Distracting yourself from an Addiction

Addictions can be tricky to deal with.  The desire to return to the familiar and comfortable can creep in suddenly having us running back to our old habits if we aren’t careful.    We need to have some plan of action in place to keep our minds occupied and focused on other things.  Distraction is a method used by a lot of people quitting their addictions that has been known to work.

Below Amanda Ogden, writer/blogger for, ‘Defying Shadows‘ provides 7 useful tips that we can use to distract ourselves when trying to kick a habit.

7 Ways To Distract Yourself From Addiction

People often develop addictions in an effort to distract themselves from the pain of daily life.  If an addiction itself is a distraction, you may think how could a distraction aid in helping overcome it?

A distraction can generally be considered to be undesirable.  When you think about a distraction, often with think of checking out Facebook or spending hours in from of the TV to cope with life. Healthy distractions can be different but can also be positive in the long run.

Below are some suggestions ways in which to distract you from addiction that might be helpful:

1. Get away. Go outside for a walk, ride your bike, go for a run, or take the kids to the park.
2. Sit still for just a couple of minutes, without any distractions, and put your attention on your breath.  Return to the breath when you get distracted.
3. Try reading an inspirational book. Give yourself some quiet reading time away from your distraction.
4. Spend times with the people you love.
5. Look at taking a class or workshop in your local area that you have not tried before. It’s always good to try something new and meet new people while learning the same thing.
6. Look at volunteering in your local area. By volunteering in your local area you will be learning something new as well as helping people within the community.
7. Be a tourist in your own city and explore somewhere that you have either been to before or something different like a new theatre production, museum exhibition, music festival, cooking festival.

Source:

Originally posted on Defying Shadows by: Amanda Odgen – 7 Ways To Distract Yourself From An Addiction

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