Hit the Pool, Not the Gym

First off, it’s just fun. And when you’re having fun, dopamine increases. Addiction hijacks your dopamine “reward system” so it’s important to take it back as often as you can. Simply being in the water is good for dopamine production because it makes you feel calm and secure, as mentioned earlier, but it also creates a sense of connection. Swimming together is actually found to increase tendencies toward things like compassion, altruism, and conservancy. This means that people who spend more time in water are more likely to take care of themselves and others.

While most exercise techniques are good for anxiety, swimming forces you to face your anxiety head on. Performing strenuous exercise while keeping your face underwater gives most people a sense of panic when they first start. But those who power through and stick with it learn that the fear that underlined the panic was unwarranted once they knew what to do. There are countless opportunities like this during intense swimming practices where you’ll be challenged. You can then apply that same understanding to the rest of your daily life.

Swimming is a good meditative experience. You can move through soothing water naturally free of noisy distractions. The water also provides you with immediate feedback. This way, you can make adjustments to your technique as you stroke. This naturally requires more active thinking and focus than something like going for a walk. The extra concentration demanded by swimming often leads to what is commonly known as a “flow state.” While in a mental flow state, you’re more intrinsically motivated and emotionally regulated. Simply put, swimming can help you focus on good things.

If you’ve smoked cigarettes or other substances, your lungs will obviously be damaged to varying degrees. Swimming is better than any other physical activity for building lung capacity. Intense aquatic activities require you to push yourself in many aspects of lung use. You have to learn to hold in more breath, for longer and longer time, and breathe in and out at very specific times. If you still smoke, swimming can be an excellent motivator to quit and an even better replacement habit.

Chronic pain or sleep issues can be both the cause or effect of your addiction. Swimming can be an effective way of alleviating those issues in recovery. It can help relieve things like joint and back pain. Getting enough sleep, or just better sleep, has been proven to lower recurrence rates. Swimming can also be a great tool for getting better sleep and avoiding recurrences. According to The Huffington Post, swimming has been shown to “improve quality of sleep two-fold.” This is done not only by making you physically tired, but also by reducing your stress level, as noted above.

Indoor planting is becoming a lot more popular these days. However, taking part in more traditional gardening takes advantage of the physical benefits of the great outdoors. These advantages include increased vitamin D levels from the sun, lowered blood pressure, and a boosted immune system. Growing your own food can naturally improve your diet and nutrition, too. You can’t grow Cheetos as far as I’m aware. (But if anyone finds a way, can you please let me know?) You’ll naturally eat healthier because you’re eating unprocessed, unaltered food.

Recovery is ultimately about changing how we live our life. That’s why it’s such a long-term thing. We spend all of our energy avoiding old negative habits and building new, positive ones. Including regular exercise in your life is one of many effective strategies. Hitting your local beach or pool at a fitness center is a great way to instill new, positive habits in your life. In doing so, you’ll more than likely run into people who share the same new passion. That can open up the door for forging new friendships based around a common interest in a healthier lifestyle. They can keep you accountable to the goals you set for yourself and encourage you on your journey.