12 Useful Alexa Skills for Addiction Recovery
Last Updated on December 11, 2020
If you own an Amazon Echo smart speaker, you have access to dozens of great sobriety maintenance tools you may not even know about. Whether you’re new to recovery or you’ve been sober for several months or years, these skills can add an extra layer of support to your sobriety journey. Here are some of the most useful Alexa skills for people in recovery.
1. Sober Now
Sober Now offers four different sobriety tools wrapped up into one Alexa app. Get inspirational quotes, realistic self-care tips, interesting statistics on addiction and recovery, and relatable podcast episodes that will work together to help you keep your sobriety top of mind daily. With useful tips and powerful advice, this Alexa App is an all-encompassing tool that will help you stay motivated and prevent relapse.
2. Headspace: Guided Meditation for Everybody
This skill from Headspace is particularly helpful if you want to incorporate meditation into your sober daily routine. Use it daily to learn how to meditate and live mindfully with consistent practice. Complete with a sleep exercise to help you wind down at the end of the day, Headspace can help you manage stress, focus, and be happier with guided meditation.
3. Sobriety Birthday
If you like to keep track of your days sober and count down to your sobriety birthday, this Alexa skill is for you! Sobriety Birthday allows you to easily count down to your special day by telling you exactly how many days remain in the countdown. This is a great way to stay motivated and remember all the progress you’ve made.
4. Make Me Smile
Some sober days will be easier than others, but if you’re feeling particularly down or depressed, you can simply ask Alexa to make you smile and she’ll give you plenty of reasons to feel hopeful and happy. The Make Me Smile Alexa app is a great instant pick-me-up for those dark gloomy days in recovery.
5. Alcoholics Anonymous
Looking for a local Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting in your area? The Alcoholics Anonymous Alexa skill can help you find the next available meeting and offer additional meeting times and options if you need it. You can also ask Alexa when your next meeting is to receive a reminder of the date and time. An additional perk: this skill rewards you with virtual sobriety chips as you earn them!
6. Sleep Sounds: Rain Sounds
Insomnia is common among people in recovery, but the Sleep Sounds Alexa skill can help you get a good night’s rest. This skill provides relaxing, ambient sounds that loop for an hour, including rain sounds, fireplace sounds, ocean sounds, white noise, thunderstorm sounds, café sounds, and more.
7. Recovery Speakers from Alcoholics Anonymous
Hearing someone else talk about their recovery journey can be extremely powerful and motivating, especially if you’re new to recovery. With the Recovery Speakers from Alcoholics Anonymous app, you can listen to random Alcoholics Anonymous speakers talk about their journey from addiction to recovery by simply saying, “Alexa, open Recovery Speakers.”
8. Emotionally Sober Mind
Learning how to feel your emotions and manage them without drugs or alcohol can be challenging. The Emotionally Sober Mind skill helps you accept your emotions as they come and fully experience them without letting them take over completely. When paired with therapy or counseling, this Alexa skill might just be life-changing.
9. The Serenity Prayer
A simple but effective Alexa skill, the Serenity Prayer will lead you through the complete serenity prayer for 12-Step support groups. Whether you’re new to the 12-Step Program or you’d just like to hear the words spoken aloud, this Alexa skill can easily be integrated into your daily morning or evening routine.
10. Yoga Music
The Yoga Music Alexa app provides an hour-long background track of calming, peaceful music for your yoga practice. Stay calm, focused, and centered while you practice your yoga and forget about searching through endless Spotify playlists to find the perfect one.
11. Talk Me Down
Having someone to talk you down off a ledge is helpful if you feel like you’re about to use or have a drink. If your sponsor is unavailable and you can’t get ahold of another trusted support person, the Alexa Talk Me Down app can provide a timely and supportive message of courage when you need it most.
12. My Mindful Journal
If you’d like to get into the habit of journaling regularly but you don’t know what to write about, the My Mindful Journal Alexa app can help. This skill provides insightful prompts and questions to help you reflect on everyday moments in your day-to-day life. The best thing? After using this skill for a while, you’ll likely find that you can write in your mindfulness journey with any prompts or questions!
Although Alexa skills can be very helpful in maintaining your sobriety daily, nothing compares to the real-life support of another human being. If you’re struggling to stay sober or you’re tired of trying to do it on your own, call (512) 605-2955 to speak with a Nova Recovery Center representative today. We can help you achieve a sober and satisfying life.