The Recovering Body, your guide to long term sobriety
Talk Recovery RadioTalk Recovery Radio airs every Thursday on 100.5 fm in Vancouver from 12 pm to 1 pm, hundreds of shows over 6 years. Bringing addiction recovery issues to the airways. Powered by Last Door Recovery Society
Replay the show:
Guest Jennifer Matesa, author of The Recovering Body: Physical and Spiritual Fitness for Living Clean and Sober speaks with Talk Recovery Radio
Physical and Spiritual Fitness
For Living Clean and Sober
Recovering addicts constantly face turbulent paths filled with temptation and strife while trying to cleanse themselves. The struggle to remain sober and to achieve an encompassing state of well-being is a grueling journey for most people, but this struggle often overshadows the damage that addiction causes to the mind and spirit, but especially the body. The healthy lifestyle that so many in recovery truly desire can be achieved with the help of a unique, all-in-one guide for healing. No other resource addresses the physical toll of addiction and focuses on repairing the physical body during sobriety—until now.
THE RECOVERING BODY: Physical and Spiritual Fitness For Living Clean and Sober (Hazelden; October 2014; $14.95) by Jennifer Matesa, author of the popular blog Guinevere Gets Sober, is the all-in-one resource for recovering addicts of any age or lifestyle attempting to find the improvements of body and mind while seeking inner peace. Matesa also recalls her battles with addiction and explains the methods she used to stay clean, based on solid science and practical guidance, as well as shares the experiences of others in long-term recovery.
Matesa explains that exercise and creative activity, nutrition, rest, sex, and meditation all contribute to the progression of self while in recovery. Physical activity stimulates the “reward centers” in the brain and can successfully aid in the treatment of depression and anxiety. Avoid foods with added sugar because it can become addictive and also increases dopamine and stimulates opioid receptors the way that drugs do. Sleeping well not only gives you peace of mind but also acts as the “body’s built-in overnight detox process.” Healthy bodies will also have a return of appropriate levels of sexual hormones, which are interfered with when using drugs and alcohol. Meditation eases suffering by breaking cravings and naturally relaxes the body. These are just some of the ways that the mind, body, and spirit can work in unison to help alleviate pain and stress while increasing a recovering addict’s health.
THE RECOVERING BODY provides key summaries and helpful checklists focused to:
- Recognize the hazardous ways that drugs and alcohol destroy the body
- Use exercise to re-establish a foundation of fitness to help conduct stability and strength
- Discover how to eat according to your body’s needs to further recovery
- Learn how sleep rids the body of toxins
- Control the brain’s cravings through meditation
THE RECOVERING BODY is an essential guide for any recovering addict attempting to live happy and healthy while applying productive techniques for betterment. You can recover your body, recover your mind, and most importantly, recover your life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jennifer Matesa has written about health and life transformation for more than twenty years, including two previously published books, Navel-Gazing: The Days and Nights of a Mother in the Making, chosen by Lamaze International as a Top-Ten pregnancy and childbirth resource, and Knowing Stephanie, a biography of a young breast cancer patient. In 2010 she established the popular blog Guinevere Gets Sober (www.guineveregetssober.com), for which she has interviewed many scientists, practitioners, authors, and ordinary folks with fascinating stories about addiction recovery. She has contributed journalistic coverage of addiction to many publications, and for many years she has taught writing at the University of Pittsburgh. Since 2012 she has regularly educated groups of medical students about ways to prevent, identify, and respond to addiction in their patients. In 2013 she was awarded a yearlong fellowship with the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in recognition of her public education about the human potential to heal.
Archive of all shows can be found here www.TalkRecoveryRadio.com
Listen and Subscribe
Talk Recovery airs live every Thursday at noon on 100.5 FM, Vancouver Coop Radio. The Last Door produces this weekly radio show discussing the many pathways to addiction recovery. To end stigma we must continue to talk about recovery. Talk Recovery is in its 7th Season, Hundreds of guests, thousands of listeners, thank you. Show ideas? Email community@lastdoor.org
Powered by #NewWestRecovery
