Category: Sober Living

sober house handstand Boston Massachusetts

Effects of Sobriety on Your Body

Becoming sober after you have spent time addicted to alcohol or other substances can do wonders for your body. There are many positive physical effects that you will notice once you have gotten sober.

Physical Effects of Sobriety

When you engage in heavy substance use, your body has to work hard to breakdown and process the substance. For example, after the consumption of alcohol, your liver must work hard to metabolize it. Your heart and lungs also tend to have to work harder to help your body process addictive substances.

Alcohol also tends to dehydrate your skin and cause inflammation of bodily tissue. Studies have also shown that there may be a link between excessive alcohol consumption and the aging of cells in your body. When you stop drinking alcohol and become sober, not only does your skin start to look better, but you will also have internal health benefits, such as healthier cells and organs. Abstaining from alcohol once you have gotten sober can also help repair your liver and help you sleep better, especially if you suffered from insomnia while battling your addiction.

Mental Effects of Sobriety

Getting sober also has some positive mental health benefits. While under the influence of an addictive substance, you may have made choices you have regretted once you’ve sobered up. Alcohol, for example, is known to lower your inhibitions. By choosing to live a sober life, you will most likely make better decisions than you were making while under the influence of an addictive substance. You may have fewer panic attacks or experience less anxiety than you did while battling your addiction. This will have a positive impact on your mind and body.

It may seem difficult to turn your life around and get sober, but living a sober life is worth it. There are many positive effects on your body to be gained by getting sober, as well as benefits to your mind and your life in general. Living in a sober home like Tharros House is one of the many ways you can work on your recovery from addiction.

Sober Living House Boston Massachusetts

Why Staying in a Sober Home After Treatment is Better Than Treatment Alone

If you are dealing with an addiction and have decided to seek treatment, you may be overwhelmed and wondering where to begin. There are many different treatment options to consider, depending on your circumstances and where you are at in the process of recovery. One option that many people recovering from addiction choose after treatment is sober home living.

Benefits of Living in a Sober Home

As you are recovering from addiction, being around others who are also in recovery and remaining sober can be a great way to help you stay sober. Sober living homes give you the opportunity to live among other people who are dealing with the same issues as you. They provide a calming and community-based atmosphere. The social network that a sober living home provides on a daily basis to its residents a valuable resource for people in recovery from addiction. Additionally, as your environment impacts recovery, living in a positive environment free from alcohol or other addictive substances is associated with better recovery outcomes.

The Role Your Social Network Can Play in Your Recovery

A 2002 study found that people recovering from alcohol addiction who had social networks which included a higher number of individuals who abstained from alcohol as well as people who were recovering alcoholics had better outcomes with respect to addiction recovery after three years as compared to those who had social networks with fewer of these individuals. Other studies have shown that a positive social network has a significant impact on recovery from addiction. Social support is positively correlated with better outcomes when it comes to recovery from addiction.

Living in a sober home such as Tharros House can positively impact your recovery in many ways. By creating a sober environment free from addictive substances and providing you with an instant social network of people just like you in recovery, Tharros House can help change your life for the better.

[Source – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3057870/]

sober things to do in Boston Massachusetts

Sober Things to Do in Boston

Boston is an exciting city with many things to do. There are plenty of places to visit and events to attend that do not involve alcohol, so there are plenty of sober activities you can partake in.

Attend a Red Sox Game

Depending on the season, you can go to a Boston Red Sox game at the historic Fenway Park. Baseball is one of the country’s favorite pastimes, and whether you are a big fan or not, a game at Fenway Park can be exciting and enjoyable by almost anyone.

Visit a Museum

Boston has several museums for nearly any type of interest, including art museums and science museums. You can visit the Museum of Science, the Museum of Fine Arts, or the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. One of the best aspects of the Isabella Steward Gardner Museum is its beautiful and peaceful courtyard where you can sit and relax.

You can also check out the MIT Museum and Aquarium for some educational sightseeing. The Boston Public Library system offers free museum passes, so there is no reason to pass up these city attractions.

Explore the City’s Historic Landmarks

The city of Boston is rich with history. Another sober activity you can do in Boston is to take a tour of some of the historic locations in the area. You can walk along the Freedom Trail throughout the city and see some of the city’s past connected to the Revolutionary War. You can also stop and see Paul Revere’s home, Boston Common, and the Bunker Hill Monument. With a path of 2.5 miles, another perk of experiencing Boston’s historical landmarks is that you get a lot of exercise in, too!

Whether you already live in Boston or are just visiting, there are many sober things to do. From historical adventures to quiet museums, there is something here for everyone.

tips for keeping a sober home in Boston Massachusetts

Keeping a Sober Home

Once you have completed a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program, the next steps in your recovery include developing new life skills. You will need to make some changes in your lifestyle in order to remain free from drugs or alcohol. Below, you will find four ways to help you keep a sober home.

Practice Self-Care

One of the main reasons for emotional relapse is failing to practice self-care. In your own home or in a sober living home, you will need to learn to take care of yourself by getting enough sleep, eating healthy foods, and learning and using coping strategies to overcome any negative thoughts and feelings.

Keeping a Clean Living Space

When you are living with other people, whether it is in a sober living home or with family or other roommates, you will face various obstacles as personalities differ. As you learn to keep your living environment clean, you will also learn the importance of being respectful of others around you and thinking about their wants and needs when you make decisions that affect your home.

Managing Your Finances

Another major life skill necessary for recovery is to manage your finances. During the time you suffered from addiction, you may have allocated a significant amount of your money toward fueling your addiction. Now that you are in recovery, you will need to make a new budget. Residing in a sober living home can give you the chance to practice saving and budgeting; Tharros offers an optional budgeting component where clients can develop important money management skills.

Cooking Healthy Meals

It is important to make healthy food choices. You will benefit from learning how to cook healthy meals and shop for groceries, as well as prepare your own meals.  At Tharros, we offer a variety of cooking instruction and community cooking nights, led by experienced and talented chefs.

The Tharros House is a sober living facility that provides its residents with recovery support, including helping residents learn to practice self-care. Residents can also learn to cook healthy meals, manage their finances, and keep their residence clean—all life skills that help with recovery.

mindfulness for sobriety in Boston Massachusetts sobriety home

How Mindfulness Helps with Addiction Recovery

If you are working toward recovery from an addiction of any kind, you already know it can be an uphill battle. Fortunately, there are some techniques you can use and different approaches you can try to help you on your path to recovery.

Mindfulness and Addiction Recovery

One approach to addiction recovery is mindfulness therapy. Mindfulness is a state of mental awareness that is used frequently in the practice of meditation as well as cognitive behavioral therapy. The goal of mindfulness is for you to become aware of what is going on around you without becoming too attached to your experiences.

Achieving mindfulness requires self-discipline in order to get yourself to focus on the present instead of getting caught up in thoughts about the past and the future. Mindfulness can help you as you work to overcome your addiction because it forces you to focus on the present and to take in your surroundings rather than dwell on past mistakes or get anxious about the future.

When you experience mindfulness, you focus on the joys of the world around you in the moment. This brings you a natural feeling of pleasure and can help stop you from seeking out pleasure by falling back into your old habits of addiction. Entering a state of mindfulness can also give you an opportunity for self-reflection. This self-reflection can help you process what is going on around you and help you stay on the path to recovery from your addiction.

Practicing Mindfulness at the Tharros House

At Tharros House, we offer guided mindfulness meditation, and connect our clients with outside mindfulness groups if they find this technique useful.  There are also many other opportunities for exploring new tools in recovery. Contact us today to discuss what we offer in more detail and to find out if Tharros House is the right fit for you.

addiction recovery boston Massachusetts

Addiction Recovery

Recovering from addiction can be a difficult process.  The path to recovery from drug or alcohol addiction is never quite the same for any two individuals.  When looking into rehabilitation and recovery programs for yourself or for a loved one, you will recognize some common steps.

Getting Sober and Drug-Free

To begin with, a person choosing to fight their addiction to become sober and drug-free needs a strong desire and serious determination to get clean.  If you are seeking help for a friend or family member fighting an addiction, it is important to realize that your loved one must be completely on board with the concept of recovery if they are to have a true chance at beating the addiction and staying sober.  If they have not realized that they have a true problem, you may need to have an intervention.

Starting the Path to Recovery

The early stage of recovery typically involves a detox of alcohol and drugs in order for the person suffering from the addiction to remove the unwanted chemicals and substances from their body.  The next step usually involves intense addiction recovery therapy.  Often, the recovery therapy can take anywhere from 28 to 90 days.  A recovery therapy program can provide the tools that are necessary to remain substance-free.

After leaving a rehab program, it is advisable to join a support group for recovering addicts.  Another way to continue with sobriety that may be beneficial for many people is to spend some time residing in a recovery home, or sober living facility.  The former addict will learn the tools they need to stay away from drugs and alcohol through relapse prevention taught in recovery programs, as well as learning healthy coping skills to continue their path to full recovery.

The Tharros House is a sober living home in Lexington, Massachusetts.  This sober living facility is designed to help individuals who are committed to maintaining sobriety live in a safe environment for recovery.

Sober Living Home Fence in Boston Massachusetts

How a Sober Living Home Can Help You

Staying in a sober living home is a great option for people looking to stay clean once they become sober.

While rehab is great for getting clean and taking that much needed break to work on personal matters, many times it just isn’t enough to stay clean during everyday life.

Sober living homes are a great transition from rehab to give you the tools you need and help you live more independently without the use of narcotics.

What is a Sober Living Home?

A sober living home provides you with a safe, peaceful environment usually alongside other’s that are also recovering from addiction.

Although you may need to be home by a certain time or take random drug tests, the goal of a sober living home is to help you become responsible for yourself. Therefore, compared to rehab centers, there is much more freedom to come and go as you please.

Benefits of sober living homes may include:

  • Organized meetings
  • A safe, drug free environment
  • Help finding work if needed
  • Connections to outpatient recovery programs
  • Empowers and supports your journey to become free from substances
  • Provides the time and support needed to restructure your life, free from your old environment that may not have been as healthy
  • Coordinated in a thoughtful way to help you with recovery

Are sober living homes actually effective?

Yes, there is anecdotal and empirical evidence that sober living houses actually make a significant difference. People that reside in sober living homes generally have better results and are able to stay sober more consistently and for longer periods of time with a lower rate of relapse.

Tharros Sober Living House in Boston Massachusetts

Tharros offers a highly supportive version of sober living, which includes an extensive peer support model.  To learn what’s different about Tharros, view our Tharros Experience Page.

Tips for staying sober in Boston Massachusetts

5 Benefits of Living a Sober Life

If you are beginning the path to sobriety, you may be wondering what your life will be like once you have become sober. Starting the recovery process to overcome your addiction may seem like a daunting task but becoming sober has many rewards and will increase your quality of life.

Below, you will find a list of five benefits to living a sober life.

  1. Better Relationships. By becoming sober, you gain the ability to form and maintain healthier relationships.  If you are a parent, staying sober will likely have a positive impact on your life and the lives of your children.  It may take a little time to start rebuilding a healthy relationship with your children, but it will be worth it.  With sobriety, you will also become a better friend.  In recovery, you will develop new interests and make new friends, too.
  2. You’ll Look Better. With addiction, you are often poisoning your body with toxins.  With sobriety, your complexion will improve, your skin will clear up, and you may even notice wrinkles fading.  You will also feel better about yourself, which will keep you smiling more.
  3. Better Memory. With sobriety, you will have a better memory.  You won’t experience mornings of shame and regret where you cannot remember what you did the night before.  While living sober, you will have more awareness and better mental clarity which will help with retaining your memories.
  4. More Money. Living sober has many benefits, including the money you will save by no longer using it to fuel your addiction. You can now save up for large purchases and pay off debts.
  5. Healthy Weight. When you are sober, you will stop consuming empty calories from alcohol and binge-eating and naturally lose weight.  You will feel better and healthier.

There are many benefits to living sober.  Contact the Tharros House today to get started on living sober in a sober house.

Sober Living in Boston Massachusetts

A Sober Life Worth Living

You may be wondering what your life will be like once you have taken steps to beat your addiction and work towards sobriety.  At first, the recovery process may seem difficult, but it is important to keep in mind that living sober will drastically increase your quality of life and will be extremely rewarding.  A sober life is worth living; and you will find many reasons for this below.

  1. You will have more time. Until you start the recovery process, you may not realize just how much time you spent in the past focusing on your addiction.  Living sober, you will have much more time on your hands and you can partake in activities you truly enjoy, such as spending time with friends and family.
  1. You will have more fun. It may not seem this way at first, but you will have more fun living sober than you did living with your addiction.  You will have more money and energy and will no longer have to experience hangovers.  You can now enjoy life more.
  1. You will have more respect from others. People will look up to you now that you are sober and admire your determination in getting there.
  1. You will have more energy. By living sober, you will get better-quality sleep and will also get more frequent sleep.  Additionally, your body will be able to take a break from repairing damage done to it through years of drug or alcohol abuse, so you will have more energy as a result. You feel good about yourself.
  1. You will feel better about yourself. With sobriety, you can be proud of yourself every day for continuing with your recovery.  Your self-esteem will greatly improve.

There are several benefits to conquering your addiction and living sober.  Contact the Tharros House today to begin the process of finding the sober living facility that is right for you.

sober living house Boston Massachusetts

Is a Sober Living House Right for Me?

Sober living houses are living environments that provide structure for patients who have just completed a rehabilitation program for addiction. These houses are a great option for those who are not quite ready to live on their own yet and want to learn additional skills on how to live a sober life.

Many sober living houses are associated with a 12-step alcohol or drug addiction program. The houses themselves vary in size and format, and the typical stay for a person in recovery from addiction varies as well. It will depend on the individual’s specific recovery needs, but many people will stay anywhere from a few months to a full year.

Is a Sober Living House the Right Place for You?

There are several factors that go into whether a sober living house is the right place for a person in recovery and for how long they will stay at the facility. These factors include:

  • The House Rules – Depending on the house, there may be a specific length of time residents are expected to stay. Some houses do not have a time-length requirement.
  • Standard of Living – When deciding if a sober living house is the right fit, it is important to consider the fact that these houses tend to be run more like college dormitories, with specific rules that must be followed. Strict rules may not be ideal for everyone.
  • Personality Issues – Residents in sober living houses may encounter different personalities and must be adaptable to dealing with others.
  • Financial Resources – While rehab facilities are typically more expensive than sober living residences, sober living residences may be relatively expensive and are often not covered by insurance. Residents are often expected to get a job after adapting to the new living situation.

Tharros Sober Living House in Boston, Massachusetts

At Tharros House, we provide a way for residents at our sober living home to maintain a safe and supportive environment while they are in the process of easing back into their normal lives. If you or someone you love is interested in a long-term living arrangement, such as a sober living program, contact us at Tharros House to get started with the process of moving into a sober living house today.