and injuries live in real time in our muscles, tendons, and ligaments. These past traumas influence how we carry ourselves and use our bodies. There is a need to release these energetic obstructions in order to be free of the impact of these past events, which affect how we think and feel now. The stress and the pain can build and prevent one from experiencing the full benefits of recovery. While deep muscle and tension releases can be found after a period of yoga practice, stress relief in the body and mind can be obtained from the first minutes on the mat. Breath work, stretching, and guided relaxation in sivasana (final relaxation pose) can bring an immediate sense of inner peace and calm. The science and practice of yoga therapy is used to address a wide variety of illnesses and diseases ranging from cancer to athletic injury, multiple sclerosis to depression. While specialized yoga techniques are useful, all progressive hatha yoga classes can lead the person and the body into balanced health. Given that depression, anxiety, and insomnia can be greatly ameliorated through the physical practice of yoga, addiction recovery and yoga are a natural fit.
At the same time I was starting to practice yoga in studios, I also practiced at home. This home practice wasn’t satisfying over the long haul, as I was getting used to the pose shapes without the benefit of personal instruction and without the company of a yoga community. Developing a personal practice is important, but not when it supports isolation rather than community. Loneliness is a hallmark of the disease of addiction, a sign of potential relapse, and a condition of which I needed to be wary. Finding a community with the benefits of a teacher who provides both wisdom and guidance, in addition to other like-minded students with stories to share, is what I needed. This is also beneficial when feelings or responses to the physical releases need comforting and company. This book does not give you the total practice of yoga—there are other detailed texts for that. In fact, my suggestion would be to work with a skilled instructor who can teach the yoga poses in mindful concert with the benefits of recovery. This book does give you a plan, a way of looking at your life so that you can bring these exquisite tools into your kit of spiritual tools, expanding your resources to alleviate pain and prevent relapse. Ultimately, the journey is exclusively that of the student, but wise company can remove some of the pain of isolation.
Along with the health benefits from the physical exercise, there are the other aspects of yoga that can contribute to recovery and ongoing well-being. When I first got into recovery, I was at a loss for ways to take care of myself. I did not realize what a toll my irregular hours, uneven eating habits, poor sleep, and poor healthcare had taken on my body. I heard in the recovery rooms that one should not become too “hungry, angry, lonely, or tired,” or HALT, as we refer to it. It makes good practical sense, but I was unskilled at noticing the signs of distress. I overate or forgot to eat; I was plagued with insomnia and indigestion. I had children, and while I understood healthy cooking and nutrition for them, I was unable to apply these principles to myself. When I first came into recovery, I was unable to walk the distance of a city block and was bankrupt in all areas of my life. I did not understand self-care at all. Addiction provided a distraction from daily life, until it had become my daily life. It had become a substitute for all manner of genuine human interaction and a replacement for authentic feelings. Over the course of time, healthy ways of addressing life’s issues and desires were lost. Recovering from addiction can leave a tremendous hole in one’s abilities to respond to the vicissitudes of life.
Yoga can offer tools to address feelings, thoughts, and actions. These yogic solutions are very similar to those found in recovery programs. They expand upon existing models of recovery that involve intellectual, emotional, and spiritual self-exploration. Yoga provides additional tools that are congruent with the principles of the twelve-step philosophy and include body and breath awareness. Becoming aware of body tones or feelings can lead to greater awareness of the physical conditions that lead to stress, tension, and possibly eventual relapse. Trauma and pain memories stored in the body can ignite unconscious thought patterns and reactions. These feelings can influence perceived choices and impair decision making. The somatic training of yoga postures and the skills of quieting the mind can lead one into a more refined perception of these negative states of being. Becoming aware of how the body feels in the postures can expand to a greater knowledge of how the body and mind are feeling off the mat, when out in life. Not only can yoga release the impact of stored memories, but a regular practice can enhance positive neurological patterns that can sustain us in health.
One must learn to eat when hungry—good food in a wise manner. Be aware of approaching anger, and calm your body (posture and breathing) to calm your mind. Discover the issues and find the patience and wisdom to deal with them effectively. Do not isolate—find peers in all areas of your life who are healthful and wise. When you are tired, sleep. Each of these conditions had an answer in addictive behavior. Finding the answer in a healthful manner for mind, spirit, and body can be achieved when practicing yoga.
Developing a reverential attitude toward self and a sense of being able to establish boundaries is important. Listening to music that inspires rather than agitates, being aware of the impacts of colors and smells, finding rest rather than stimulation when one is tired—these are all skills that must be practiced in order to be useful and at the ready when needed. Yoga teaches and reinforces the importance of each. Addicts practice total disregard of self for years before gaining recovery. A codependent person will ignore symptoms of illness and disease while carefully attending to the needs of others. People with food addictions will not know the symptoms of hunger or indigestion as they focus on other cues (such as lightness of being for anorexics or the habits of eating and purging for bulimics, for example). They have not learned yet to listen to the senses built into a healthy body. Yoga can begin to make one more aware of these learned shortcomings, and can offer a new way of approaching hunger and eating, caring for others, or filling an unconscious internal void.
Stress is also a major source of relapse. The tools of the twelve-step recovery program, along with the physicality of a regular yoga practice included in hatha classes, can prevent stress from accumulating and release stress once it builds. To quote Dr. Steven Melemis, PhD, MD, an authority on addiction and relapse prevention, “There are only a few reasons why people use drugs and alcohol. They use to escape, relax, and reward themselves. In other words, people use drugs and alcohol to relieve tension.” Later he states, “Your mind and body relax as a unit because they are in constant communication. Since it’s hard to relax your mind, relax your body first, and your mind will follow.”2 This reinforces the definition of addiction outlined in “The Doctor’s Opinion” chapter in Alcoholics Anonymous, which describes alcoholism as “a manifestation of an allergy” and says that “alcoholism is an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer.”
Developing strategies to deal with negative feelings as they arise is critical to long-term recovery. Yoga teaches us self-awareness and provides the practical tools to identify and relieve tension caused by stress—to relax. The practice of yoga itself can become a reward.
Initially, the goal of recovery is to cease the destructive habit or behavior. As we continue our journey to wellness, we utilize the tools of recovery to identify actions and attitudes that are no longer serving us. The same is true in the practice of yoga, where first we learn the poses, then we learn our bodies. The feelings stored in the body will lead us to a deeper understanding of our reactions and remembrances. Your body lets you in—meaning that you cannot force yourself into right awareness; you move into it. At a certain point your breath will guide you as you become more physically attuned to your own stress level. You are able to sense tension or stress as the result of having experienced relaxation. In recovery programs you learn to note when you are behaving in a dangerous fashion (such as holding on to resentments or developing expectations, identifying when you are feeling fearful or insecure), and then find an appropriate action to take to ameliorate these feelings. This may include calling your sponsor, going to a meeting, or turning to your spiritual guide; so, too, in yoga, you become more mindful at feeling the tensions in the body—the stored anxieties or anger. You can then employ your yoga tools to address them. Moving toward the discomforts and dealing with them are keys to maintaining a recovered life. Avoiding the signs and symptoms of stress and distress can signify the slippery slope into relapse. Having more
