical health and spiritual health as well. Holistic treatment means creating an integrative plan for each client which assesses all three areas of mind, body, and spirit. Their mental wellbeing, physical wellbeing, and spiritual well being have to be treated at the same time in order to ensure a greater chance at lifelong recovery. Isolating just one area of treatment negates the other areas of treatment. For mental health issues, there can not be any room for neglect. When someone makes the decision to call for help and enter treatment for a significant amount of time in their life, they need to heal. Most often, people who enter treatment are not well, perhaps more in one area than another. Still, in order to fully recover, they have to heal holistically.

If there is any one factor which contributes to the continuation of heroin and opioid addiction, it might be the withdrawals. Symptoms of withdrawals for heroin and opioid addiction are some of the most severe. Body aches to the extreme, flu like symptoms beyond normal, restless legs, and an incessant craving for drugs leave addicts trying to recover so weak and vulnerable, they often return to using drugs. Despite the inherent consequences of using opioids once again- like having to go through withdrawal once again- the relief of opioids is preferable to the symptoms of withdrawal. Anything, most addicts feel, to make the pain and cravings stop. Making detox from heroin and opioids easier is a primary focus of many researchers and treatment providers. If they can reduce the severity of detox symptoms, they might have a better chance of keeping more addicts seeking recovery in recovery. For many years now turning to alternative therapy types like yoga, massage, and acupuncture, have become relied upon practices for reducing pain and increasing wellness during detox. Acupuncture is an ancient treatment method used in eastern traditions. Unlike western medicine, eastern medicine is preventative. Most western medicine seeks to treat the problem once the problem is already present. Acupuncture helps to treat the immediate symptoms of withdrawal while simultaneously equipping the body. Reducing the severity of symptoms helps the body prepare to fight future symptoms with a greater sense of strength as well as ease. Acupuncture works by using acupressure points which correlate to different channels for energy, targeting emotional experiences as well as functions of specific organs. In the philosophy of acupuncture, and most eastern medicine, everything is connected. An unexpressed emotion leads to stagnant energy which can cause dysfunction in an organ. Needless to say, the mind, body, and spirit of a heroin and/or opioid addict is dysfunctional. Acupuncture helps clear old energy, heal the body, purify the mind, and replenish the spirit. Acupuncture In And Out Of Treatment Finding an acupuncturist outside of treatment requires a few simple steps. First, call your insurance to see if preventative treatments like acupuncture are covered. You can find an acupuncture provider within your network. If not, search for acupuncturists in your area. You might be able to find an acupuncturist who specifically works with addiction. If not, call a few acupuncturists and explain your situation. They might be able to come do a treatment in your home if you have chosen to do home detox. Detox is most safely done in a supervised, clinical setting. If you or a loved one have become addicted to heroin and are in need of treatment, Avalon By The Sea is here to help. Our beautiful estate is home to our addiction treatment center, surrounded by the serene coastline of Malibu, California. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs, call 1 888-958-7511.

Group therapy is an effective yet controversial part of the treatment process. Often ridiculed for being ineffective, many debate whether going to ‘rehab’ for a drug addiction or mental illness needs to include so much group therapy. Everyone recovers differently, which is why many treatment plans today are highly individualized to meet the specific needs of each client. Group therapy is a way to engage with other clients, support one another on a social level, and benefit from participating in different therapy types. Traditional methods of individual therapy are effective as well, which is why they are included multiple times a week in a treatment plan. Most individual therapists in treatment centers utilize cognitive behavioral therapy which is one of the most widely used and evidence based treatment types for mental health rehabilitation. However, there are issues with regarding cognitive behavioral therapy as the gold standard of addiction and mental health treatment. Cognitive functions and the cognition are a part of the brain can become severely damaged through substance abuse and the untreated side effects of mental illnesses. When the cognition is impaired, called cognitive deficits, grasping the process and many broad messages of cognitive behavioral therapy can be difficult. Too many clients in the early part of their recovery process find themselves in this state and as a result struggle to feel as though they are “getting it”. Consequently, the cognitive behavioral therapy is not as effective. Medical Daily reports on a new study which found that mindfulness based group therapy was found to be as effective if not potentially more so than traditional individual therapy using the CBT method. Patients studied for the research were struggling with either anxiety disorders, depression, or other stress-related disorders. Addiction and alcoholism are frequently co-occurring with any of these disorders. “The researchers evaluated how the patient's’ symptoms changed over the course of the study, either with mindfulness group therapy or CBT. The results revealed both groups’ scores on the various questionnaires decreased significantly.” Conclusively, the researchers emphasize mindfulness as a “viable treatment” for mental health. Mindfulness based therapy treatments are essential for providing the holistic treatment needed to fully recover from addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders. Avalon By The Sea offers residential care for primary substance use and primary mental health disorders. For information on our residential treatment programs, call 1 888-958-7511.

Believe it or not, the changes do come. One day at a time, you’re transforming in ways you might not even notice until months down the line. The time and effort is worth it. Here are some of the things you’re going to notice the longer you stay sober and do the work. Taking Care Of Yourself: Mind, body, and spirit, you have learned to tend to yourself in the ways that you need. You’ve learned every form of self-care you need, from getting enough sleep to cooking healthy and nutritious meals, or at least making sure you’re fed. Hygiene is a normal part of your life and you even do your own laundry, however begrudgingly. Doing Things For Yourself: You know how to make appointments and keep them, leave with enough time to arrive on time, and be fully present. You can grocery shop, you’ve learned how to budget to a degree, and you’re able to meet your basic needs on your own. You Take Responsibility: When you’re wrong, you promptly admit it. You don’t blame everyone else anymore. In fact, you understand that looking for your part in any situation is an important practice for your recovery. Routines Are Routine Now: You are able to create routines and stick to them. When a routine needs adjusting, you are able to do so without falling apart. You’ve learned how to structure your life in a healthy and balanced way to support you, your recovery, and having fun. You Appreciate The Work: Almost everyone in early recovery has moments of entitlement, lacking in gratitude, and waiting for everything to change. You learned that you had to put in the work in order to get results. Now, you’ve found the willingness to apply yourself to what you want in all areas of your life. You’re A Constant Work In Progress: One area at a time, you continue to tackle your recovery from all angles. Need to take a look at your anger? You’re in. Having some codependency issues in a new relationship? You’re willing to take a look. Need to confront some disordered eating behaviors? You’re going to try new things. After witnessing the miraculous changes which have come to you through recovery, you know that it’s all about progress, not perfection. You’re Okay With You: Your relationship with yourself may not be perfect, but it is certainly different than it used to be. You are comfortable in your own skin, you can stand looking at yourself in a mirror, and you no longer feel like the room walks around you after you walk into a room. You’re even beginning to like yourself. For many in early recovery, self-hatred or self-loathing is common. You’re learning to love yourself and be okay with the amazing, courageous you that you are. We know what incredible changes are waiting for you on the other side of addiction. If you or a loved one are ready to see changes come to fruition through residential treatment, Avalon Malibu is ready to welcome you to our trusted programs for mental health and substance abuse recovery. For a confidential assessment and more information on our programs, call 1 888-958-7511.

Napping is really good. Ask anyone who takes one. A good nap can mean the difference between an okay day and a fantastic day. The body needs sleep. In fact, the body loves sleep. Taking a nap is a special way to work a little extra sleep into the day. Whether you are getting a full 6-9 hours of sleep a night or struggling to get close to 6, a nap can help you feel rejuvenated. Naps have been proven through research to provide an extra mental boost, help with sleep, and enhance focus. Unfortunately, napping can get out of hand. Too much extra sleep can cause insomnia and throw off your energy for the day. There is an art to napping. Learning to nap in an efficient and productive day can help you to lead with your best foot forward during treatment. Treatment and early recovery can include a lot of napping. During the therapeutic process, the body and the mind are exhausted. Napping can feel like it is essential for the soul. After years of exhausting the body’s natural resources, napping during the early months of recovery are a wonderful way to make up for that. However, many undergo the criticism that they nap too much. Sleeping is certainly better than drinking or using drugs. When taking naps and sleeping gets in the way of actual recovery, it becomes a problem. Napping can be part of the work to heal. Avoiding group therapy, sleeping through meetings, or not doing homework from a therapist is problematic.

Nobody likes drama. Drama is in fact such a touchy subject that people go out of their way to emphasize the fact that they don’t like drama, don’t “do” drama, or aren’t about drama at all. Typically, such people tend to create or invite a lot of drama into their lives. However, they bring drama around, they seem to do it with a gusto. Some people seem to need to be the center of attention. Whether they are being bright and positive or dark and full of rage, however they are expressing themselves, they do so fully. Histrionic personality disorder is a diagnosable issue in which someone is only able to process or cope with their feelings in a very dramatic way. Drama, and people who are dramatic, tend to have a decent idea of who they are. Their theatrical productions and reactions are rooted in their character as being dramatic; as opposed to being rooted in a lost sense of self. Flaring up into extremes of emotion and expression is often the sign that there is no center in who someone is. Without a baseline foundation to work from, all reactions will be excited. Excited emotions aren’t just on the outside for those with histrionic personality disorder. Experiencing frequent mood changes, emotional instability, and an inability to effectively communicate emotions without causing a scene, are all common. Some professionals feel that the label of histrionic personality disorder is a cover for post traumatic stress disorder. U.S. Health And News cites that the histrionic reaction is rooted in not being heard. Certain traumatic experiences rob someone of their ability to express themselves, be believed about their witnessing or enduring trauma, or take away their voice. As a result, they learn to make themselves extra loud, extra known, and extra acknowledged. Their drama truly is about not being able to stand a moment out of the spotlight. Without the attention, they likely revert to a fear caused by trauma. Treating any kind of mental health disorder usually involves a look at trauma. Involving trauma treatment in the therapeutic healing process is necessary for assessing and confronting underlying issues which lead to “disordered” behaviors. By identifying core sources of conflict and allowing them to heal, true change can occur in someone's life. If you or a loved one feel your emotions and reactions are out of control causing a negative influence in your life, help is available. Call Avalon Malibu today for information on our trusted residential treatment programs providing care for primary mental health conditions. 1 888-958-7511.

Learning to share at recovery meetings is a practical application of many tolls being learned inside of treatment center walls: communication, emotional regulation and articulation, as well as storytelling. “Old timers”, the people who have been attending AA for some time, regard shares from newcomers who are struggling through their first few months a necessity. When you share at a meeting you help others in recovery, new people having a hard time, and you help yourself. Experience Shares at meetings aren’t meant to be what are often called “drunk-a-logues” or “war stories”. Each share should have a mention of the experience with which you have struggled before or are struggling with now. Though, a few funny stories can always get the crowd going. Your experience includes the time when drugs and alcohol were your answer to life. During your active using days, you were acting in a way you thought was normal until you realized it wasn’t normal anymore. It took courage to decide to change, but you did. Strength You might not think it now, but being in treatment for a drug and alcohol addiction is a feat of strength. It takes bravery to confront one’s past, look one’s demons in the eye, and take charge in life to effect real transformative change. One day at a time, you’re making progress in your life that will alter it forever. Getting through treatment, the seemingly impossible early days of recovery, and onto the other side where peace and serenity have been waiting, is a strength people need to hear about. More importantly, it is a strength you need to hear about. Sharing at a meeting is a good way to remind yourself how important the work you are doing to heal is and how remarkably strong you are for doing it. It is almost guaranteed that at least one person in the room will need to hear exactly what you had to share. Hope The word hope is defined as “a feeling of trust”. When addicts and alcoholics reach the ending point in their recovery, they cannot trust themselves to stay away from a drink or a drug. That kind of fear seeps into all parts of their lives. How can they trust AA? How can they trust the steps? How can they trust their treatment center? How can they trust that anything is going to work? Even the smallest accomplishments are achievements of distinct proportions in recovery. If you make it through anything without a drink or a drug, you are “trusting the process” as it is said. After sharing your experience with active addiction and the strength of coming to recovery, your hope is the most important part. Not too long ago, and maybe even still, you were full of doubt that anything would work. Today, it’s working, because you’re working it. Hope is what tells other people in the room that they, too, can recover.Recovery should be an all inclusive experience which allows each individual to discover what works for them to support their recovery and what does not. AA is not for everyone, but works for millions of people. Avalon Malibu supports individualized treatment programs to meet the needs of each client. Including proven clinical techniques with healing holistic modalities for wellness, our trusted programs result in true transformative change. For a confidential assessment of more information, call 1 888-958-7511.

Stress is the number one trigger for relapse in both primary mental health disorders and substance use disorders. Interestingly, the brain likes stress. The brain is more prone to notice and adapt to negativity in its environment than it is positivity. Many people who learn to cope with stress in negative ways create reward pathways in their brains which change how they relate to stress. Since the brain is prone to noticing stress, someone who isn’t able to cope with it will feel it more strongly. Mental illnesses thwart the ability to cope with stress, without the right tools and treatments. Recovery, on the other hand, strengthen the brain and enforce new neural pathways which help the brain respond to stress differently. Treatment and therapy for recovery focuses heavily on stress reduction and learning to cope with stress when it arises. Recovery is not the absence of stress. Unfortunately, life continues to happen on life’s terms, which often involves the occasional high amount of stress. Fortunately, there are ways to cope with stresses, big and small, without having to turn to harmful behaviors like substance abuse, self-harm, hurting others, or causing more stress.

Trying to get a good night sleep can become an expensive challenge. There is no need to break the bank in order to catch some Z’s. Keeping A Clean Room Nothing about cleaning your room sounds relaxing. After dealing with the short term stress of having to clean your room, you get to luxuriate in the long-term glory of a full night’s sleep. Having a clean room reduces the clutter in your mind as well as on  your floor. When you fall asleep having just looked at all of your unfinished business laying around your room, you are prone to think about it. Even if your laundry list isn’t the most prominent thing you’re thinking about as you’re counting sheep, somewhere in your mind there is an active note reminding you to clean up sometime soon. Buy Blackout Shades If you’re a difficult person to wake up in the morning, blackout shades might not be the best solution for you. For others who are vulnerable to the first crack of sunlight, blackout shades can be a game changer. Waking up too early, especially after a less than satisfying night's sleep, can be a challenge for overall energy, sustainability, and functioning. Blackout shades naturally reduce the amount of sunlight which gets in through the window. You’ll be able to sleep longer and more deeply without interruption. Resolve  Your Issues Part of the program of recovery suggested by the twelve steps includes continuing to take a daily inventory. At the end of each day, recovering addict and alcoholics are expected to review what happened in their day, specifically looking at any kind of wrongdoing which might necessitate a prompt apology. Going to bed with a steaming brain full of resentment and anger is not helpful for sleep. Instead, the stress can keep you up all night, which makes coping with the stress even more difficult. Create A Bedtime Ritual Ideally, you should start getting “ready” for bed about an hour ahead of bed time. The brain takes an hour to start preparing for sleep. Staying totally active and engaged before you shut off the light and close your eyes doesn’t give your brain any of the important down time it needs to transition into being sleepy. Brush your teeth, wash your face, do some stretches, journal, write a gratitude list, meditate- whatever it is that makes you feel relaxed and completed at the end of the day will help you sleep. The body needs to heal holistically in order to recover. Treating mind, body, and spirit is essential for long term recovery. For trusted programs which produce trusted results, call Avalon Malibu today. We’ll guide you with a confidential assessment and more information on how our residential treatment programs can help you. 1 888-958-7511.

Drugs and alcohol can feel like our only friends at the end of our addiction. Having isolated ourselves in some way to our addictions, drugs and alcohol were what we had left. Even if our worlds were full, our hearts we're empty. Only drugs and alcohol understood us. Yet it wasn’t a real relationship. Substances are not people and the relationship was not healthy. It is important to learn about your relationship to substances. What were the underlying reasons for using? What purpose did using serve in your life? Why do you feel it is so hard to let go of your addiction? By seeing your relationship objectively, you can begin to detach from it. Identify How You Want To Build A Relationship With Yourself: Now that you are saying goodbye to drugs and alcohol, you have to focus on a relationship with yourself. It takes time to even approach this subject. In time, you will start to think about how you want your life to be without drug and alcohol addiction in the picture. Who do you want to be? How do you want to feel? What do you want your life to look like? The more you clarify your vision of yourself in the future, the more you realize drugs and alcohol were never going to help you get there. Allow Yourself Time, This Too Shall Pass: One day, it isn’t going to hurt your heart to think of drugs and alcohol. You won’t feel the pain of loss anymore. Eventually, you will find closure on this period of your life as you transition into a new one. Don’t expect your grieving process to happen in a hurry or look any particular way. Let your experience be what it is and be present within it. Engage In Self-Care: For many people drug and alcohol abuse were the ways that they took care of themselves. To deal with a bad time, to celebrate a good time, to have a little bit of “me” time during the day, taking care of the self became synonymous with consuming drugs and alcohol. Recovery puts a lot of emphasis on self-care. Participating in self-care is important for the grieving process. You learn to take care of yourself and nurture your needs in mind, body, and spirit, in order to fully heal. Feeling a loss with drug and alcohol addiction is common. Living in a safe environment with the structure of clinical care, along with the nurturing healing of holistic treatments, can ensure a safe grieving process without relapse. Avalon Malibu proudly serves as one of southern California's leading treatment facilities providing trusted programs for change. For a confidential assessment, call 1 (888) 958-7511 today.

Recovery from mental health sounds odd to some people. Are mental health disorders things that go away in the brain or do they live on like cancers in remission? Relapse is a word commonly used for the treatment of depression, for example, but the recurrence of depression can’t be found through imaging scans. Recovery from mental health encompasses the critical life changes, therapy, and treatment which takes place mind, body, and spirit. With dedication to therapy, diet, nutrition, exercise, medication, lifestyle changes, communication, and spiritual wellness, recovery is possible. One writer who struggled with narcissism and found a way to recover from it explained her story to Salon. She writes about a significant trauma which happened in her teenage years and caused her relationship with attention and validation to become overwhelming. As a coping mechanism, she increasingly adopted the attitudes and behaviors as well as many of the characteristics of a narcissist. Rather than cope with negative experiences in life, like emotional pain, she became hardened and attached to inflation of the ego. Thankfully, she realized that she wasn’t truly living and needed to change. Realistically, she explains to her readers that doing “the work” isn’t as glamorous as it is made out to be. “I wish I could say it’s amazing to do the work to course-correct from the dangerous entanglements of narcissism. It’s not, but it is worth it.” She describes, “Disengaging and moving forward is lonely and disorienting. You’re constantly tested with new scenarios in which you continue the pattern or not. I have often felt confused, weak or forgotten because I’m no longer a pawn or a player in a high-stakes chess match.” The most challenging part, she expresses, “is the challenge of defining your healthy self and determining how to wield that newfound self-respect and freedom.” Recovering from narcissism demands a certain element of self-awareness and a desire to change. Confronting a painful and traumatic past takes hard therapeutic and emotional work. When the payoff of narcissistic tendencies is no longer beneficial, being stuck within the behaviors can become painful in itself. Having healthy relationships with others is possible. More importantly, it is possible to restore a healthy relationship with yourself. Avalon Malibu wants to see you thrive in a  harmonious balance of mind, body, and spirit. Our residential treatment facility dedicated to primary mental health treatment is located on a beautiful estate overlooking the iconic Malibu coast. For a confidential assessment and more information on our trusted programs, call 1 888-958-7511.