Spending time outdoors

[BeHereNow]

I went for a short walk in the woods yesterday and it totally invigorated and energized me. It's not something I would have done on adderall when I was "too busy." But I spontaneously went and had some great thinking time--I felt like I reset my soul. And I came home and wrote all night. My friend says that spending time in the forest releases feel good chemicals, and I believe him.

So, I put a post-it on my desk that says:

"Why would you ever pop a pill when you could just take a walk in the woods??"

[emmmapea]

That's great. I definitely need to get myself to spend more time outside. Something about that fresh air and sunlight that does it for ya. Here's my question, as a [very] recent adderallic in recovery, how do you get yourself to get out of bed to even engage in activities such as this? The last few days I haven't gotten out of bed until at least 3:30pm and when I do I feel in such a huge funk and haze that it's hard for me to continue in this world outside of my bed....any suggestions?

[Krax]

Give it another week

[sky]

hey emmmapea, how long has it been since you took adderall last? you gotta give yourself time, your body time, to get used to you not taking adderall any more... it may take a week or so until you feel over the hump, so if you're having a hard time getting up and going in the "morning" that's normal, we all went thru the same thing... those are the stay in sweats all day watching netflix and coming on this website days... but if you are feeling claustrophobic and want to get out and get your blood circulating and get some air and sun, just do whatever you can! that'll all be bonus points right there. you'll start to feel better as some days pass since you last took it, and soon enough you'll be doing much much better, ask anyone on here- the beginning days suck, then slowly things get better and better.... keep it up girl.

[LILTEX41]

Emmapea, I agree with the Sky and Krax! But I definitely recommend getting outdoors as soon as you have some energy. I don't know where you live and what the weather is like, but there is just something about being in the outdoors that is revitalizing for the spirit - especially during the early stages of recovery. Just like Occasional mentioned above, I totally remember feeling the same way about being "too busy" for stuff like that. Nothing existed outside of my adderallic trance as far as I knew. The most important thing was maintaining that adderall high and laser sharp focus on whatever task I was doing at the moment.

It's funny he brought this up today because I had a few bad weeks recently and had not been outdoors whatsoever. Today I finally got on my bike for the first time in months and it was AWESOME. Of course, it was like 70 degrees and all, but it was SO MUCH fun just riding around and listening to music. Definitely one of my favorite activities! But yeah, don't worry, your energy will come back...just give it time.

Hugs!

[sky]

yup!! I'm back on my bike these days too! finally warming up here, rode to the beach and read the past 3 days in a row, except today when I cleaned like a mo-fo and got my kitchen spotless, finally, was a disgusting disaster... was actually that Tips for Adderall Recovery post this morning that got me going to clean up my place..........

[quit-once]

I remember the relief I felt the first time I shined the chrome on my toaster after quitting. I had been worried that the detail oriented shit was only possible with adderall, but it does come back. The only difference is that it takes half as long now and shining up chrome is no longer "fun" but rather just another chore that gets done.

I couldn't agree more than this discussion about nature and outdoor experiences helping with recovery. I lived in a forest, but I never walked in the woods when I was on adderall.

After quitting, I took up a new hobby in the forest. I set up several motion activated trail cameras and started collecting photos of all the creatures in nature (like my profile photo above). It was like a trap line that I checked every few days and there was always something new. That was my obsession to replace the adderall. Its funny (because I don't understand), but by last summer I had developed other interests and I just wasn't into that hobby any more.

[SomedayDreamer]

Being outdoors does amazing things for the spirit (in general sense of the word). We're in a deep-freeze here right now, -30 windchill, but the sky is so gorgeously sunny, clear and deep blue that I wish I could get out there for just a bit. Can't wait for this cold snap to end in the next few days as I finally feel like getting up out the house for walk.

[Motivation_Follows_Action]

You guys are really lucky. Honestly. Nature is a proven anti-depressant. I grew up on a farm in Australia in the middle of nowhere - 40,000 acres of bushland, where my toys were horses and anthills and mice. I used to swim in the creek and climb fences and you could stand on the porch in the evening and see the whole enormous sky from horizon to horizon.

Now I live in Brooklyn, where nature doesn't surround me, and I have to make a real effort to see it. Prospect Park is nice, but there are always people or dogs around, and it's only really in the summer and spring when there are leaves on the tree-lined streets where I can see nature, kind of. It really does make me grateful for my background and really happy that those of you who do have access to it, take advantage of the nature that is around you. You are very lucky.

Nature is better than xanax, any day.