August 13, 2021

Creating the Community We Crave

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Alumni

Community is crucial in addiction recovery. The community you create can help you in the most challenging of times and be there to enjoy the good times alongside you. Sometimes, the community isn’t the easiest to find, though. After finding a group of people to bond within residential treatment, you may be scrounging to find friends in the outside world. We all crave a community we can belong to, but how do we create that fellowship if we can’t find it? Alumni Programs If the treatment center you attended offers an alumni program, this is a great way to create a community. Not only can you continue relationships with people you met in treatment, but you can develop bonds with those who have been through treatment before. These people may know and understand your struggles better than anybody else you meet and can provide you with a strong sense of…

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August 11, 2021

What Can I Do About Persistent Character Defects?

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Mental Health, Recovery

All people have character traits they don’t like about themselves. Those who do their best to avoid these traits from coming through will find themselves feeling this way most often. There’s a lot to be said for those who are self-aware enough to feel these traits may be affecting them negatively, but what can you do to change persistent character defects?  Don’t Give Up! A common character defect that many don’t like is their willingness to give up when life gets hard. Everyone has their reason for giving up, but when it comes to creating positive change, don’t give up.  For many who have found success in a challenge through perseverance, they’ll say that they found those little successes to be profound in their ability to not give up. One success would turn to two, snowballing into three, four, or more, and ultimately helping the person to crave more successes…

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August 9, 2021

People Need People

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Lifestyle, Support

For those of us familiar with recovery, we are already well aware of the big fact that we simply cannot recover alone. We need each other. People need people in every walk of life, but it is especially true for those of us in recovery from alcoholism and addiction. It is a fact of our lives every single day. Not only that, but it is among the greatest blessings of our lives, as well. The irony is easy to see, of course, when we consider that most of us struggling with alcoholism and addiction-like to fancy ourselves as lone wolves. We all like to imagine we can go it alone and do it our own way — we don’t need anybody. Certainly, none of this is true in recovery, and though we all resist it at first, it comes to be one of the greatest gifts of a 12-Step program:…

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August 7, 2021

Why Does Meditation Help?

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Lifestyle, Recovery

Helping others requires us to take care of ourselves. Taking care of ourselves involves many different caretaking strategies, but one of the ways we can take care of ourselves is through meditation. Meditation is not just about breathing or chanting, although that is often what people think of first. There are many different forms of meditation, and it is easy to find one to fit your needs. Four Forms of Meditation There are many different forms of meditation and different forms within these forms. Four of these include spiritual, movement, visual, and guided. Within each of these four forms, there are various alternatives for our mindful practices. #1. Spiritual: Spiritual meditation can take the form of prayer or sitting in reflection. The main theme of this method is understanding that a Higher Power is capable of helping us and that we are listening to and leaning on a Higher Power…

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August 5, 2021

The Importance of Nutrition

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Lifestyle, Recovery

When taking care of our clients, it is easy to forget to take care of ourselves. Writing notes during lunch breaks and focusing on making sure our clients are okay are both easy ways for us to forego proper nutrition. We need to remember that we are examples for everyone we encounter. If we don’t take care of ourselves, how can we encourage others to take care of themselves? When people enter recovery, malnutrition is not uncommon. While entering recovery is an immediate boost to wellness, malnutrition takes time to overcome. Our clients’ need for good nutrition is key to their recovery long-term.  As we participate in our own lives and the recovery of others, our nutrition is key to our ability to ensure their well-being and our own. If we are not taking care of ourselves, we cannot expect our clients to practice good nutrition and take care of…

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August 4, 2021

Can I Still Go To Parties In Recovery?

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Recovery, Support

It’s summertime and the party season is in full effect! That might seem like bad news for those of us in recovery from alcoholism and addiction, but does it have to be? Entering recovery does not mean the end of fun and parties—not at all! However, there is a lot to keep in mind when we ask, “Can I still go to parties in recovery?” There are plenty of parties that take place in the recovery community, and they couldn’t be safer or more fun! There are still parties outside the recovery environment that we may get invited to, as well. There are lots to consider about partying safely in recovery, and there’s plenty to think about. Keep in mind, in recovery we absolutely insist on enjoying life, so long as we don’t put our recovery in jeopardy. What Kind of Party Is It? This is the first question we…

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August 3, 2021

Staying the Course

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Alumni

We all know recovery has ups and downs that we must navigate through. Sometimes, recovery makes us feel on top of the world. Other times, recovery can feel exhausting as we try to push our way through triggers and the most challenging days. Sometimes, however, recovery is all about keeping life steady. You don’t feel overly joyous, but you don’t feel the strain of recovery. You may be wondering, “How do I accomplish this?” Through actively working a 12-Step program and staying engaged in your recovery, keeping life steady is always attainable.  Regularly Attending Meetings Regular meeting attendance in a 12-Step program can always help you keep life steady. Of course, life can sometimes get in the way of the number of meetings you attend, but making a point to attend as many meetings as you can in a week can immensely help maintain your recovery. Meeting attendance allows you…

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August 1, 2021

Staying Safe During Summer Party Season

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Lifestyle, Recovery

Everybody likes to have fun, especially when the sun is shining and summer is in full effect! There’s always plenty to do all summer long — from simple hang-outs to big adventures, summertime is definitely party season. What does that mean for those of us in recovery from alcoholism and addiction? Aren’t we supposed to avoid parties like the plague? Doesn’t the fun end forever when we enter recovery? Absolutely not! In fact, it says right in the literature of recovery that we absolutely insist on enjoying life. A life in recovery wouldn’t be worth much if it was no fun at all, would it? Most of us in recovery find that engaging with a 12-Step program and the 12-Step lifestyle spells the beginning of true joy and fun, not the end. Of course, there is a lot to keep in mind concerning the safeguarding of our recovery. Just because…

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July 28, 2021

Being of Service

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Alumni
emotions

What does “being of service” actually mean? Why do we talk about it so much in recovery? Is it really as important as it sounds? Being of service is more than being helpful on occasion — it’s a lifestyle that is vital to successful recovery. We talk about service so often because it’s one of the major keystones of a life in recovery.There is a lot that we can learn about being of service, and there is a lot that can be said about it, too. Simply put, service is one of the single most important ingredients to a healthy, happy, and successful recovery lifestyle. Let’s take some time to explore this incredible element of recovery.What Is Service?Service is more than just lending a hand whenever we can. Service is a way of life. Some people say that it’s only considered being of service if it’s inconvenient, but that’s untrue…

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July 26, 2021

The Nature of True Healing

Posted by Jaywalker Lodge Staff in Recovery
anxiety in recovery

There are no problems that are truly isolated. Both illness and wellness are holistic and must be treated as such to avoid needless vulnerabilities in recovery and recovery treatment. Illness and wellness are connected both in their morbidity and their solutions. Just as the cure for weight issues involves both diet and exercise, no problem exists in a vacuum, nor are there any solutions that are not also tied to other methods of health care, self-care, or professional care. At Jaywalker Lodge, we deal exclusively with men who are suffering from the disease of alcoholism and addiction. Often, there are co-occurring issues of mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. This is incredibly common and not a coincidence. The disease of alcoholism and addiction lends itself to other internal issues, such as depression, anxiety, and trauma, that exacerbate or worsen the disease — and the cycle continues.It should already be easy to…

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