How Exercise Can Fuel Your Recovery

The effect of exercise on your body, mind, and spirit cannot be understated. It is nothing short of profound. Exercise can act as an anti-depressant and boost self-esteem. It relieves anxiety and makes you stronger and more relaxed. Exercise helps you control your weight, helps you sleep better, improves your mood and even helps you control addiction due to the release of dopamine (the "feel-good" hormone) during workouts. Exercise helps protect you from a wide range of health issues giving you a better quality of life and helping you live longer.



Exercise is truly one of the healthy addictions! As you embark on your new, sober life, exercise will be one of the keys to staying sober and enjoying your sobriety. Exercise is fun, it's demanding, and it's rewarding. You can do it solo or in groups. You can exercise indoors or outdoors. You can start slowly and build up, or jump right in to a demanding class and rigorous schedule. You choose.

The goal is to try many different types of exercise. One or more will fit and stick. Consider joining a gym or yoga studio. Try different classes to see what class and teacher you most enjoy. Be sure and try sports that are exhilarating too like surfing, skiing, dance, or the new obstacle runs like Tough Mudder and Rugged Maniac. Not only will you enjoy the dopamine release we mentioned, you'll also enjoy the endorphin release that intense exercise generates. Endorphins reduce pain and produce a euphoric feeling. They are our body's natural opiates.

The goal is to find some form of exercise that you love and that you can incorporate into your life on a regular basis. Exercising 4-5 times a week is ideal. Taking a day off or two is good for your body as you need to rest and recuperate from workouts, particularly demanding ones. We recommend an hour workout for maximum benefits but you can exercise for as little as 30 minutes a day and still enjoy the health benefits. The benefits of exercise are numerous as outlined in the following guideline.

According to the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, being physically active on a regular basis:

• Improves your chances of living longer and living healthier
• Helps protect you from developing heart disease and stroke or its precursors, high blood pressure and undesirable blood lipid patterns
• Helps protect you from developing certain cancers, including colon and breast cancer, and possibly lung and endometrial (uterine lining) cancer
• Helps prevent type 2 diabetes (what was once called adult-onset diabetes) and metabolic syndrome (a constellation of risk factors that increases the chances of developing heart disease and diabetes).
• Helps prevent the insidious loss of bone known as osteoporosis
• Reduces the risk of falling and improves cognitive function among older adults
• Relieves symptoms of depression and anxiety and improves mood
• Prevents weight gain, promotes weight loss (when combined with a lower-calorie diet), and helps keep weight off after weight loss
• Improves heart-lung and muscle fitness
• Improves sleep

You may not be concerned with all of these health issues but rest assured, exercise will make you feel better! It brings enjoyment to life and adds variety to your routine. Every time you get out and do something physical, you will be happy you did. Exercise and mental health/well-being are intimately linked. The bottom line is that exercise will make you feel better in so many ways. So, what exercise or sport have you always wanted to do? There are so many amazing ones out there and all you have to do is sign up. Get started, today!

At Crossroads Ibogaine Treatment Center we take a holistic approach to recovery and know, firsthand, the profound effect of exercise on lasting recovery. Add exercise to your recovery protocol and if you, or a loved one, needs any assistance in recovery, please contact us: http://www.bestibogainerehab.com

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