Gratitude in Recovery

I am grateful for the way in which my eating disorder enhanced my spiritual life and changed my mindset. You can learn to practice gratitude in recovery.

If you are reading this, chances are you may think I sound crazy. How could anyone be grateful for anything about their eating disorder? How can I begin to practice gratitude in recovery? The alternative to gratitude is resentment, fear, negativity, and ultimately for me the demise of my recovery. I am more connected to the universe and myself than ever before, and I am forever grateful.

The road to recovery is long and winding (more on the eating disorder recovery timeline here). Along the way are moments when we choose to become our diagnosis (“anorexic” “bulimic” “binge eater”) OR to recognize that we are more than our illness. Labels are limiting but we are limitless. We are infinitely connected to others and never truly alone. We CAN practice gratitude in recovery.

Your illness can be a moment in time for reflection and healing.

It is not your defining moment and it does not need to be your future. Life for every living thing is regenerative. Trees bloom and then lose their leaves only to return stronger. Humans also have the capacity to wholly reset their lives.

Neuroscientists, psychologists, and healers of all faiths have always recognized the power of inward connection long before they could articulate the method by which it is accomplished. Today they can objectively visualize increased blood flow in the brain with enhanced imagery, measure increased electrical conductivity and magnetic vibrations in the heart, and calculate powerful hormone levels in the blood during and immediately after spiritual practices and mindfulness techniques.

How do we connect to our spirituality or reconnect with our personal faith during our darkest times?

Gratitude is the single most powerful emotion for shifting your mindset and resetting the body.

Through meditation or prayer, we devote our entire focus to mentally expressing gratitude for something in our lives. Allowing our minds to experience the complete emotion triggers specific areas in the brain to send out powerful chemical messengers to the body just as if we are experiencing this in real time. These messages of happiness (think love, joy, safety, and security) cause the release of hormones including but not limited to serotonin, dopamine, and GABA necessary for mood, concentration, immunity, and sleep. Heart rate and respiratory rate change. Oxygen saturation levels increase. Blood flow increases in the brain and the heart begins to send chemical messengers throughout the body along with increasing its own magnetic vibrational field. Yes—we can actually radiate with positivity and enhance our own physical healing. I talk more about mindfulness techniques on my friend Meg McCabe’s podcast, Full And Thriving: An Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast. Listen here!

Gentle movement like restorative yoga and pilates allows us to connect the mind and body through slow focused exercises.

These movements offer us the chance to reconnect with our body in a purposeful appreciative way in contrast to exercise used as punishment. Breathwork is the most ancient form of connecting the mind body and spirit. Deep belly breathing activates specific nerves that detect blood pressure. These nerves send messages to the vagus nerve which in turn decreases heart rate and blood pressure. The nervous system is relaxed while mental clarity is improved. Most report feelings of greater connectedness with others and decreased symptoms of anxiety and depression. As we practice both old and new breathing techniques, we become acutely aware of the power of our breath. We can still the soul or awaken the spirit. I love to practice breathwork at Breathe Meditation and Wellness. Check out their studio if you are in Dallas!

We hold the power.