“It’s the road signs: Beware of lions.”
Edna Kiplagat, Kenyan athlete
On why her country produces so many great distance runners
Track was my favorite sport back in college but it wasn’t until I seriously started drinking that I truly learned what it was like to run. To run from everything that I couldn’t deal with and to run from everything that I couldn’t change. No, there weren’t lions back in my home state, except the ones in the city zoo, but there were plenty of other dangers, other threats and other predators that scared me. Alcohol was my escape.
If there was one particular thing (and I’ve been through plenty of therapy now, so I’m pretty sure this is right) that changed me from a heavy social drinker, the partying ex-college boy, to a full-blown alcoholic, it was this: the passing of my uncle, a man who had been like a father to me ever since the real one walked out on his wife and kids when I was just 6 years old.
He wasn’t that kind of “uncle” either, like my Mom’s special friend, if you know what I mean. He was a good man, one I aspired to be like (one day). A short but serious illness took him from us, from me, soon after I’d finished college and was out and about doing some serious job-hunting. That stopped, and the even more serious drinking began.
Just another thing I couldn’t deal with, another thing I couldn’t change.
I could now go on to describe the inevitable, complete and utter demise of my life as it was, but that’s for another day. Suffice to say, my family, who had sat on the sidelines and watched me slowly but surely disintegrate in front of them, decided they’d had enough, and an arranged an alcohol intervention. Medical staff from an addiction rehabilitation center in the next state over came to our house, and, with the extended family members that were also present, persuaded me that enough was enough, there was help waiting, because I surely needed it.
So I went. And I got help.
Rehab taught me many, many things – lessons that changed me and my life. It’s one of these I wish to share with you (recovering alcoholics, we love to share, didn’t you know?). Put simply, the power of exercise. Here are the 4 most important benefits of exercise during addiction recovery:
Exercise & Stress
Addicts, be they alcoholics or junkies or gamblers or any other of the kinds out there, all have one thing in common (obviously, apart from the fact their drug of choice has ruined or is ruining their life). It’s this: they can’t do stress, they can’t deal with it, and they certainly can’t manage it. Stress, and an addict’s inability to deal with it, pushes their substance abuse to greater heights, every time.
Exercise relieves stress and reduces it (both of which are the foundations of addiction recovery*), the inescapable physical and psychological stresses of just plain living. We all get stressed to a degree – at work, at home, even through simple daily interactions. It’s now got to the point (I’m 6 years sober, and exercise is an integral part of my ongoing addiction recovery) when I can physically feel myself relaxing just lacing up my Nike’s, ready for that day’s run with the dog.
These daily runs help to give a healthy outlet for pent-up tensions (and, believe me, recovering addicts have plenty of those).
*SKFitLife does not endorse or promote any products or services that are mentioned in guest blog posts, if you have any questions, please contact the guest blogger directly with any questions that you might have.
Exercise & Your Brain
Addicts get and stay addicted because addiction changes the way the brain functions. All substance abuse will affect the brain’s natural chemical balances, but did you also know it actually causes the brain to restructure itself, making it even harder for addicts to quit and stay quit? Addiction will lessen feelings of happiness, satisfaction and even pleasure.
Exercise is a great natural way to restore those balances through the release of endorphins within the brain. Additionally, it “re-teaches” the brain to regulate the chemicals that it produces, so, not only does it make you feel better, it can help repair the damage that has been done.
Exercise & Mood
During my time in rehab, one of the skills I learned was the practice of meditation (it’s another of my daily rituals, just like the 3-odd miles I spend running after my crazy dog). For me, exercise has many similarities to meditation. The most important in my experience is the ability to refocus my thoughts on my own health and mental well-being, and this desire to make the most of what I have.
Exercise allows me to return to my daily life with renewed optimism, and a sense of being rejuvenated in some way. My mood post-exercise is always, always more positive than my mood before it.
Exercise & Health
Now, I could sit here and reel off a load of facts regarding the importance of exercise to maintain your physical health. That, to my mind, would be a little pointless, and I’m sure you’d agree. You already know all that stuff. However, not so well known as the wonders of a 20-minute cardiovascular workout is this: exercise increases your normal energy levels.
Having greater energy levels, when you throw in your happier and less-troubled mood, means just one thing to me: a happier life. The desire to experience and enjoy everything that life has to offer increases when you have the necessary energy to do it.
Stay Strong
Exercise is a major factor in my ability to continue and sustain my addiction recovery. The 4 great benefits described above relating to stress, the brain, mood, and health are all integral to living successfully with my addiction. I’m a realist now. I’ll never be cured, and my recovery needs to involve complete abstinence. The alternative is unthinkable.
Exercise gets me where I need to be. Yes, I’m human, and there are some days when I really just don’t feel like doing my usual exercise routine. So I make a deal with myself: whatever you spend this extra time doing, do something useful. Chances are, it’ll be some kind of exercise in itself, a DIY project, cleaning the garage, helping a neighbor, that kind of stuff.
How has exercise helped you? Are you a gym-only kind of person or do you spend a little while every day chasing your four-legged friend? Please feel free to share.
You know, there was a time all my running was about escape, about running away, fleeing what I couldn’t deal with. Now, hand of heart, I swear I’m now running towards something, something I will surely embrace when the distance has been covered. Stay strong.
Guest Blogger
