Practicing Gratitude in Eating Disorder Recovery

I didn’t think it mattered or even did anything. In recovery, I’ve learned that helping others is one of the cornerstones of living a healthy and fulfilling life. It not only makes you feel good, but it also makes others feel good. Embracing the message of recovery allows me to pass that message on to others. During Thanksgiving, it’s natural to reflect on gratitude. The holiday has its roots in hardship — fully half the Pilgrim settlers died of disease and starvation that first winter.

• But it is these negative feelings that drive destructive behaviors like drug abuse.
• It can also be an opportunity to inspire gratitude and thanksgiving for all that you have yet to achieve in this new chapter in your life.
• And they can return to the family table as stronger men.
• Turnbridge operates leading mental health and substance abuse treatment programs throughout Connecticut.

Gratitude for the people who prayed for him. Gratitude for the food and shelter provided. Gratitude for the opportunity to work and help around the Mission. Paul’s gratitude and healing went hand in hand, and his “garment of praise” shown on his face. Some 12 Step home groups hold all-day/night marathon meetings around the holidays; if yours is, then you can drop in at your leisure. But even if yours doesn’t, it’s perfectly acceptable to excuse yourself from family and hit one up.

Food Gratitude (Grades 3 –

Finally, Chris Libby from provides four rituals that you can implement to build gratitude in your life. More information on cultivating a sense of gratitude in children can be found here. Use your children’s strengths to fuel gratitude. Create opportunities for your children to be helpful and cooperative with others, enhancing their ability to feel and express gratitude. In groups of four, students discuss the visualization and on a large piece of paper, draw all of the people, tools and natural elements necessary to produce the fruit. As students draw, discuss the many people involved in the process of making the fruit available, and prompt the class to think about how they would show gratitude to all of the people—they then add this to the drawing.

It is quite extraordinary if you think about it, but it can be easy to take for granted for those who have food security. The following video shows the results of a USC study where students kept a gratitude journal for 10 weeks. Watch what happened when the three groups had different prompts—and results. This is similar to the gratitude journal, except you are going to take pictures of all the things you are grateful for. This gives you the opportunity to visualize your gratitude.

Benefits of Gratitude in Sobriety (and life in general!)

Purchase a “Gratitude Journal” – Each day, record at least one thing you are grateful for. This will start your “gratitude list,” something you should read over every day as a reminder of the positive aspects in your life. As we approach Thanksgiving, we traditionally use the holiday https://ecosoberhouse.com/ season to take a step back, reflect on the year, and give thanks. However, as a turbulent and painful year comes to a close during this holiday season of 2020, many cannot be faulted for having a difficult time finding gratitude. This podcast looks at the power of gratitude.

• Sometimes, just a change of scenery can make a difference in your mood.
• Unchecked negative thoughts, resentments, and self-pity are the silent killers of alcoholics, drug addicts, and family bonds.
• Find a gratitude partner to share your list of things you are grateful for with, to discuss your challenges and your successes with, and to motivate you when you are not feeling up to the task .
• Even if you managed to show up, you were often too wasted to remember.

When you’re thankful for what you have, you are always rewarded with more. We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives. When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around. Atlanta I would highly recommend attending this why is gratitude important in recovery meeting. It could make a difference for you and your family on this very important holiday. Listen to a song that always reminds you to be grateful at different points during the day. Many men here at Recovery Boot Camp haven’t had a Happy Thanksgiving in quite awhile.

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Gratitude is an action and repeating daily actions of being grateful or thankful ultimately will become habitual. Writing in a journal is often recommended as a way to express your emotions throughout the recovery process, but keeping a gratitude journal offers extra benefits. When you list one or two things you’re thankful for each day, whether it’s a hot cup of coffee enjoyed with friends or the beauty of fall’s colorful foliage, you remind yourself of all the reasons you have to be sober. In recovery, gratitude is an integral component in learning acceptance and developing an understanding of the world around us. Expressing appreciation and acknowledging the tangible and intangible things one can be grateful for is often paramount in the pursuit of mental wellness. Personally, this is something I lacked tremendously in active addiction.

That may be especially true if you’re spending Thanksgiving in recovery — after all, it’s one day! Surely, they suggest, you can skip a meeting for one day.

Reasons to be Thankful in Recovery

Not just to what we have, but to what we are given. Active addiction meant you were focused entirely on your own substance-fueled needs. But recovery puts you in the unique position to help other people who are still as lost as you once were—by volunteering, serving at 12-Step meetings, or even just by talking it out when they are tempted. And here’s a wonderful bonus— serving others keeps YOU sober. Addiction isolates you from your family and friends. But as you recover physically and mentally, you can work on bridging the distance.

• Finally, the worksheet prompts individuals to write a gratitude letter.
• By recording your blessings in Grateful, during those ‘down’ moments you can be reminded of all the things in your life that you have to be grateful for.
• This activity can be either an email or a letter which you can send off in the mail or deliver personally.
• It becomes a practice you feel you should do or need to do instead of something you want to do.
• Especially in early recovery, there are a lot of emotions that surface that are no longer being numbed by drugs or alcohol, and these emotions can sometimes feel overwhelming.