Freedom from Addiction
Addiction can harm our physical and spiritual health and deeply affect those who love us. But people who struggle with dependencies are finding new hope through the calming and centering effects of yoga.
By Stacie Stukin
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 Jen Levin started smoking cigarettes when she was 15. "I always used to say
that my favorite cigarette was the cigarette after yoga," says the 32
year-old playwright from Los Angeles. She practiced hatha yoga sporadically
and continued her pack-a-day habit until she made a commitment to try
Kundalini Yoga at the Golden Bridge yoga studio in Los Angeles. There,
Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa pushes her students to their physical and mental limits
with vigorous breaths-of-fire and her propensity to teach one asana for up
to 11 minutes. "As I saw my body and mind get stronger, smoking began to
make me sick, and it no longer made sense," Levin says. "I realized that if
I could endure the pain in my body, then I could deal with the pain of not
having a cigarette."
Levin used yoga as a tool to help rid herself of her addiction. Similarly,
addiction specialists in private practice, rehabilitation programs, and
12-step recovery programs are starting to recognize that the
mind-body-spirit approach of yoga is a great adjunct therapy to conventional
treatments for drug, alcohol, and food abuse as well as addictive behaviors
like gambling and shopping. "Yoga treats the biology and the psychology of
an addict," explains New York City addiction psychotherapist Mary Margaret
Frederick, Ph.D. "Addicts are profoundly out of control internally. They
have knee-jerk panic reactions and tempers. The will and determination yoga
requires helps people regain control over their body and their mind."
According to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2000, 12
million Americans (or 6.3 percent of the population over the age of 12) used
illicit drugs. The same survey reported that almost half of Americans 12 and
older said they drink and that more than 5 percent of that drinking
population are heavy drinkers. It is also estimated that 65.5 million
Americans aged 12 and up used some kind of tobacco product. Certainly not
all of these people are addicts, but the financial and emotional costs of
those who do abuse drugs and alcohol are high. A study conducted for the
National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism estimated the total cost related to treatment, prevention,
health care, lost earnings, crime, and social welfare was $245.7 billion in
1992 alone.
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