Guest guest Posted March 10, 2001 Report Share Posted March 10, 2001 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2001 Report Share Posted March 10, 2001 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". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2001 Report Share Posted March 10, 2001 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 10, 2001 Report Share Posted March 10, 2001 <<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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 11, 2001 Report Share Posted March 11, 2001 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 11, 2001 Report Share Posted March 11, 2001 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2001 Report Share Posted March 12, 2001 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2001 Report Share Posted March 12, 2001 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2001 Report Share Posted March 12, 2001 who is lino miele? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2001 Report Share Posted March 12, 2001 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 12, 2001 Report Share Posted March 12, 2001 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. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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