HOW 12 STEP COMMUNITY PROGRAMS CAN HELP
Being in a group with others who want to recover and be the best version of themselves a positive step to recovery and change. It takes a lot of courage, which not everyone has. Luckily, there are many recovery groups worldwide that offer support – that all can attend for just a small donation (if possible). Learning to discern is crucial, and recovery meetings often provide a safe space to improve personal and relationship skills.
Research shows that connecting our body, heart, and mind is vital for recovery. Combining the practices of Yoga, Ayurveda and Recovery can help restore balance. Mood disorders and obsessive-compulsive behaviours – addictions share similar symptoms and treatments. A holistic approach that ties together body, mind, and spirit is necessary.
The 12-Step Programs offer important recovery tools. A spiritual awakening is essential for healing our inner child. Healing our body, calming our mind, and rediscovering ourselves are interconnected. Yoga, Ayurveda, and Recovery focus is on self-love and healing as we grow into and pursue our life’s purpose.
Acceptance and going with the flow can be found in every word and whisper.
Information from The 12 Step Restorative Yoga Workbook by Jon Platania PhD and Joe Lee.Acceptance and going with the flow can be found in every word and whisper.
Information from The 12 Step Restorative Yoga Workbook by Jon Platania PhD and Joe Lee.
Benefits of Combining Yoga and Ayurveda
Yoga and Ayurveda are not separate; they are related healing disciplines from ancient India. There are many benefits of combining Yoga and Ayurveda as a therapy. Each has its unique place and function and overlap into the other on various levels. Ayurveda is a more recent arrival on the Western scene than Yoga. Up to fifteen years ago knowledge of Ayurveda was confined to a small number of people who knew the greater tradition behind Yoga. Ayurveda has gained growing recognition. It has now emerged as one of the most important systems of mind-body medicine in the world today.
Since disease is the end result of living out of harmony with one’s constitution, understanding where a person is out of harmony on the physical, emotional & spiritual levels is the cornerstone of Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy.
As the healing aspect of Yoga continues to develop, its Ayurvedic connections must continue to unfold. This is resulting in a new encounter between the two disciplines, in which each is revitalising the other.
Yoga has developed modern approaches through various forms of bodywork, physical therapy and psychology. Consequently these have arisen primarily from an encounter with modern medicine. Now Ayurveda must also reclaim its traditional medical roots. As well as consider how these fit together in the greater picture of its healing potential.
Everyone should be encouraged to reduce stress & cultivate practices such as yoga, pranayama (breathing), meditation and savasana (relaxation), to encourage peace of mind.
Yoga Ayurveda therapy combined, provide life-style recommendations for health, longevity, and disease prevention as well as special methods for rejuvenation of body and mind.
Relieving Suffering in Body and Mind
Both Yoga and Ayurveda work to relieve suffering in both the body and the mind, as well as on subtle levels, whether it is heart disease or anxiety. The relationship between the two disciplines focus is on external supports like food, herbs and cleansing therapies vs. the focus on internal means such as pranayama, concentration, meditation and samadhi.
They also help improve each other. If you practice yoga, your energy will be more in balance according to the science of Ayurveda. If you practice other areas of Ayurveda — like well balanced nutrition and regular meditation — it will improve your yoga practice.
How Ayurveda Views Asanas
Asanas are vehicles to create and refresh your energy. They are not fixed forms by themselves that will either increase or decrease a dosha. The same is the view of food. Some tastes are more likely to increase a specific dosha we do need to combine all the tastes, sweet, sour, salty, pungent and astringent to some degree. It is the degree and exertion that varies with each dosha with food and with asana. Similarly each practice should contain all the main types of asanas for strength, flexibility and relaxation.
The body is the foundation of all that we do. It should be strong, healthy and pure, free of toxins with a good immune function, healthy appetite and good capacity for exercise. Yoga has been traditionally taught using the terminology of Ayurveda particularly for explaining the physical impact and help benefits of various asana. Similarly, Ayurveda uses the language of Yoga and its understanding of the mind and the subtle body for the psychological and spiritual dimensions of its healing practices.
Personal Recovery Journey
12-step recovery programs have helped me with subtle process addictions or imbalances such as – technology overuse, people-pleasing, love addiction, money problems, and work-life balance. I’ve also benefited from self-discovery practices like Buddhist teachings, Yoga, and other Transpersonal therapies. Each step leads to the next in a supportive environment with others on the same journey to restore the heart and mind.
Trying to live life on our own terms got us into trouble, and doing the same things while expecting different results doesn’t lead to a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
As spiritual beings on earth, we get distracted by our senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—right from an early age. Our journey is to reconnect with our true selves, which often gets forgotten amid these distractions. From birth, we face relationship dysfunctions and we develop survival behaviours with a strong focus on control, leaving little room for inner discovery.
I learned to dissociate early due to family trauma, which had both positive and negative effects. While it created gaps in my childhood memories and emotional growth, it also allowed me to take risks without fear. As my father used to say, most of the time, my decisions would turn out fine. 12-step programs have taught me healthier ways to live. Even at 69, I continue to learn about myself and who Zoe truly is.
Recovery is about recognising that we are spiritual beings having a human experience. Everything that feels permanent is actually temporary; people, places, and things come and go. Our attachments can lead to suffering, but how can we navigate life without these attachments?
By taking a moment to pause, we can choose how to act or respond rather than just react. Unfortunately, these moments are uncontrollable and often go unnoticed, especially when trauma is involved, which can cause us to repeat old behaviours. Over and over, we experience familiar painful fantasies and losses for years.
Unconscious behaviours might lead us to self-medicate with substances or actions that create unbearable pain. We live on an ever-changing planet, where our senses keep us overwhelmed. To escape pain, we often ignore our feelings, resorting to disassociation or trying to block out what we feel.
Our senses pull us into the earthly world, making us forget the higher power beyond our busy minds. We mistakenly believe we can control our surroundings, but true strength comes from recognising our powerlessness. And with time we form a concept of a power greater than ourselves. Quite often, we are re-acting out our childhood dysfunctions from and undeveloped mind. Next, we surrendering control and hand our lives over to a power greater than ourselves. Then we notice with this flexibility of mind and body, instead of cracking up – we become much like a willow tree that bends instead of breaking.
Relationships, both with ourselves and others, can be complicated. We mix emotions with logic, and without positive role models, we repeat childhood patterns that no longer help us. They call this going to the butchers to buy bread, where discernment becomes our greatest friend.
By recognising these patterns and being open to change, we can appreciate qualities like grounded honesty and respect. Understanding and connecting with our inner child and challenges we faced we recognise the behaviours that once served us well do not serve us today. This gives us the strength to love, protect and nurture ourselves. When we acknowledge how we repeat these patterns in adulthood, we can foster new, healthier behaviours and begin our recovery journey.
