Doing this exercise right before bed can help put you in a positive frame of mind, which the study on gratitude and sleep cited above indicates can give you the added benefit of better quality sleep. After a couple of weeks, it may be a good idea to start doing this exercise once a week. You can get desensitized to gratitude like everything else and doing the practice once a week can keep it fresh.
- A research paper published in the Journal of Happiness Studies in 2020, it showed that being grateful regularly could diminish symptoms of anxiety and depression.
- When the moment has passed, reflect on the people and experiences that have had a positive impact on your recovery journey.
- …then read on to learn the benefits, get some tips to maximize your efforts and see how it all ties together to form the happiest version of you.
There are many sources of inspiration one can draw on when recovering from substance abuse, and gratitude is the key that unlocks them. Inspiration and motivation work together to support a focus on recovery. Having a sense of gratitude replaces embarrassment and frustration with thankfulness. A grateful person isn’t ashamed to thank a friend for checking in on them. Instead of being frustrated over cravings and withdrawal symptoms, gratitude leads to a thankfulness for being able to overcome without indulgence in drugs or alcohol. This is where showing appreciation for even small gestures of kindness or relatively minuscule positive occurrences comes into play.
Relationships with Others:
The third group was asked to write about important things that had happened that week but whether those things should be good or bad wasn’t specified. After 10 weeks of doing this practice just once a week, the group that had written about things https://ecosoberhouse.com/ they were grateful for reported feeling better about their lives and were more optimistic. As a bonus, they also reported exercising more and going to the doctor less than the participants who had written about things that annoyed them.
Often, we develop a perspective about life and life’s circumstances out of past experiences. On the simplest level, gratitude is an appreciation for the good things in your life, even if they might seem insignificant at first glance. Aside from the happiness and contentment it adds to our life, there are many advantages to developing an attitude of gratitude.
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Whether you’re recovering from alcohol or drug addiction or overcoming a traumatic experience, there’s a good chance you’ll feel some negative feelings in the process. It can take over if you’re not careful, so we wanted to touch on the importance of gratitude in recovery today. Active addiction can carry with it a lot of shame, guilt, and remorse, and it’s critical to counterbalance these feelings with gratitude, hope, and wellness. Instead of getting lost in negative emotions, use gratitude to be thankful you are in recovery and are fully present in your life. Gratitude helps reduce or even eliminate emotional and physical triggers as well.