A sequence to Stay committed to sobriety

IN 1987, I FOUND A 12_STEP PROGRAM for my addiction recovery and stayed sober for eight years. Then, on a business trip to Germany, I made a bad decision to have one drink that led to many more. Within a week, I found myself in Amsterdam, where I knew exactly who to be, what to do, where to go, and how to talk my way into getting my drug of choice: crack cocaine.

After Amsterdam, I got back into a 12-step program and discovered yoga. I saw all the similarities between yoga and the 12-step program, and I eventually made the decision to let go of the program. I thought a daily ashtanga yoga practice would be enough for dealing with my addiction issues.

I stayed clean for four years, then relapsed again in 2000. At that point, I realized I couldn’t put the 12-step program, which gave me a cognitive base for recovery, in a separate box from yoga, which gave me somatic tools. So in 2003— after receiving training from the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute and