Having a relationship with God or a higher power can enhance your life greatly. During treatment, having this relationship is encouraged, as it can benefit your experience through the process and help aid in your recovery. A connection with yourself and your environment are also important factors to spiritual well-being. It is important to develop habits to ensure you remain consistent with your communication and connections with God, a higher power, yourself, and others during treatment.
Spiritual Health
Spiritual health is considered to be vital to one’s overall well-being and is one of the five dimensions of health. These dimensions include physical, social, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual health, and all are impacted by one another. Often, if one dimension is lacking, one or various other dimensions are negatively impacted as a result. Spiritual health involves internal and external connections, and is believed to have three components:
- Human connection with God
- Human connection with himself/herself
- Human connection with others and nature
Having a connection with God or a higher power, being connected with yourself and your thoughts and feelings, along with the ability to connect to others and nature encompasses spiritual health. Finding ways to improve these connections can aid in recovery and enhance your experiences during treatment.
Habits for Good Spiritual Health
Establishing habits to ensure good spiritual health that works for your schedule and lifestyle is possible. It only takes a few minutes per day to check in with yourself, God or a higher power, and the environment around you.
With God/Higher Power
One of the easiest and most obvious ways to establish and maintain a connection with God or a higher power is to communicate and listen. Typically, this is done through prayer. Prayer can take place any time of day and can be done anywhere. Ideally, you will have a quiet environment, free of any distractions. Prayer can involve requests or gratitude or could be more of a listening experience.
Connecting with God or a higher power could also be done in the form of written communication. Sometimes, writing our thoughts or feelings can feel more solidified or concrete. Writing down what you want to bring to God each day or each week can be a great option. This allows you to release what burdens you by allowing God or a higher power to take control.
With Yourself
Checking in with yourself can be easier said than done. In the midst of difficult times, it can be very hard to tune out distractions and really sit with and understand your own feelings, needs, and emotions. While difficult, it is imperative to remain aware and considerate of yourself and how you are coping during treatment.
Sitting with your emotions and connecting with your inner self can be challenging and might take some practice. Meditation is a great way to remove any distractions that may prevent you from digging deep and self-reflecting. Setting aside time each morning, or even a few times per week, to meditate can greatly benefit introspective thought and improve your ability to understand your own thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
With Others/Nature
Now that you have removed external stimuli to connect with yourself, it is time to do just the opposite. Connections with your environment allow you to function and form relationships with others. Our feelings for or toward others such as love, empathy, and forgiveness fall into this category. Understanding that we are not responsible for the feelings of others, but for our own behavior as we interact with others is imperative.
Attending social groups or spending time in nature allows us to connect and remind ourselves of the responsibility we have toward others and our natural environment. Joining group therapy as part of treatment or spending some time alone or with a friend in nature regularly can benefit this component of your spiritual health.
Good Spiritual Health During Treatment
Believing in or seeking God or a higher power is referenced several times within 12-Step programs and is a concept widely encouraged during treatment. Understanding and accepting that the hold addiction can have over you is larger than yourself is an important piece to the puzzle. Finding hope in knowing you are protected and guided by a higher power is helpful and can be very comforting during the journey to recovery.
Equally important to good spiritual health is a strong connection with yourself. Understanding your own wants, needs, actions and feelings is vital to your success and sobriety, long-term. Lastly, a connection with others and nature can promote accountability and responsibility for the people and things around you, reminding you that decisions made can have a widespread impact.
Establishing habits to promote good spiritual health can complement your treatment experience and have lasting benefits during recovery. Spending time in prayer, meditating, or with nature daily are great ways to be sure you are taking care of your spiritual health. At Renaissance Ranch, we implement many spiritual components within our treatment programs and services. We believe in the power of a relationship with God or a higher power, and want to encourage that experience for those who choose our services. Renewal, rebirth, and change are possible for everyone and can be achieved through our programs. If you or a loved one is battling drug or alcohol addiction, consider reaching out to us for a faith-based treatment experience. By combining principles of spirituality with evidence-based practices, we aim to promote holistic and permanent change. Call Renaissance Ranch today at (801) 308-8898.