At its core, gratitude is about developing a state of openness and vulnerability. It allows you to appreciate what you have instead of dwelling on your difficulties. According to studies, gratitude and happiness are always strongly correlated. In one study, researchers asked one group to note the things they were grateful for. They then asked another group to write about the daily irritations or things that had displeased them.
- As individuals embark on their recovery journey, expressing gratitude can help mend these broken bonds.
- MAT addresses the physical aspects of addiction by helping to manage withdrawal symptoms, reduce cravings, and normalize brain chemistry.
- By acknowledging and appreciating the progress, support, and opportunities present, individuals can pave the way for enduring success in their recovery paths.
- It fosters hope by reminding you of the progress you’ve made and the potential for a better future.
Gratitude: Five Essential Daily Practices
Keeping a gratitude journal is one of the best ways to create a space for intentional reflection. It’s a journal or diary that you use to record things you’re grateful for and have a dialogue with yourself throughout recovery and beyond. For the best results, you should write in your journal regularly, every day if possible. This way, it becomes part of your routine and provides a time of quiet mindfulness during your busy days. The key to practicing gratitude in your daily life, especially during SUD recovery, is being intentional about the time you spend reflecting.
Improve Your Diet
In this section, I will discuss the various ways in which gratitude can aid in addiction recovery. We’ll explore how practicing gratitude can help us overcome negative thinking patterns and view our situation with hope and positivity. We’ll also delve into how expressing gratitude can help alleviate the stress and anxiety that often accompany addiction recovery. Finally, we’ll explore how cultivating a thankful mindset can serve as a powerful force for positive change, inspiring us gratitude and recovery to take action towards our recovery goals. Think about the psychological and emotional benefits of making gratitude a regular practice in recovery.
The Power of Gratitude in Building a New Life After Addiction
The FHE Health team is committed to providing accurate information that adheres to the highest standards of writing. This is part of our ongoing commitment to ensure FHE Health is trusted as a leader in mental health and addiction care. When you’re struggling, you can reach for your gratitude journal for reminders to rebalance yourself. It can remind you of how far you’ve come and all you’ve done to get to this stage of recovery. You can simply feel grateful that you made it through or that you didn’t take your bad day out on anyone else.
When we honor and appreciate other people’s assets, we create a safe environment where they, too, can feel happy and grateful, and they benefit from our presence. But now that we deliberately manifest gratitude, we see the best qualities in any given moment, person and situation, and it creates a positive feedback loop where we draw out the best in others. Gratitude is a muscle that develops with training and practice, and when we make a habit of appreciating the better qualities in life, we strengthen that muscle in our mind.
Overcoming Setbacks through a Grateful Mindset
As mentioned, when a person begins to think negatively, it often just grows and grows until they are upset, angry, bitter, and eventually resentful. However, gratitude is essential for anyone in recovery or working to get sober. Many people who are revered for their spiritual work and success have touted the importance of gratitude. The Four A’s of gratitude—appreciation, approval, admiration, and attention—serve as foundational components to cultivate a grateful mindset, especially important during recovery.
How to Recognize and Manage Emotional Triggers in Recovery
This open awareness fosters a natural surge of gratitude, a quiet appreciation for the abundance woven into each day. This newfound mindfulness-related gratitude becomes a wellspring of strength, empowering us to navigate the challenges of recovery with renewed hope and a gentle, joyful heart. Keeping a gratitude journal allows individuals to focus on daily positive experiences, no matter how small.
One way is to begin journaling about the things in your life that you are grateful for right now. While we can look at each one of these things and find an issue, the power is in finding the good in each. And just as with any other habit, with regular practice, grateful thoughts can become your everyday way of thinking. For many, our brains have been wired and become accustomed to thinking one way—often negatively. Those with addiction issues sometimes have maladjusted ways of thinking, which become habits. These thoughts, as mentioned, can tend to be negative, always seeing what is wrong and what we don’t want.
When we worry about relapse or feel resentment or other negative feelings creep in, it’s a great opportunity to cultivate gratitude. During these Step 10 personal inventories, we can note these tendencies and commit to changing them. Then when we feel gratitude slipping away, we can re-engage with whichever practices help us to feel connected with our Higher Power and other people. In recovery, make self-care a priority by taking steps to improve your circumstances or your health or saying no to people and activities that don’t support your goals for recovery. Getting the help you need is the first step toward recovering from addiction. Many people suffering from addiction put this step off for years, and some indefinitely.
Recognizing and appreciating the positive aspects of life, even amidst struggles, can help individuals shift their focus away from negative self-perceptions. Cultivating gratitude and incorporating it into daily life can significantly contribute to the recovery process. By recognizing the positive aspects of life, individuals can reduce the risk of relapse, build resilience, and maintain a positive outlook. Practicing gratitude is an empowering tool that encourages individuals to embrace the journey of recovery with a grateful heart. Gratitude not only enhances mental and physical health but also boosts social health and connection. When it comes to recovery, social connections and support play a crucial role in maintaining sobriety and building a fulfilling life in recovery.
It involves recognizing the efforts and kindness of others, as well as acknowledging the inherent value in the experiences we undergo. Adriana has contributed to a number of books and book chapters, including TJ Woodward’s Conscious Being Workbook and The Conscious Recovery Method™ Workbook, both of which she co-authored with him. Adriana also has a private practice drug addiction treatment in San Francisco and travels around the world coaching and facilitating transformational and empowering workshops.
The Importance of Gratitude in the Recovery Journey
More than creating a gratitude list, actively practicing gratitude has always been essential to recovery success. Discover understanding the feeling of gratitude in recovery and its transformative effects on well-being. This is where showing appreciation for even small gestures of kindness or relatively minuscule positive occurrences comes into play. Practicing gratitude by thanking someone who lets you cut in line in the supermarket because you only have one item is an appropriate way of showing gratitude and ingraining it into your own practices. If you started to expect such a favor all the time, however, your entitlement could lead to refusal and then hostile thinking. When you’re mired in the depths of addiction, other negative situations often come along with it.
