Spiritual Connection

All three aspects of a person – mind, body and spirit, become clear and strong when practicing yoga, mindfulness and breathing techniques. The success of 12 Step recovery programs, of which there are many, is due to spiritual purification and reframing. Both approaches address the suffering that arises in the physical body, the limiting beliefs in the mind, and the spiritual misperception of separation and unworthiness.

Do No Harm

Both systems rely on the core principle of non-harming. In recovery, stopping the addictive substance or behavior reduces the harm to a certain degree. In yoga, the principle of Ahimsa, or non-harming, is emphasized while moving the body to efficiently strengthen, stretch and disperse energy without causing injury. Students of yoga are taught that non-harming applies to our thinking as well. Negative thoughts about ourselves are subtle forms of micro-aggressions that harm our perceptions by skewing reality toward false ideas of self-doubt and shame.

The Truth Will Set You Free

The Twelve Steps guide us toward telling ourselves the truth to avoid self-deception and eventually learn to be authentic with others. Freedom comes when you are living a life without hiding behind a false front. The first of the 12 Steps is recognizing the truth by declaring that life has become unmanageable and I am powerless over my addiction. The practice of telling the truth is called Satya in Sanskrit, the language of yoga. It is about approaching our poses and all of life with an honest assessment of how to use precious energy wisely, honoring the body’s limitations in the present moment while also exploring the many possibilities that exist for strengthening and stretching toward growth and overall well-being.

Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable

Working the 12 Steps is not enough to prevent relapse, just as practicing yoga does not solve the interpersonal challenges of living among and relating to other humans. Learning how to be with emotions rather than ignoring, suppressing or escaping them requires a new set of skills. Whether in the 12 Step rooms or in the yoga studio, we discover that we are not alone and we recover in community with other humans. When uncomfortable body sensations, emotions, memories, projections and impulsive reactions pop up, they might seem like automatic pilot responses beyond conscious control.

By paying attention, in the present moment, on purpose and with kindness to our own internal story, we can become the witness to our own experience. We can learn to pause, breathe and welcome the uncomfortable stuff of life as fierce teachers with a loving intent. In that pause lies the ability to choose a skillful response, rather than an automatic pilot reaction.

Addiction is Checking Out

Resorting to substances or self-medicating with destructive behaviors was a way to check out from painful emotions and memories. Addiction is the ultimate checking out of the body, mind and spirit as we close the door to connections on multiple levels. We may disconnect from feeling sensations in our body, noticing our breathing, our patterns of thinking and orientation to higher power. Yoga, mindfulness and breathing practices are the ultimate checking into our body, mind and spirit, making genuine re-connections to Self.

Coming Home

Both yoga and the 12 Steps offer a spiritual solution to the complex, multifaceted problems of addiction. They are practices that require our conscious participation and rely on the additive effects of multiple interventions. We engage in practices and rituals day after day, year after year, not to arrive at an endpoint but to evolve in our innate capacities to be comfortable in being both fully human and fully divine. Both programs are ways of coming home to our true self. They require an inner-quest journey where we wander, feel lost and reach down deep for the courage to find the way back to our roots, soul, and belonging in the benevolent circle of life.