My therapist prescribed me this simple task 6 months ago that COMPLETELY changed my life, so I wanted to share it with you lovely humans!

I used to harbor deep rooted self loathing and guilt from past sexual traumas, but after doing this exercise every day, I now view myself as an incredibly beautiful individual who is worthy of love, devotion, and all good things in life (true facts for every FDSer <3).

Did you know that daily gratitude is Scientifically Proven to decrease depression and improve our overall physical and mental wellbeing? Now, imagine if that gratitude was directed towards ourselves...

Enter: The "Basket of Gratitude" Exercise:

1) Get a notebook and pen and keep them somewhere accessible, like a bedside table.

2) Every day, write a list of things you are grateful for, starting each item with "I am so grateful for...". My list is usually 5 items long, but you can write as many or few as you want!

3) For each item you write on your list, add a sentence or two of self gratitude. These sentences should reflect the actions, qualities, or values you possess that created the thing you are grateful for. For example:

If you wrote:

"I am so grateful for my beautiful home"

Add a sentence or two of self gratitude:

"I am so grateful for my beautiful home. I have worked incredibly hard at my job to be able to afford to pay rent for this home. I've also decorated it really well!"

Another example:

"I am so grateful for that lovely chat on the phone I had with my bestie today"

Add a sentence or two of self gratitude:

"I am so grateful for that lovely chat on the phone I had with my bestie today. I value my friendships highly and I have done an amazing job of keeping contact with my bestie over the years. I'm a great friend!"

Those sentences of self gratitude are THE KEY to retraining our brains to view ourselves in a positive light!

Try this activity every day and see how you feel after a week, a month, or even a few months. It seriously changed my life and has become a part of my daily morning ritual <3

NOTE: this activity is going to potentially to feel AKWARD and PHONY at first. Stick with it though! We women literally have to RETRAIN our brains to not think negatively of ourselves -- and that deep-rooted self loathing will fight tooth and nail to continue taking up space in our Psyche.

Comment below with any self-gratitude phrases that came to your mind from this post :)

Love you all

xoxo