When you’re in recovery for anything from trauma to addiction, alcoholism to eating disorders, gambling to shopping, you hear about the “gifts of recovery”. Everyone is talking about these gifts of recovery and how wonderful they are, how worthy they make every ounce of effort, pain, and struggle we go through in our recovery efforts. These gifts of recovery come unexpectedly as we “do the work” to recover. Sometimes the gifts are monetary. Sometimes the gifts are materialistic. Most often, however, the gifts are intangible. The gifts of recovery are usually emotional moments in which we realize the growth we have made. Our gifts of recovery are skills, processes, and forms of self-care which we never had before. At times, just waking up before noon is a gift of recovery, or sleeping in is a gift of recovery. Making our bed is a gift of recovery and cooking healthy, nutritious meals for ourself is absolutely a gift of recovery.
Knowing how to prepare a healthy and nutritious meal for yourself is a gift of recovery. Trauma, addictions, and other mental health disorders change the way the brain and the body are able to work. In order to fully recover, the body needs to be fed the right kind of fuel to sustain transformation in mind and body.
Cooking in recovery does more than keep the body healthy and primed for transformation. You have to use critical thinking to make decisions about following a recipe, replacing ingredients, or trying something new in the kitchen. Cooking allows your creativity to flow in a way that helps your inner child heal because cooking is essentially playing with food. You can allow yourself room to make silly mistakes, to laugh at yourself when you get messy, and delight in whatever you create, even if its the worst thing you’ve ever tasted.
Your ability to cook demonstrates your ability to present in life, attempt to take care of yourself in a nurturing way, and be flexible with some of life’s unexpected challenges, like burning the chocolate chip cookies.
At The Guest House Ocala, we show clients how to live a healthy, nutritious, well rounded lifestyle.
You can walk through your trauma. The Guest House Ocala offers residential treatment programming for trauma, addictions, and related mental health issues. Call us today for information on our customized programs and availability: 1-855-483-7800