Riding bikes has proven to be one of the most effective ways of recovering from addiction and alcoholism in addition to holistic lifestyle change, medications, behavioral therapies, and social interaction.
Going through the entire process of recovery requires a lot from the addict, alcohol councilors, and rehab centers. Several steps have to be looked at to make sure that the addict goes through the process and comes out with a truly rehabilitated individual.
Apart from the traditional approaches, outdoor activities, such as motorcycle riding, hiking, kayaking, mountain climbing, camping, among others, are considered as highly effective in the entire chain approach. They help to take the individual out of addiction without any fear of a relapse into the old way of life. Here are some of the ways motorcycling helps in enhancing the recovery process of an addict.
Relieves Tension and Stress
Tension, anger, stress, depression, pressure, and a host of other negative feelings constitute incredible avalanche of what makes up addiction. However, getting on the bike has a significant way of reducing these effects.
Apart from taking away the effects, motorcycling helps to lower cortisol and adrenaline, the hormones responsible for the secretion, and the emission of stress and depression. The energy and force they exert on the bike pedals form a therapy to release frustration in a very profound way. They also receive a new experience and a solid workout in the process.
Keeps You Fit
Bike Riding makes the addict feels light, fit, and agile. It does help to make them lose the feeling of the wind on their face. At the initial stage, going on the bike may be a lot challenging for the person, but gradually they start to be in control of the bike. They can go a few hours controlling the pace of the ride, toning their muscles in the process without feeling winded.
Builds Social Connection
Imagine the number of riders you would encounter as you step onto that busy motorcycle rides in Miami, reeling in the saddle of your newly acquired Beginner Motorcycle. That’s the beauty and benefit of cycling in the rehab and recovery process for the addict.
Biking is an excellent opportunity to reconnect with people and engage in purposeful social discussions. It diverts the minds of the individual under rehab from the usual lonely thought to atypical social connection, making them feel they are part of the whole community.
They’re able to see and experience new things, and from a different perspective, too. They can establish a new connection, learn new skills, make new and useful friends, engage in purposeful conversation, build trust, and chat productively about things that matter.
Meanwhile, cycling for rehab means more than a workout; it also serves as a way of taking away the moody feeling and negative lonely thoughts that come with their hitherto sedentary lifestyle.
Improves mental and physical health
Cycling is an outdoor activity that helps to improve the overall mental and physical health of the addict in several ways. The addict gets closer to nature and receives a vista, especially when biking in the woods; thus, they regain physical, mental, and emotional health. While on the bike, you have clean and healthy breath. You’ll quickly overcome the internal air pollution that distorts thought and keeps the mind contaminated with negativity.
More so, bike riding in the open air exposes you to the rays of light and sunlight. These help to boost your levels of vitamins, including vitamin D, which is essential to build strong bones and a healthy immune system. The absence of enough vitamin D in the body could result in severe emotional and mental issues.
Besides, the human body needs a lot of phytoncides that come from plants. Essentially, they help us to secret a lot of natural killer cells in the form of white blood cells. These cells often get contaminated with highly harmful viruses.
Stimulates Brain Function
Learning to bike and cycle is a way of acquiring new skillset. This becomes more essential when the addict considers it a form of novelty, which has, in itself, some capacity to stimulate the brain and mind to function optimally.
There are usually certain parts of the brain that remain redundant in the life of the alcoholic. It takes outdoor activities like cycling to re-engage these parts once more and stimulate them to active use. Mere experiencing nature while on the bike has a long way to get the individual thinking in a completely different way.
Builds confidence and takes away the fear
Again, bike riding is a confidence booster. There are a lot of things the person can do, which hitherto has been limited by the excessive sole craving for alcohol. Engaging in motorcycling instills a sense of ‘everything is possible.’ From the different riding skills, you become more self-reliant, confident, and help you break the frontiers of what you can achieve beyond drinking.
On top of that, riding is an engaging activity; in fact, it comes with its danger and risk. But it takes a resourceful and self-reliant individual to start it. Once started, cycling can become a lifetime exercise, helping you to take away boredom, push boundaries, and take off the scary and fearful hat.
Creates new opportunities
The whole essence of rehab and recovery is to make the individual user for themselves and the society in which they live. Hence, motorcycling is a great way to create that opportunity. Apart from feeling good about themselves, the addicts can begin to see the other side of life where they could deploy skills and talents for something more productive. Understanding and meeting new friends, joining different riders’ community can help them re-channel their energy and skills to better areas. They can as well see things they have been missing for a long time.
There’s no cast-in-stone or cure-all approach to recovery and rehab process for the addict. Everything has to be holistic. The various benefits motorcycling offers in this whole gamut complement every other traditional method towards making the addict a better person. There’s no better time than now to intensify interest and effort in the area of biking and cycling for the rehab and recovery process of alcoholics.
