The Yogic Path of Recovery
How can the deep philosophical teachings of yoga support addiction recovery? Our guest Bryan Hyman RYT, author of Recovery with Yoga, offers inspiration and practical tools to help cultivate a powerful and purposeful life in recovery and to create a new design for living.
Brian is a yoga instructor, meditation guide, dharma teacher, author, and father. He has been clean and sober since 2009, and he has been teaching yoga and meditation at Cliffside Malibu since 2012. His dedicated work in the field of addiction treatment and recovery combines yogic philosophy, Buddhist wisdom, Twelve Step principles, and timeless insights from various spiritual traditions. His innovative teachings about healing and transformation have been featured in Whole Life Times, Mantra Wellness + Health, Yoga Digest, Sobriety Corps, and many other publications and podcasts. He is the author of the book Recovery with Yoga: Supportive Practices for Transcending Addiction
WEBSITE: BrianHymanYoga.com FB:@brianhymanyoga IG:@brianhymanyoga
#yoga, #recovery, #honesty, #kriyayoga, #self-surrender, #meditation, #self-compassion
COMMENT FROM BRIAN: It was a pleasure to talk with Laurel. I truly appreciate the work Laurel and the Yoga Hour team are doing to make yogic principles and practices accessible to anyone who may benefit, and I am grateful for the specific questions I was asked about my work and the book. Thank you for the opportunity to share my story and message of recovery on this podcast.
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: Bryan Hyman, the author of the book Recovery with Yoga has an excellent understanding and knowledge of how yoga as a spiritual philosophy can really support people who are in recovery from addictive substances but also for any person who is dealing with difficulties in their lives. He was passionate about how the study and practice of yoga has changed his life completely. He said he didn't know if he could have had 14 years, so far, of sobriety without yoga. Laurel began with a discussion of the Sanskrit term Satya, which is translated as truth or honesty. Bryan says that nothing can be achieved in recovery unless the person is honest with themselves about their addiction. From that they can discern what they need. He says that often, honesty will come in stages so we don't beat ourselves if we are not completely honest at first. The other topic that I thought is so useful for anyone is the topic of self-forgiveness. This is a topic that we can all relate to. He shared that it is important to be present to now. All we have is now. If we live in the past and can't forgive ourselves for what happened in the past, we can't move forward and heal. Not forgiving ourselves takes us down a dark path. We need to do what we need to do to make amends and then move on.
This was a very rich program and I would highly recommend it for those who in recovery or want to recover from substance abuse. There is something here that we all can benefit from.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I really appreciated our discussion of how yogic principles can help us all to recover, whether we have an addiction or are trying to establish new patterns of behavior (new positive samskaras). We talked about the yogic practices that support us along our path, including honesty, self-surrender, compassion, and the importance of being in the present moment. Brian’s advice at the end was heartfelt and helpful: do the next right thing, don’t be ashamed because you aren’t the only one who is struggling with some of these issues, ask for help if you need it, and don’t give up.