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KARMAGARDEN .rd.rocks | TRIFOLDS .rd.rocks

recovery dharma trifold

worksheet

🪴THE KARMA GARDEN🪴

game-changing instructions to finally

make progress with your process addiction

Finally, a Solution to:

Create a Plan for any Process Addiction (by identifying & setting wise boundaries)
A method of Harm-Reduction
A method of Motivational Self-Interview

Scan QR / Visit karmagarden .rd.rocks to:

Reprint this trifold worksheet
Find others' examples

How to Create Your Karma Garden

The Karma Garden consists of 3 lists to manage your addiction. Each list serves a distinct purpose:

🥀 GHOST REALM (verb: acting-out, or ghosting) ⟢ List the harmful behaviors you want to work on renouncing. These are behaviors tied to your process addiction that "hardened into the handcuffs of habit." Acting-out means engaging in any behavior you list here. These behaviors cloud thinking, fuel suffering, & lead to fear/shame/ isolation. Ghosting keeps us stuck in craving, constantly seeking, yet never satisfied just like an insatiable hungry ghost. We stop showing up for the people we love. In the ghost realm, we water seeds of negative karma.

🛎️ WISDOM REALM (verb: dabbling) ⟢ List risky behaviors or triggers that led or will lead to acting out. It's named for the wisdom it takes to see the slope before the slip. This list serves as well-lit "Exit for Recovery Here" signs. They signal that you're dabbling with our recovery, help us course-correct sooner, or if needed, proceed with utmost awareness & clear intention. Here, we've a choice teetering on positive or negative karma.

🌱GARDEN REALM (verb: gardening) ⟢ List wholesome, skillful behaviors that support your recovery & keep you grounded. These actions foster connection, self-love, & well-being — behaviors we wish to cultivate in our lives. Gardening may include self-care, building healthy relationships, fostering healthy intimacy, balanced lifestyle, healthy eating, and any Dharma practices. Here, we're accruing positive karmic momentum. Lastly, it's helpful to note goals if have some (both short/long-term).

🛡️HOW TO IDENTIFY WISE BOUNDARIES: Actually, you just did this! Each item you listed is a 'boundary,' also called an 'agreement.' Congrats, you now have a roadmap to guide your actions wisely & safeguard your sobriety.

📅 SET A DATE TO REVISIT IT: ⟢ Set an intention to regularly revisit and recalibrate your Karma Garden. As you grow in recovery, you’ll notice that some of the boundaries you set a week/month ago need adjustments, based on new understandings, experiences, & conditions. We recommend sharing adjustments on your Karma Garden with trusted wise friends & mentors. Ultimately, it's your responsibility and your right to choose how to proceed.

👉Does Defining Sobriety Matter?

For those struggling with process addictions, sobriety can feel impossible. Just when we think we got it— POOF—the target moves. Many of us didn't see that the target was moving at all. Many more haven't asked or answered, "Wait, what does the target really look like?" The craziest and best part? Truthfully, everything we need to figure that out is already within our own experiences. Defining our own sobriety is the only way to obtain it, because sobriety exists only in the context of your own life and your unique challenges with your addiction. No one else can define your personal recovery.

Sure, for substance addictions, the definition of sobriety is often straightforward & given. I'm either: Ⓐ Using or Ⓑ Not using. But it ain't black & white for process addictions—they're on a spectrum. How do you renounce Food? Relationships? Technology? Full renunciation's not possible. We need these, yet they've created harm for us.

In the Karma Garden approach, you get to define exactly which addictive behaviors constitute "acting out" (relapse), which behaviors are triggers (risky), and which behaviors lead us to healing (recovery). This helps progressively reduce harm. Think of the Karma Garden as a recovery GPS for real-life situations. When the GPS is up-to-date & we follow it, it guides us away from relapse & toward recovery—just like the 8-Fold Path guides us away from negative karma & toward non-suffering. Our GPS stays accurate when we update it with awareness. Everything changes, even our addictions, so regularly updating it is key to our growth.

This worksheet acts as a powerful Motivational Self-Interview. Studies show that when we decide our own path forward, it makes a HUGE difference in following through. (Who likes being told what to do, right?) Another plus is this approach lets us measure progress—where you've been, where you are now, & where you're headed. It's where the real journey begins.

"So how do we actually do The Karma Garden?" The directions are surprisingly simple. Flip this over to the back for instructions (How To Do The Karma Garden). 👉

(NOTE: pages 3+4 offer many excellent examples of how others have done the Karma Garden. But If it's still unclear: search "The 3 Circles of Recovery" for more examples. I liked this one:: saa3circles.rd.rocks)

(community-maintained by RD.ROCKS)

KarmaGarden.rd.rocks (Pg 1/4)

(updated 2025.July)

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For me, seeing other people's 3 circles was as beneficial as it was fascinating. Especially when they offered a new perspective that I never realized but is so integral to the success of my recovery.

(Example: It's obvious to add things in the Middle Circle directly associated with sexual behaviors. But my mind was blown the first time a friend shared having written in their Middle Circle, "Not attending a meeting every day" as a risky behavior. Sounds obvious once I see someone else say it. This is just a small example, of why it's so important to have examples.

💼 BALANCED WORKING💼

Abridged example

🌱Garden Realm

• Practicing saying "no" to extra work

• Setting clear work-life boundaries

• Prioritizing family, rest, enjoyment

🛎️Wisdom Realm

• Checking work email compulsively

• Struggling to take time off/vacations

• Over-reliance and excessive pride in my work as my sole identity

🥀Ghost Realm

• Ignoring family to work

• Being available to supervisor 24/7

• Skipping meals/sleep for deadlines

🛍️ SHOPPING / SPENDING 🛍️

Abridged example

🌱Garden Realm

• Delaying impulse buys for 24 hours

• Sticking to my budget

• Differentiating between needs vs. wants

🛎️Wisdom Realm

• Justifying "points/rewards"

• Feeling guilt after spending, but continuing

• Overspending on social outings to keep up with others

🥀Ghost Realm

• Ignoring debt while spending

• Buying impulsively without need or plan

• Hiding purchases or lying about spending

🌟CODEPENDENCY🌟

Abridged example:

🌱Garden Realm

• Trusting my intuition

• Allowing others to own their choices

• Mutually respectful relationships

• Setting & enforcing boundaries

🛎️Wisdom Realm

• Feeling guilty for prioritizing myself

• Over-investing in another's struggle

• Not knowing what I feel & need

🥀Ghost Realm

• Taking responsibility for others' feelings (AKA Caretaking)

• Prioritizing others over my needs

• Staying in toxic relationship despite red flags

🥢MINDFUL EATING🥢

Abridged example:

🌱Garden Realm

• Being mindful of hunger/fullness cues

• Savoring each bite

• Structured meal planning

• Journaling emotional triggers

🛎️Wisdom Realm

• Shopping while hungry

• Skipping Meals

• Consuming foods heedlessly

🥀Ghost Realm

• Using food to avoid discomfort

• Eating in secret

• Eating between 9pm-6am

📱TECH / INTERNET📱

Abridged example

🌱Garden Realm

• Prioritizing offline hobbies & friendships

• Schedule digital detox days & breaks

• Leave phone in other room from bedtime till sunrise

🛎️Wisdom Realm

• Using tech during social interactions

• Leaving unessential notifications on

• Ignoring screen time limits

🥀Ghost Realm

• Unlimited scrolling or binge-watching

• When tech interferes with showing up

• Using tech to escape emotions

🏃‍♂️BALANCED EXERCISING🏃‍♂️

Abridged example

🌱Garden Realm

• Seeing exercise as self-care, vs obligation

• Practicing gratitude for body's abilities

• Valuing overall health over aesthetics

🛎️Wisdom Realm

• Comparing fitness to others obsessively

• Forgetting social events while exercising

• Overplanning workouts without flexibility

🥀Ghost Realm

• Exercise despite injury

• Feeling guilty when missing a workout

The "Karma Garden" / AKA "The 3 Circles" for Recovery: �Each person's worksheet will look different. They are personal, yes, but extremely powerful to share. If someone with your addictive habit has made one, ask if they're open to sharing theirs. I've been amazed by what others have written. Offer yours if you are cool with that too.

KarmaGarden.rd.rocks (Pg 3/4)

Notice how vastly different these behaviors/boundaries

look, with different process addictions.

Note: the Karma Garden is adapted from the 3 Circles for recovery, and although they're basically the same, each program has different names for them. 👉

Tip: More isn't always better. The 2 examples below are superb examples. The Karma Garden doesn't have to be an exhaustive, comprehensive list—especially not your 1st time.

If you're having trouble, perhaps start by jotting ① only the most harmful behavior(s) to renounce first, ② add the most troublesome risks & triggers, and ③ recall some gardening activities you loved most before/without your addictive process. And you'll go far.

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