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When I started practicing yoga as a 17-year-old matric student in South Africa, I never thought I would ever use it for recovery. My first impression of yoga was how good it made me feel, mentally and physically. I discovered that it was highly beneficial to my shifting hormonal state, my flexibility, and my confidence.<\/p>\n
Disclosure: <\/strong>This post may contain affiliate links. If a purchase is made through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Your kind support helps us create more mindful articles!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Much later in my life, after having two boys, I chose regular yoga classes during a turbulent perimenopause. I chose holistic health and ditched my wine and sugary treats. I chose to detox my body and brain, my spirit, and my inner child. I did this with regular yoga classes. I was \u2018in recovery\u2019 for me!<\/p>\n Roll on four years, and the shock of my husband\u2019s depressive breakdown led me to look inward. So again, I turned to daily yoga to distract and renew myself. I surfed the waves of epiphanies and realizations with vinyasa<\/a> flow every morning, and I became strong and resilient.<\/p>\n For me, recovery is personal and means different things to those experiencing the healing. A recovering alcoholic feels very different from the person who crashed his motorbike or survived a terminal illness. Their families will be part of the healing process. Personal recovery after COVID assumed millions of different forms as millions of different people tried to restart their lives.<\/p>\n All of this led me to ask: what does recovery mean, and why is yoga so well suited to support it?<\/p>\n \u201cA recovery<\/a> is when you save something that was lost, in danger of becoming lost, or retrieved. If something was taken from you, such as diamonds, money, or your dignity, and you get it back, you can say that you are glad for its recovery. The noun recovery also refers to a return to a natural or original state. After a devastating hurricane, an area\u2019s recovery may take many years.\u201d<\/p>\n The Merriam-Webster dictionary<\/a> defines recovery as \u201cthe act, process, or an instance of recovering, especially: an economic upturn (as after a depression); the process of combating a disorder (such as alcoholism) or a real or perceived problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Recovery takes time \u2014 it can take anything from a few days or weeks to a few years, or even a lifetime. People in recovery take their healing one day at a time, one step at a time. They aim for better health and wellness, for the ability to set goals and live a responsible life, to reach their full potential, no matter what that is.<\/p>\n Recovery needs four pillars of support<\/a>:<\/p>\n For me, yoga is the panacea for recovery. Yoga encompasses the four pillars of support:<\/p>\n Feel it at the end of a long flow class when you lie down for Corpse Pose<\/a> (Savasana<\/em>). Many people in recovery have stopped using a substance such as alcohol or drugs. They have forfeited the \u2018high\u2019 for a \u2018normal\u2019 lifestyle.<\/p>\n Tommy Rosen<\/a> describes it emotively:<\/p>\n \u201cThe feeling was electric \u2014 energy humming through my body. I felt like blood was pouring into areas of my tissues that it had not been able to reach for some time. It was relieving and healing. It was subtler than the feeling from getting off on drugs, but it was detectable and lovely, and there would be no hangover, just a feeling of more ease than I could remember. I felt a warmth come over me similar to what I felt when I had done heroin, but far from the darkness of that insanity, this was pure light \u2014 a way through.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Move the energy through the body and find release from physical and mental pain. Addiction permeates our modern societies and lifestyles \u2014 alcohol, drugs, food, money, shopping, sex, fitness, technology, and social media. I believe that addiction is caused by our disconnection from Nature, the Universe and their natural origins and spiritual source.<\/p>\n Addiction finds its source in trauma, much of which happens unconsciously during childhood and sits in the very tissues of the body that we think are growing and nurturing us. We may be super healthy, but our tissues are choked with toxins from our traumas.<\/p>\n Buddhist nun Pema Chodron<\/a> notes that people these days find it difficult to simply be here now, to be really present. So, they self-medicate to de-stress and find \u201chappiness\u201d elsewhere, in the stark short term of an artificial high. And psychiatrist M. Scott Peck, who admits to being addicted to nicotine, said that \u201cWhat we humans really long for is a connection to God \u2026 alignment with the Holy \u2026 re-union with the Divine. It is a deeply spiritual hunger \u2014 a longing to go home again, back to Source.\u201d<\/p>\n Use yoga to find your way back to you, the real you. Yoga is the easiest and most natural route to going home, to the source within, the inner child, the individual minus the ego. Yoga brings connection between mind, body, and spirit, opposing the disconnection prevalent in any addiction<\/a>. Many people who are torn apart by addiction lack self-esteem and purpose in life. Yoga can bring them back to this, to building a purpose through holistic health and can-do movements. Pushing through difficult yoga asanas is a mental achievement that carries forward into daily life.<\/p>\n Learn how to use yoga for recovery in a few easy steps. Start like this:<\/p>\n These yoga poses address recovery due to their unique benefits. The yogi focuses on the body, the mind is still, in the present, here. Thoughts disappear in that moment, that class, which refreshes the body. Focusing on the breath moves energy or chi<\/em> through the body, quieting mental chatter.<\/p>\n Vrtti<\/em><\/a> refers to fluctuations or modifications of the mind \u2014 whirlpools of thoughts, mental patterns that prevent self-realization. \u201cWhen vrittis arise, they create a kind of ripple effect throughout the body and nervous system. When these ripples become patterns, they form samskaras<\/a>, or impressions left by past experiences. They form the basis for future reactions, habits, and mental fluctuations, which bind us to our karma.\u201d<\/p>\n Patanjali<\/a> says that we experience five types of vrittis. Most people experience thousands of thoughts a day, most of them based on false beliefs and individual history. It is easier to sort these thoughts into different types to make it easier to understand them and regulate their wavering patterns.<\/p>\n In a state of addiction<\/a>, the victim is a prisoner of the dark side of these five categories, and the gunas are imbalanced<\/a>. Extreme rajas<\/em> means excessive stimulation and reactivity, while excessive tamas<\/em> means extreme apathy and lethargy. The true yogi finds the middle path of sattva<\/em>, where there is ample energetic stimulation and adequate time for rest and doing nothing.<\/p>\n I hope that you can use yoga for your recovery. Did you find this blog useful? What resonates for you? Have you ever experienced an addiction to something, and how did it make you feel? Do you have any yogic advice for those in recovery?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I started practicing yoga as a 17-year-old matric student in South Africa, I never thought I would ever use it for recovery. My first impression of yoga was how good it made me feel, mentally and physically. I discovered that it was highly beneficial to my shifting hormonal state, my flexibility, and my confidence. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":363128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11764],"tags":[2639,11283,16959,14114,952,304],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-363127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alternative-medicine","tag-basics","tag-benefits","tag-poses","tag-recovery","tag-support","tag-yoga"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Is Recovery?<\/h2>\n
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Why Use Yoga for Recovery?<\/h2>\n
Choosing Yoga Provides the Right Kind of \u2018High\u2019<\/h3>\n
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Yoga Is a Way to Detox the Body and Mind<\/h3>\n
Yoga Can Flush Toxins from Your Body, Including Toxic Thoughts<\/h3>\n
Use Yoga to Find Your Way Back to You<\/h2>\n
How to Use 13 Yoga Poses for Recovery<\/h2>\n
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Healing Mind, Body and Spirit in Recovery<\/h2>\n
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