How To Practice Self-Love

At Hollywood Hills Recovery, we get the privilege of treating hundreds of human beings every year. What we have found is that underneath the behaviors driven by their addiction, most of our clients are actually very good people. It's unfortunate to see so many good people fall victim to drug or alcohol addiction, especially when that is not the best version of them. The ability to take a look at what one’s own needs are requires a level of self-awareness, but it is absolutely critical to developing ways to practice self-love.

Our Treatment Goal for Your

As we start our journey serving you are a client, we have three things we want to accomplish. First, we want to help you manage your withdrawal issues that are certain to come calling as you stop drinking or using drugs. We can effectively help you with this through one of our medically monitored detox programs.

Second, we want to help you find the root causes of your addiction. In other words, we want to take you on a journey of self-discovery, where you are the inner critic, to help you figure out why you have been feeling the need to self-medicate. After we help you face your issues, we can direct you to develop the coping skills you will need in recovery to avoid relapses.

The last we want to do is help prepare you for the future. We want to help direct you so you'll never have to go through the experience of a relapse. How can we help?

It's our desire to teach you how to practice self-love. If you can learn to love and trust yourself, it would decrease the likelihood you would ever return to destructive behaviors. With this objective in mind, we offer you these seven (7) tips on practicing self-love. According to the American Psychological Association, self-love is about having a high regard for our own well-being and contentment.

1. Put Yourself First

Before you set out to help others, you must first be in fine fettle before you proceed. You'll be able to function much better in society if you keep yourself in good physical and mental health.

Since physical and mental health are so closely connected, you should start with a focus on putting your physical health first. That would include eating a well-balanced diet, maintaining a regular exercise program, and getting plenty of sleep. If you are feeling well physically, you will be less likely to get stressed and suffer from anxiety and depression. Spending time on yourself prioritizes the personal growth needed to avoid slipping into previous habits of bad self-care.

2. Embrace Self-Compassion

Self-compassion can best be defined as having an understanding that you aren't perfect and you will make mistakes. If you can accept these contentions, you'll be far more likely to accept yourself as you are.

The key components of maintaining self-compassion are

• Self-kindness - not being critical or judgemental about yourself
• Common humanity - accept that you are fallible like everyone else, not different and isolated
• Mindfulness - taking time to be introspective about your mistakes

3. Set Personal Boundaries

The best way to keep yourself from behaving poorly (using drugs/alcohol) is to set boundaries. The boundaries you set should be targeted in two directions.

First and foremost, you need to set healthy boundaries related to what you are willing to do. In recovery, boundaries are very important because they can help you deal with triggers and temptation. Second, you need to set boundaries related to what behaviors you will accept from others. This will help you avoid destructive relationships that could prompt a retreat to drugs and alcohol. In turn, this helps promote healthy relationships that can check in on how you may be feeling in the present moment.

4. No Comparison to Others

Society is fully wrapped up in the social media movement. We are constantly being bombarded by people and their claims of how well their lives are going.

First, a lot of those people are probably not doing as well as they claim. Secondly, they are not the standard by which you should judge yourself. Your only validation should be to best you can be and if you can do that, you win big.

5. Be Forgiving to Yourself

Clearly, you have made mistakes in the past as indicated by your addiction issues. You can start by forgiving yourself for your past digressions. If you do that, you'll be taking a big step toward a lifetime of sobriety.

Also, you will make mistakes in the future. You need to forgive yourself for future digressions so your mind will stay clear enough to address your mistakes and correct what you can.

6. Avoid Negative Thoughts

While caught in the cycle of addiction, you probably took a mental beating at your own hands. All of those negative thoughts about yourself probably fueled your desire to self-medicate. If you can avoid negative thoughts and replace them with positive thoughts, you'll find it easier to be confident and maintain peace with yourself. Negative self-talk can be a slippery slope and hinder the spiritual growth process that’s very hard to build.

7. Surround Yourself With Positive and Supportive People

Bad relationships are toxic, draining, and one-way. Good relationships will add true value to your life. Which do you think is going to be better for you during your recovery?

It's your choice but know this. You are more likely to get the intimacy and friendship you need from good people. Surround yourself with them. We hope you can find your way to self-love. If you would allow Hollywood Hills Recovery to help you in that journey, we ask you to contact one of our staff members as soon as possible.