Question...Re..Addictions...

[Guest guest]

Has anyone here dealt with real addictions..ie)

alchohol and codeine...Yoga has caught my interest...I

have a family...but my addictions will soon leave them

behind...I have done alot of research, and find that

Ashtanga has alot of answers, what I am asking and would

like some input in is??? Has anyone been able to let

go of serious addictions to drugs and alcohol

through the meditation and practice of Yoga...I am a tad

bit confused having been raised as an evangelical

Alliance Christian...where do the similarities and

differences begin..please anyone with any experience or

thoughts help me out here....A sincere THANKYOU! and and

appreciation for your insite.<br><br>Me!(Struggling to keep my

children and life intact)

[Guest guest]

One other fact...I have been a body builder for

several years..went from an obese 210 to built 135 at

5'5" female...so dedication is not a question...I just

need answers and drugs can't be it..I need to know

that I can do it as well as others. Please and

Thankyou...

[Guest guest]

I have been in "recovery" from substance

addiction for about six and a half years in a 12-step

program called narcotics anonymous. I didn't discover

yoga until I quit smoking nearly two years ago and

have only been doing primary series ashtanga for about

three months. I can say that yoga has had an effect on

diminishing my lingering cravings for things like drugs,

alcohol and cigarettes. Pranayama has been very effective

esp. with cigarette cravings. It certainly can't hurt

to give ashtanga a try. Narcotics Anonymous has a

website it you want to do a search and check it out. KJMJ

[Guest guest]

Dearest Rhojo - yes regular Ashtanga practice

under a teacher can help with addictions. Keep in mind

that Yoga is a scientific approach to well being and

need not conflict in anyway with your current

religious beliefs. Actually the clarity of mind as well as

mental and emotional steadiness that Yoga practice

cultivates, will support your own Christian ethics and

faith.<br>Ashtanga Yoga will assist in detoxification and a sober

lifetsyle by bringing true physical health and well being.

It is not simply an external appearance of health

but a thorough and deep purification. It is too much

to describe in this message but I recommend reading

the book by Ashtanga's revered teacher Yoga Mala by

Sri K Pattabhi Jois. He gives precise and indepth

information on the systems far reaching benefits.<br>I have

seen many peoples' lives transformed by this practice

and these changes are accompanied by shifts in daily

habits and mind set away from <br>destructive influences

to positive and beneficial ones.<br>Dear Friend, I

also recommend that you speak with a professional

counsellor to see if there are underlying reasons why you

might be driving your own family away - perhaps rooted

in your own unhappy childhood. <br>To begin (though

I don't usually recommend learning from video - but

your situation seems quite extreme and your desire

very keen) try Richard Freeman's intro to Ashtanga

Yoga video available at www.ashtanga.com. Yoga Mala is

also availalbe there. Start practicing daily. Also

enter a chemical detox program to help you rid your

body of these harmful drugs, and to build a support

system for a succesful detox.<br>Don't give up. Get well

and keep your family. Share with them all strength

and determination you have to lead a happy and

meaningful life.<br>all the best - missy pinky

[Guest guest]

I have never dealt with an addiction to alchohol

or hard drugs, but I was a smoker for 10 years on

and off. I had been able to quit but it always showed

up again at times of stress and stayed around for a

while longer. When I first tried yoga I was a smoker. I

went to several different styles of classes and

enjoyed them all, but none had an effect on my smoking

which was not my reason for going anyway. After a few

months of "yoga sampling" I heard about a class that

turned out to be a Mysore-style class run by one of the

certified instructors. After I took one class, only

learning the sun salutations, I no longer had a desire to

smoke! As soon as I walked out of the room I could tell

that something in me had changed. I cannot explain it.

I was not looking for a way to quit, but it had

found me. For the first time in ten years I had

absolutely no desire to smoke. A year and a half later I am

still practicing Ashtanga (daily!)and I have not had

one craving not even a thought of smoking. Even

through some very stressful times. All I can tell you is

that this practice is extremely special and powerful.

Quiting smoking was just the begining for me. I have no

doubt that whatever addictions or problems you are

dealing with, Ashtanga yoga can only help. Good luck!

[Guest guest]

Affects, feelings, and emotions (biography)reside

and are expressed in the body, face musculature, etc.

They are transformed through disciplined practice of

asana. <br><br>Generally, adddictions of all sorts

(e.g.smoking, drinking, eating, television, even compulsive

travel, compulsive running, compulsive anything) develop

to control or "medicate" unbearable (usually

negative) affect states. At first they are not addictions;

they begin by sedating negative affect states. They

develop over time into preaddictive behaviors where the

behavior is used to ANTICIPATE bad feeling before it

occurs.<br>Later they operate as if by themselves without

reference to feeling at all.<br><br>Asana practice changes

affective experience. I cannot explain how. Negative affect

tends to subside. Positive affect emerges and gains

dominion, especially enjoyment/joy or calmness which

manifests when other affects subside in consciousness.

Addictive behavior is then expeienced for what it is: toxic

and negative to well being, and it is left

behind.<br><br>j_o_m

[Guest guest]

Being that i'm totally anonymous here, my view

and personal experience is that serious addictions

are usually...usually...best dealt with through

programs such as AA. It's true that others have had great

success using just yoga to change their addictive

behaviors and personalities. It's obviously true that yoga

is a definite help to anyone seeking to overcome

addictions. But each person is different in their needs.

<br><br>Though yoga does restore me to a far saner, healthier,

and happier state than my non-yoga days, without the

support of AA over these many years, I'd be prone to

going right out tonight and smoking and drinking myself

into oblivion. <br><br>This kind of behavior is very

hard to understand for those who aren't alcoholic or

addicts; yet that's just the way it is for some of us. We

have to go where we need to go to get what we need.

[Guest guest]

What kind of pranayama do you do for your cig. cravings? Thanks

[Guest guest]

Sounds like you need Betty Ford, not Yoga.<br><br>El Senor

[Guest guest]

Thankyou everyone for your comments, suggestions

and positive thoughts. El Senor, Betty Ford is for

the rich, but thankyou also for you quip. I have made

a doctors appointment for Monday Morning. Tonite is

my first dry nite in over a year and half, I have

not left the codeine behind yet...I want to speak to

my doctor to see if and what would be the best

way...Money is so very short here so coming up with a lump

sum to go into detox is not possible...I am so very

afraid, but after for the first time ADMITTING that I do

have a problem, family and friends - do not know yet!

- I can see that YES, I do have a horrible secret,

and now I need to deal with it, before my kids come

home one day to find me dead on the floor. Once again

thankyou for your positive thoughts...I ordered the book

and tapes today.<br><br>Sincerely,

[Guest guest]

serious addiction requires doing what is

necessary to abstain since you are poisoning yourself.

detox can usually be obtained in state or federally

funded programs and is a necessary first step; AA, NA,

whatever is free, anonymous and ubiquitous and known to

work better than anything else<br><br>j_o_m

[Guest guest]

When I was introduced to yoga (only about 5 years

ago) I smoked about a pack aday. I completely lost

interest in smoking after only a few sessions. Then, any

desire for drinking (even a little), meat, fowl, milk,

eggs, coffee, and fish all disappeared (in that order)

over a period of time. I was never forcing it; it just

happened!

[Guest guest]

Good for you! That initial step takes great courage.

[Guest guest]

Please, you need treatment, yoga will not FIX

you, I promise. Call AA or NA today and go to a

meeting tonight. They are in the phone book. They have an

anonymous help line and they will tell you where a meeting

is. You have a serious problem but there is a

solution. There is no shame in being an addict, it is not a

moral issue. <br><br>Please, get some help from an

appropriate source and stop looking for help in the wrong

places like a PUBLIC ANONYMOUS MESSAGE CLUB. Do you

really know who you are getting advise

from?<br><br>Also, yoga doesn't FIX anyone. Otherwise we wouldn't

have to do it everyday all our lives. Trust me,

Pattabhi Jois isn't 'fixed' either. Yoga will definitely

help but it is not the solution.<br><br>A friend of

Bill W.,<br>Trinka

[Guest guest]

Bad Lady knows what she be talkin' 'bout. Go to a meeting and listen. Sometimes

we do get good advice from message boards; I disagree with Trinka on that one

point.

[Guest guest]

P.S. There is a big difference between a habit and an addiction. One can be

solved with willpower alone.