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Yoga & Toxic Susbstances/Behaviors

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I was just reading through the posts of the last

day or so and the alcohol thread of discussion caught

my attention. When yoga first came into my life

(only a year and a half ago or so), I had been in a

"12-step" recovery program already for my addiction(s) and

had just quit smoking cigarettes. Yoga was suggested

to me by a friend as a supplement to regular

excercise to help lengthen my muscles through stretching to

avoid bulking up too much. Fortunately, I eventually

discovered Ashtanga as a result and am so grateful to have

such a gift. What I have had difficulty with is food,

especially abusing sugar and overeating (which I finally

figured out results from not having eaten breakfast or an

adequate lunch, go figure. I have really noticed a removal

of my obsessions and cravings with food. Eating

three meals a day helps, no doubt. But yoga has helped

me develop enough awareness of my body to start

developing understanding of its needs. If I were still

drinking or using drugs, I personally cannot fathom being

able to experience "god" within with all that poison

in my way. Of course there is a difference between

occasional partaking and outright abuse/addiction. Then

there is always the practice of ahimsa-- If I am

harming myself then I do not believe that I am truly

being non-violent. Just thought I'd pipe in with my own

insights, thanks for reading. Namaste, K.

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Hey, you might want to check out the book Sugar

Blues by William Dufty. After reading it, you may find

it easier to eat less sugar. It is an old classic

from the 70's with the whole story on sugar. A

fascinating read. I recently found a new book called Caffeine

Blues which covers that subject pretty thoroughly.

"Education is the first step in self-healing".

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Thank you for the suggestion. I have read it and

do great when I abstain from sugar. I've managed to

make it through the last entire week without any and

have had a few, manageable cravings. Once I have a

little of the white stuff, I start craving more.

Insidious, it is. Caffeine is the last vestige of habitual

drug use for me. I have a cup a day of the hot, black

stuff. Perhaps I will become more sensitive to the

effects and gain willingness to stop. I don't mean to

imply any judgements about what others do or don't do

with their bodies-- I don't have an opinion. For my

body however, I would like to have freedom from

dependencies. I am beginning to believe that yoga really can

help me to attain this and other freedoms. Namaste, K.

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<<For my body however, I would like to have

freedom from dependencies. I am beginning to believe that

yoga really can help me to attain this and other

freedoms. Namaste, K. >><br><br>Hopefully you will

find freedom from these and also freedom from the

dependency asana practice... <br>The real freedom is in

knowing that we are already free and that nothing really

needs "fixing."<br><br>Namaste<br>PM

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congratulations. thanks for sharing your

experience. yoga practice just leads one to a simple, healthy

life. it just makes perfect sense, doesn't it? (by the

way, i was taught that meditation on the throat

chakra, vishudha, helps control appetites of all

sorts.)<br><br>i am often asked as a teacher about mind-altering

substances vis-a-vis yoga, more about hallucinogens than

alcohol, but my philosophy is essentially the same. on one

hand i can see some benefit in their occasional,

ritual use -- if only to demonstrate the illusion of

maya, and the complete subjectivity of the mind and

senses.<br><br>however, yoga (through its many paths) and meditation

practice cause the mind to become clearer and the physical

health superb, and Self-realization then advances

through this fine tuning of our manifest form. alcohol

and other substances have such endless capacity for

bringing confusion, erroneous understanding, verbal

delusion and physical harm, that it seems more obstacles

are created than could ever be dissolved through

their use.<br><br>for the majority i see nothing but

slavery and despair in alcohol/drug use, and have

observed many casualities. still, i am ambiguous. under

the right guidance in the right circumstances perhaps

great things can happen. cannot, after all, have

anything but respect for all those cultures who revere

magic plants as gods. not for me to judge a sadhu who

toots a chillum of hash each morning and repeats

throughout the day in order to be one with siva.

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great book. read it as a kid. he was married to

silent film star and former joseph kennedy mistress

gloria swanson at the time. (remember her in sunset

boulevard: "i'm ready for my close-up, mr. demille") she had

been practicing yoga and vegetarianism for many years

when she met mr. dufty, and inspired him to get

healthy and hence write the book. he was 20 or so years

her junior i think, and subsequently lived as an

openly gay man. i love hollywood.

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Good stuff! thanks everyone for your thoughtful

responses. I see myself in all these experiences. Since I've

been practicing yoga I'm just not that interested in

alcohol and my interest is decreasing daily. And if I do

drink anything the night before a class I feel it in

every cell of my body. I'm just really astounded at how

yoga practice has affected every area of my life. I

won't even go see Hannibal b/c I don't want to support

the violent content -- although I've had the

opportunity through friends. I'm also becoming hyper-aware of

other people's drinking habits - people who are close

to me. It's like someone is turning the lights on in

my house and I can see things clearly for the first

time. AMAZINE!<br><br>namaste...

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thats been the hard one for me, seeing your

frineds carrying on with their sights set on drunk whilst

youre own consciousness changes. recall lino miele

talking about leaving people behind you (and i do hope im

not misrepresenting him)as your practice develops.

difficult. very difficult at first but now as i head towards

the end of my thrities i see most of my peers easing

up on the self-destructive side of things and feel

more comfortable in the way i view friends who are

still getting mash up on a regular (and i mean

practically daily ) basis.<br><br>as for hannibal: the books

brilliant but the film is cold and uncaring with some

designer violence thrown in . it misses all the subtlty of

teh relationship between lecter and clarice and

replaces it with some adland photography. still anthony

hopkins is always watchable.

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the movie thing -- right? i avoid not just

violent movies, but most. just happened. last one i saw

was tospy-turvey -- three and a half hour recreation

of gilbert & sullivan's process of creating 'the

mikado.' went twice. generally have no patience sitting

around watching the egocentric emulating the clueless.

that sounded harsh. how about this -- i understand the

hall of mirrors called maya enough not to be excited

by paint-by-number versions of it. wish 'the matrix'

had been better.

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HI CLK<br><br>sorry, he's an italian teacher of some repute in the ashtanga

world and one of pattabhi jois's accreditted teachers.<br><br>lovely

classes<br><br>ineedno. . .

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