What IS eat breathe thrive?

Eat Breathe Thrive is an integrative program that helps people eat mindfully, build resilience, and connect with their bodies.


Eat Breathe Thrive (EBT) is a structured intervention focused on four core skills or “pillars” (functional action, embodied intimacy, inner awareness, and self-regulation).  EBT includes many modalities — yoga, meditation, psychoeducation, and peer support.  You work on the skills with a facilitator and peer support group in a course through a series of sessions.

There are two versions of the EBT intervention — a seven-week program aimed at eating disorder prevention and a four-week program focused on eating disorder recovery. The sessions are two hours in length; one hour of discussion and activities, followed by a yoga and meditation practice. The yoga practice is designed to help you embody and integrate your insights. You also receive at-home exercises to help you apply what you learn in your life.

EBT is an evidence-based intervention. It was developed by people who have recovered from eating disorders to help others improve their relationship with food, body, and self. It includes practices to help you tune into hunger and fullness signals, cope with difficult emotions, build healthy relationships, and foster a healthy relationship with your body.  It is offered in schools, treatment centers, schools and universities, and anywhere people gather to connect, learn, and grow. 

 Four Pillars

Functional Action

Learn to eat, move your body, and appreciate your body based on what it does and what it needs — not what it looks like.

Embodied Intimacy

Learn to connect with your innermost feelings and experiences through the body and use that awareness to forge healthier relationships with others.

Inner Awareness

Learn to identify your physical and emotional needs and eat in ways that nourish your body and mind.

Self-regulation

Learn how your body can help you cope with difficult emotions and generate positive states of mind.

 How Does EBT Work?

You can join an EBT course virtually or in person. Our facilitators offer courses in more than fifty cities, on almost every continent around the world. Some courses are offered for free, and some courses are offered at a fee determined by the facilitator. 

All facilitators have completed extensive training with the EBT organization. Facilitators represent a wide array of professional backgrounds — counselors, yoga therapists, nutritionists, and health professionals. EBT is always done in groups, and for those with active eating disorders must be accompanied by individual treatment.  In a clinical setting, EBT may be offered as a twice-weekly (rather than once-weekly) group.  

EBT is premised on the idea that eating disorders are not just cognitive disorders — they have somatic components that are often unaddressed in psychological therapies. EBT focuses on somatic skill building — helping you identify hunger and fullness signals, cope with emotions, connect with yourself, and appreciate and enjoy your physicality. EBT also includes a service component, designed to help you build a sense of purpose, honor your growth, and offer it as a gift back to others. 

 What is EBT used for?

EBT was developed for eating disorders but is now additionally used to support people with a wide range of conditions including:

Eating Disorders: All types of eating disorders — including anorexia, ARFID, bulimia, body dysmorphia, and binge eating disorder. EBT can be supportive at any stage of recovery but is especially aimed at those transitioning out of treatment or working to sustain recovery in outpatient settings. 

Disordered Eating: Even if you don’t have a diagnosed eating disorder, EBT can help you learn to identify what your body really needs and improve your relationship with food. You’ll learn to learn to distinguish between your emotions and bodily cues (e.g. hunger and fullness).

Anxiety & Depression: EBT has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression. You will learn about how a dysregulated nervous system contributes to anxiety and depression, plus practices to help you shift when you’re feeling low or agitated.

Substance Abuse: EBT helps you connect with your needs, identify your emotions, and cope with stress in healthy ways.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): EBT has been shown in scientific studies to reduce the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. You will learn yoga and meditation practices that may be helpful in processing and integrating trauma.

Benefits and Evidence

Eat Breathe Thrive is one of the most studied somatic interventions for eating disorders and has gained traction among researchers and clinicians as evidence of its clinical effectiveness continues to accumulate. 

There have been five significant trials of EBT to date, including two randomized controlled trials. The evidence shows effectiveness in reducing symptoms of eating disorders, depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Importantly, EBT has also been shown to bolster protective factors that reduce the risk of eating disorders and prevent relapse (e.g. interoceptive awareness, self-care, body appreciation, social connection, mindful eating, and emotional coping).

  • "I would recommend EBT to others - even those who don't have an eating disorder. It's a way & path to getting to understand the importance of knowing your body as part of yourself and working on ways to allow it to work with your mind & spirit (all other parts of you!)."

    — Paige, Cheyenne, WA

    "EBT gave me a community where I could safely face some feelings of shame and self-disgust that I had no idea were running in the background of my mind. The sessions allowed me to heal areas that I had hidden away, and yet the sessions were fun. I felt supported to gently face my issues. We were able to laugh together, dine together, stretch together, and learn what projects we valued. This work shook me out of the strange little world I created."

    — Wendy, California

    "This program has changed my life. It was phenomenally revealing in so many wonderful ways and truly helped me connect more with myself and my eating and with emotional hurdles I've been ignoring for decades. It also helped me connect to my community and the other girls in the class and I've kept communicating with them and we use each other as an invaluable support system."


    — Teresa, Richmond

  • "As a mental health professional and yoga teacher, I am passionate about combining the two professions and creating a space for healing through the practice of yoga. Eat Breathe Thrive has given me a platform from which to spread the benefits OF yoga to those in recovery in an incredibly impactful way. Connection and support are imperative in recovery and this program provides all of the necessary elements to help people develop a loving and compassionate relationship with their bodies and food."

    — Whitney Owens, PsyD

    “The feedback from staff and clients thus far has been incredible. The positive impact of the program has been so significant that we are going to incorporate more yoga into our programming! Chelsea brings such profound compassion and commitment to client recovery to her work. I am excited to hear about the effectiveness of the program as more and more treatment centers get involved in this very essential research."

    — Robyn Caruso, MA

    “The program has helped a number of our clients here at Rosewood to re-connect with their bodies. This is so important when working with individuals struggling with Anorexia, Bulimia, and/or Binge Eating Disorder. Our clients have really connected with their practice and the change is incredible. I highly recommend this program to anyone looking to promote body and mind connection in their treatment center.”

    — Stephen Reeder, LPC, NPC, CEDS-S