Gratitude for the Wound: Why I’m Thankful for My Eating Disorder
What if your eating disorder wasn’t something to simply get rid of, but a doorway to deeper healing and inner transformation? As someone who has struggled with eating disorders and now a somatic practitioner specializing in EDs, I can honestly say that grateful for my eating disorder because it became a portal to understanding my body’s wisdom, unmet needs, and desire for wholeness.
Eating disorders often emerge when words fall short — when our nervous system and attachment wounds speak through the body in behaviors we can’t always explain. Rather than shame or suppress these behaviours, we are invited to listen with curiosity.
What is your body trying to say? What does it need to feel safe, nourished, and seen?
Let us reframe eating disorder recovery not as a path of control or perfection, but as a journey of courageous self-inquiry, compassionate presence, and embodied trust. This is a journey of reconnecting with the body, through feeling, movement, and attuned listening, and how this process leads to clarity, belonging, and a profound sense of inner freedom.
Healing is possible — not by fixing yourself, but by befriending yourself.
I Am Grateful for My Eating Disorder
When we try to “get rid of” an eating disorder, we might unknowingly bypass the very opportunity for transformation that it offers. Eating disorders are not random — they are messengers. They speak when words cannot. They reflect what the nervous system cannot hold, what the attachment system never received, and what the heart still longs for.
Rather than viewing them as enemies, what if we met them with curiosity?
What if your eating disorder is your body’s most loyal — albeit misunderstood — way of asking for safety, nourishment, and belonging?
The Body Speaks When the Soul is Silent
In the early days of my healing, I tried to deny my struggle. But pain doesn’t disappear when ignored — it shapeshifts, often surfacing through the body.
Eventually, I listened. I softened (#thankyouplantmedicine)
And my body whispered:
See me. Hear me. Nourish me. Acknowledge my existence. We belong together.
That whisper became a compass.
Recovery Is a Relationship, Not a Fix
So many models of eating disorder treatment focus on controlling symptoms. But if we simply shut down the behaviors without understanding their function, we lose the wisdom they carry.
Recovery is not about doing more. It’s about being differently, with compassion, courage, and presence.
Ask your body:
What are you afraid of?
What do you need to feel safe?
What are you starving from — and what are you starving for?
When you listen deeply, you begin to uncover the truth beneath the hunger.
This Journey Is Not Linear — It’s Sacred
My body has become my greatest teacher — not despite the eating disorder, but because of it. Through trembling, crying, thawing, sweating, forgiving, and feeling, I’ve come home to myself.
This is the long, brave path of embodied recovery. It is not easy. But it is worth it.
And if you are walking this path, I see you. I trust the wisdom within you. And I believe that healing is not just possible — it’s already unfolding.
Whatever journey you are navigating with your body, I see you. I acknowledge the deep deep work you are doing. I honour you and your body, and the capacity that resides within you to radiate from the core of your being.
May this work continue to evolve and set all of us free.
If you are inspired to walk your recovery journey with support and intention, you are welcome to connect with me directly to learn more about my one-on-one coaching focused on eating disorder recovery and/or psychedelic preparation and integration.
Photo by Rosie Kerr on Unsplash