For many of us, being disconnected from our spirits and inner selves was a major contributor to our struggles with addiction and mental health issues. The more we are able to connect with ourselves and understand ourselves, the more likely we are to take the steps to maintain our wellbeing. When we love and accept ourselves, we are less likely to be self-destructive. How can we incorporate a spiritual practice into our recovery?

Having a regular spiritual practice helps us to connect with our spirits and with the truth of who we are. We find that this can help us to feel less overwhelmed, stressed, anxious and depressed. We are better able to tap into our gratitude and appreciation. We find it easier to direct our energy towards the healthy things that make us happy and strengthen us. We’re less likely to be tempted to give into addictive urges and compulsions. We’re less inclined to want to be self-destructive.

We can make our spiritual practice our own and unique to who we are. We can find the elements of who we are that help us to connect with our higher power. Prayer, meditation, chanting, humming and singing are all elements of a spiritual practice that are rooted in who you are, using your own mind, heart and voice. Explore using prayer beads, crystals, singing bowls, prayer flags, candles, spiritual artwork and books. Design an altar for yourself that incorporates these beautiful elements. Pay homage to your higher power, your ancestors, spirit guides, angels, and any other connection you have to spirit. Include feathers, stones, leaves and other beautiful things you find in nature. Set up an altar by a window that gets sunlight in the morning and meditate or pray with it as a powerful way to start your day.

A simple way to incorporate a spiritual practice into your daily routine is to start a gratitude practice. List things you feel grateful for, when you wake up in the morning, as you’re going to sleep, and/or throughout the day. Try using a journal, and when you read old entries, you’ll be reminded how blessed you really are. Meditate on feelings of gratitude, love and appreciation. The more we focus on gratitude, the more we train our minds to find more things we are grateful for, and the happier we feel. This causes us to attract even more things into our lives to be grateful for. We can choose to see that every blessing, every single thing we’re grateful for, is a gift from our higher power that connects us to spirit.

We believe in you, and we’re here to support you in your recovery. Call 888-570-7154 for more information.