I started to recognize patterns in my behavior and emotions through working steps 4, 8, and 10. Step 4 initiates self-awareness through a searching and fearless inventory of ourselves, uncovering character defects and emotional triggers. Step 8 extends this work by identifying people we harmed and becoming willing to make amends for disrupting their peace of mind. And then step 10 provides guidance self-check ins to not screw things up again.

These practices provide a sense of interconnectedness which replaces the isolation experienced by so many of the sick and suffering. Bonds with others in recovery are rooted in shared experiences and raw emotional honesty with mutual understanding. We become family, dysfunctional and accepting of that fact. We care for one another in an authentic, spiritually way that can heal all wounds.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

For more information, visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

Visit my Etsy shop, Recovery Upcycling. https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling

For more information about vestibular disorders, visit https://vestibular.org.

#12StepRecovery #EmotionalSobriety #MakingAmends #StepWork #RecoveryCommunity #HealingTogether #SpiritualAwakening #SoberLife #SelfAwarenessJourney #RecoverOutLoud

Doing a self-inventory every night was something I started early in sobriety. I have this little prayer card that leads me through a brief reflection on my thoughts, emotions, and behaviors during that day. This regular inventory allows me to acknowledge where I might have been selfish, dishonest, resentful, or afraid throughout the day. I can make things right before I go to bed. Not only does it help me go to sleep faster because I can let go whatever emotional tension has built up throughout the day, but I also wake up feeling like my day is a blank canvas.

I practice three types of self-inventory: spot checks (moment-to-moment awareness during the day), continuous inventory (a nightly review my emotions and motives), and periodic full self-appraisal (a deeper review with my sponsor or psychiatrist of patterns and recurring issues). These practices require honesty, self-restraint, and willingness to forgive. They help minimize emotional hangovers that can distort my perception of the present moment.

Regular inventory has become a habit for me, and it can start with that nightly reflection. The more you do it, the more you remember throughout the day to check in. Consistency is key to forming any new habit.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

For more information, visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

Visit my Etsy shop, Recovery Upcycling. https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling

For more information about vestibular disorders, visit https://vestibular.org.

#MentalHealth #SelfCare #Mindfulness #Healing #Wellness #Sobriety #Recovery #SelfLove #Therapy #MentalHealthAwareness

I have a tendency to want to cancel my psychiatrist appointment when I’m feeling good. I’ve made a deal with myself to never cancel, because each appointment is like putting a penny in my emotional piggy bank, saving up for when I’m struggling and need to make a withdrawal. I must practice my program in all my affairs on good days and bad.

Today I wrote some questions to check in with myself on how I strengthen my sobriety and emotional well-being every day. Honestly, I think these apply to anyone on a path toward wholeness:

What do I do when no one’s looking?

Do I meditate when my mind is racing?

Do I pause and give thanks for gifted moments?

Do I reach out to others when I’m stuck in self?

Do I make room for change?

Am I steady and calm or chasing chaos?

Am I neglecting something I love?

What is feeding my behavior?

These questions are simple yet deeply impact my day. Wellness is grown in quiet consistency when no one’s watching.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

For more information, visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

Visit my Etsy shop, Recovery Upcycling. https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling

For more information about vestibular disorders, visit https://vestibular.org.

#EmotionalSobriety #MentalHealthMatters #RecoveryJourney #ConsistencyIsKey #SelfReflection #SoberLiving #KeepTheAppointment #WellnessPractice #QuietStrength #DailyRecovery

When I stopped drinking, I was left with an abundance of time and energy that I didn’t know what to do with. (Coincidentally, the same thing happened when I medically retired.) Without planning life around the next drink, I had long stretches of space that were filled with restlessness. In early sobriety, I tried to think my way out of thinking. I learned quickly and out of desperation that only action would shift my mindset. It would interrupt the downward spiral into obsession. In IOP (Intensive Outpatient Program) I received a handout, which I still have to this day, listing 100 things to do sober. This list saved my sanity because I didn’t have to think of something to do. I just picked something off the list, and did it whether I felt like it or not. Getting active gave that idle energy an outlet and my mind a break.

Being active in, out, and around my support groups is a simple way to get active. Helping someone new feel welcome, volunteering, and leading support group meetings are opportunities to connect and build confidence in recovery. As my mind cleared in sobriety, I got to entertain it more by taking classes, listening to books, and other mentally stimulating activities. So, I learned how to be restfully active as well. The adage, “move a muscle, change a thought,” really worked for me and still does today in stroke and vestibular recovery.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

For more information, visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

Visit my Etsy shop, Recovery Upcycling. https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling

For more information about vestibular disorders, visit https://vestibular.org.

#SoberLiving #RecoveryJourney #MentalHealthRecovery #MoveAMuscleChangeAThought #SoberCurious #RestfullyActive #SobrietySupport #StrokeRecovery #HealingInMotion #ActionOverObsession

For the hour in a support group, we are safe and unafraid. Inside that hour that we are truly seen and unjudged. We are free to be ourselves. Then we are cast off into the world to navigate the next twenty three hours until we meet again. How do we stretch that feeling of protection into the rest of the day? Practice.

That hour can be a template for our lives and starting place for emotional stability in recovery. Socializing sober or with a new disability feels similar and terribly awkward at first. I second-guessed every move, wondered what to do with my hands, and was uncomfortable in my own skin. I felt vulnerable and exposed. As someone who always feels the need to entertain others, it’s been rough to take a seat in the audience.

I like to create opportunities for newcomers to practice socializing through self-doubt, like a casual tea date or craft day. We are learning together to stay present through the discomfort and trust that repetition will lead to confidence. Just being present is enough. Willingness to show up despite the fear is the courage. And true bravery is sitting through an awkward silence without fidgeting or being the first to talk. Try it!

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

For more information, visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

Visit my Etsy shop, Recovery Upcycling. https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling

For more information about vestibular disorders, visit https://vestibular.org.

#EmotionalSobriety #SoberLife #DisabilityAwareness #SocialAnxietySupport #RecoveryJourney #ShowUpAnyway #SoberCommunity #LifeAfterAddiction #SelfAcceptance #ProgressNotPerfection

After suffering a stroke, letting go of control felt like a terrifying leap. But I found that clinging tighter to who I used to be only makes things hurt more. There is a peace that emerges out of surrender. Releasing control opens my arms to something greater than myself and gives me the humility to accept help and guidance. I’m learning to go with the flow instead of fighting the current.

Through surrender, accepting my disability, and being willing to say “yes” to help, life is becoming more comfortable and manageable. Still, when someone asks if I need help, my immediate response is, “no, thank you,” before I even consider if I do in fact need help. Often, I regret not accepting the help. I know that with practice I can learn to pause, surrender, accept, and understand that I don’t have to suffer the consequences of my pride.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

For more information, visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

Visit my Etsy shop, Recovery Upcycling. https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling

For more information about vestibular disorders, visit https://vestibular.org.

#StrokeRecovery #SurrenderNotDefeat #ProgressNotPride #LetGoAndHeal #RecoveryJourney #MentalHealthAwareness #AcceptingHelp #PrideAndSurrender #HumilityHeals #HealingThroughAcceptance

I am not insane! But I was when I was drinking. This label once offended me, until I looked honestly at my erratic emotions and the behavior alcohol fueled. Once I picked up a drink, I lost the ability to choose anything. My life was unmanageable because I had surrendered my freedom of choice. Sobriety didn’t instantly erase the chaos either. In the first year, before the steps took hold, I was unmedicated and had no tools for survival. I relapsed in that in-between space, where the old solution was gone, and the new one didn’t make sense to me yet.

Over time, the program has trained my thinker, and my thoughtful decisions are a direct result. It has reprogramed how I respond to my emotions and to others.

These are the core thinking tools that help me today:

Let Go:
Control was never mine to begin with.

Forgiveness:
For others, yes. But also for me.

Humility:
A soft heart can do brave things.

Amends:
Taking responsibility.

Service:
Getting out of my own head by showing up for someone else.

Faith:
Not knowing and still saying relying on.

Meditation:
Sitting with myself in stillness.

Do It Anyway:
Courage is doing despite fear.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

For more information, visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

Visit my Etsy shop, Recovery Upcycling. https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling

For more information about vestibular disorders, visit https://vestibular.org.

#RecoveryJourney #SobrietyTruth #LetGoAndLive #OneDayAtATime #EmotionalSobriety #FromInsanityToSanity #FaithOverFear #UnmanageableToUnshakable #TrainedByRecovery #MemoryBubblesAndHealing

Making amends taught me a lot about forgiveness. The 12 steps are a guide for living and have unexpectedly helped me understand myself so that I can be a better version of me for others. At its core, making amends is taking responsibility for our behavior. When others are willing to listen, we get the opportunity to make direct amends for the harms we’ve done. It’s a gift to shed the weight we’ve been carrying and heal in the process.

Allowing others to make amends with us is equally as important. Just as we are given grace to make amends, others deserve the opportunity to right their wrongs too. Step 9, and the practice of amends, teaches me that forgiveness is an act of compassion, freeing ourselves from resentment. We can find joy in each other’s transformations. In the past, my erratic emotions were like a freight train through my life, but learning my emotional patterns has been far more healing than assigning blame.

Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and YouTube.

For more information, visit me at ⁠⁠⁠recoverydailypodcast.com⁠⁠⁠ or email me at ⁠rachel@recoverydailypodcast.com⁠.

Visit my Etsy shop, Recovery Upcycling. https://www.etsy.com/shop/RecoveryUpcycling

For more information about vestibular disorders, visit https://vestibular.org.

#12StepRecovery #MakingAmends #LivingSober #ForgivenessHeals #EmotionalRecovery #SoberLiving #LetGoOfResentment #HealingJourney #CompassionInRecovery #GraceAndGrowth