Power of Yoga to Kick Addictions and Change your Life

Christy Turlington Burns and Nikki Myers talk about  Y12SR.

"I stayed “out there” a while before I got back into 12-steps and back into yoga. I originally tried yoga in the 70s and a seed was planted then, but men, sex, drugs, alcohol and money diverted my attention and I let yoga go. After this relapse though, I did some deep study and practice. I let the 12-step program go and put everything into yoga. That worked for four years until I relapsed again. That’s when I reached the WTF point and asked myself, “I’m an intelligent woman. Why can’t I do this?” Every time, the consequences of too much drinking, drugging and living outside my value system, outside of integrity with myself, digs me deeper and deeper. It was after that relapse I believed the problem was I was separating 12-steps and yoga and they don’t really belong separate.

The 12-step program talks about addiction as a physical, mental and spiritual disease. They address the cognitive piece pretty well and I love that it’s free and accessible. What’s lacking is a deep connection to the spiritual. They talk about having a God of your understanding and about prayer and meditation but it’s this cursory mention without any depth. They also don’t address the physical piece except at detox. Putting those things together was how the Yoga of 12-step Recovery program came about, out of my own need for a relapse recovery program. It’s been almost 13 years now since my last relapse so for an addict like me (and there are a lot of addicts like me) I’m finding there’s a lot of value. It’s not meant to replace a 12-step meeting. It’s meant to be something that only compliments it and provides an additional tool to support recovery." ~ Nikki Myers

"What happens at Y12SR meetings? Modeled from 12-step programs, Y12SR is a group sharing circle plus an intentional, themed yoga class intended to deepen or jumpstart the journey of self-discovery. The Y12SR foundation has trained 300 teachers and currently conducts 50-plus meetings through out the country."

See the full article at http://everymothercounts.org/blog/201301/christy-turlington-burns-and-nikki-myers-talk-about-power-yoga-kick-addictions-and

Acceptance

This is one of the few passages that stayed with me from The Big Book and it is speaking to me tonight.

"And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today. When I am disturbed, it is because I find some person, place, thing, or situation - some fact of my life - unacceptable to me, and I can find no serenity until I accept that person, place, thing, or situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at this moment. Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God's world by mistake. Until I could accept my alcoholism, I could no stay sober; unless I accept life completely on life's terms, I cannot be happy. I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and my attitudes. "

The Tao

The person of superior integrity does not insist upon her integrity;

For this reason, s/he has integrity.

The person of inferior integrity never loses sight of her integrity;

For this reason, s/he lacks integrity.

The person of superior integrity takes no action,

nor has s/he a purpose for acting.

The person of superior humanness takes action,

but has no purpose for acting.

The person of superior righteousness takes action,

and has a purpose for acting.

The person of superior etiquette takes action,

but others do not respond to her;

Whereupon she rolls up her sleeves

and coerces them.

Therefore,

When the Way is lost,

afterward comes integrity.

When integrity is lost,

afterward comes humanness

When humanness is lost,

afterward comes righteousness.

When righteousness is lost,

afterward comes etiquette.

Now,

Etiquette is the attenuation of trustworthiness,

and the source of disorder.

Foreknowledge is but the blossomy ornament of the Way,

and the source of ignorance.

For this reason,

The great wo/man resides in substance,

not in attenuation.

S/he resides in fruitful reality,

not in blossomy ornament.

Therefore,

S/he rejects the one and adopts the other.

-Tao Te Ching 1 (38) (adapted)