Recovery Resources During COVID-19
Here is a list of tips and tricks to support you protecting your sobriety during our current COVID-19 crisis:
- It is important to be prepared, but it is not helpful to be panicked. Set boundaries for your media intake and discussions over the virus, if needed.
- We are powerless over many things going on right now, but we are not powerless over our reactions. It is important to be grounded in here and now. Be present with what is in front of you and stay where your feet are. “Accept the things we cannot change and have the courage to change the things we can.”
- Take care of your mind, body, and spirit. This is important for sobriety and for your health. Listen to your body cues and rest when needed. “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” We need to take care of ourselves in order to care for others.
- Although nothing compares to a meeting in-person, online meetings are a great tool to use. Technology is our friend during a time like this. The online community awaits and is available right at your fingertips all day long!
- Addicts and alcoholics are a strong group of people. Many of us have been through the wringer and are still here to tell the tale. Although sobriety might be new for you, don’t doubt the strength of yourself and your Higher Power. We can walk through these times – just take it one day at a time.
- Reach out to your supports when you need help (whether that be a sponsor, family member, or friend). Asking for help does not make you weak, it makes you strong! Use those supports. You are not a burden – people want to see you be sober and thrive.
Technology can be a friend, a resource, and a place for additional support during challenging times. Although nothing compares to a meeting in-person, online communities and digital recovery literature is at our fingertips available right at your fingertips at all times. Here are a handful of recommendations by Dr. Andreas Bienert, Clinical Program Director at Master Center for Addiction Medicine, for you to use when needed:
Online Recovery Literature
Just for Today Daily Meditations by Narcotics Anonymous: Simply enter your email address and click on the “Subscribe” button at www.jftna.org. Check your mailbox for the confirmation email from Narcotics Anonymous to receive daily mediations. As an example, a recent meditation reads: “We do the footwork and accept what’s being given to us freely on a daily basis.” Visit https://jftna.org/jft/ for today’s meditation.
Daily Reflections by Alcoholics Anonymous: Visit https://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/daily-reflection for daily reflections. A recent reflection reads, Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. . . If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol.
Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous: You can read the entire Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous here, https://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/alcoholics-anonymous.