Take Your Life Back
Take Your Life Back: Recovering From PTSD & Trauma – Part 5
Welcome to week the final week of our five-part series on healing from PTSD & Trauma. This final step is more of a commitment to yourself and your health than a skill per se. Regardless, embracing these four lifestyle choices can accelerate your recovery and healing after a traumatic experience. Enlist their healing potential as you give yourself the gift of self-nurturing.
Skill 5 (of 5): Commit to Your Health
Take care of your health with the following nurturing steps:
- Sleep
Lack of sleep can make your symptoms worse and impede your healing process. So make sure you get plenty of sleep. Got to bed at a regular hour – ideally before 11 p.m. – and try to get between seven and nine hours of uninterrupted sleep per night. - Healthy Diet
What you are eating can significantly impact your health and subsequent moods. So consume a healthy diet, avoiding simple carbohydrates, sugar, processed foods, alcohol and caffeinated products. If this is difficult, then incorporate more plant-based foods into your existing diet. - Exercise Daily
Do at least a half-hour of moderate activity each day. If gyms aren’t your thing, then simply go for a long walk. Even better, try a group sports activity and you’ve covered two skills in one. - Avoid Alcohol and Drugs
Drugs and alcohol can worsen your symptoms, increase or trigger feelings of depression, anxiety, and isolation. So avoid these substances entirely.
I hope you have tried at least one of the skills from this five-part series. You may find it helpful to back through the last five weeks and repeat as many as these skills as possible. If you take just one, little step you will be surprised how it can build a momentum towards your healing process.
I offer that you commit to your healing process today and give yourself the gift of patience and self-nurturing.
And if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I will be happy to assist you.