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Yoga as Positive Addiction, Part 2
by
L onny J. B rown , P h D
Success stories abound o f sub­
stance abusers finally discovering
health and self-esteem after strug­
gling in vain >vith other detoxifica­
tion therapies. At 3 H O -a 17-year-
old holistic health center founded by
American adherents o f the Sikh faith
in Tucson, A rizona--a vegetarian
diet, counseling and massage are
combined with meditation, breath­
ing exercises, and 40 days o f special
yoga routines to “elim inate your
dependence on external fulfillment
by creating greater awareness and
self control.” The first holistic sub­
stance abuse facility accredited by
the Joint Commission on A ccredita­
tion o f Health Care Organizations,
3HO (“ H appy, H ealthy, H o ly ”)
claims an impressive 91 percent suc­
cessful recovery rate.
Arnie, a Vietnam w ar veteran,
recovering alcoholic and yoga stu­
dent o f mine, put it this way: “Yoga
opens you to m uch better feelings
about yourself. Your body changes
and your thinking changes. Addicts
have lots o f self-doubt, and doubts
about life. If you can take away these
doubts, y ou’ve taken away a lot o f
the reasons for using booze and
drugs. T hat’s what yoga did for m e.”
Because an exotic image o f yoga
often lingers in the public mind, part
o f my work at the hospital included
attracting newcomers to the class,
and dispelling some o f their fears o f
being told to stand on their heads
and bend like pretzels! In reality,
half the session is spent sitting or
laying down, but to overcome mis­
conceptions (and inhibitions) we
stopped referring to the classes at
Beech Hill as “Y oga,” substituting
in ste a d ‘E a s y -D o e s -It’ S tre tc h
Classes.” Enrollment noticeably in­
creased following this name change!
The yoga approach suits the tem ­
perament o f the alcoholic as well as
his body. It provides a m uch needed
boost in confidence and can help
repair shattered self-esteem. Recov­
ering addicts m ostly search outside
themselves (in vain) for solutions
and strength. Yoga is a direct expe­
rience o f self-sufficiency and self-
healing. Often, this reduces depen­
dence not only on “recreational” and
social drugs, but on such pharm a­
ceutical crutches as sedatives, sleep­
ing pills, and pain killers. And the
only side effects o f yoga are more
energy, clarity, and strength!
Gloria Kaye, MA, an executive
officer o f Kripalu Yoga Helping Pro­
fessions and author o f a manual on
teaching yoga to drug addicts, has
concluded that this unique popula­
tion o f yoga students is well-primed
by their drug experiences for the
altered awareness and deep relax­
ation which the practice affords. It’s
a substitute, “positive addiction,”
which is free, legal, and has only
healthy side effects. In one o f the
first controlled studies o f its kind,
Ms. Kaye docum ented “significant
reductions in anxiety and psychoso­
matic complaints, dependence on
welfare services, tobacco and drug
use, and crime involvem ent” among
240 drug addicts participating in
yoga classes for six months.
After a yoga class, recovering al­
coholics often exclaim, “It’s like
getting high without the booze.” I
am happy to offer them a “positive
addiction” that is natural, healthy,
free, legal, and safe. (Far safer than
aerobics or jogging, two other popu­
lar “positive substitute addictions.”)
Invariably, after first-timers over­
come their initial fears (and lazi­
ness !), and experience 40 minutes o f
easy poses, they are pleasantly sur­
prised at how approachable yoga
can be. From wherever they begin,
people can step onto this universally
inviting path. M any participants
express their intention to continue
with yoga classes at home, and re­
quest information and book titles.
Because o f the short-term expo­
sure that students at a rehab center
will have to my class, I try to teach
them guiding principles rather than
routines to remember. Centering,
balance, focused attention, slow
range-of-m otion stretching, deep
breathing, muscle release, and re­
laxation make up the basic tools
which they can take home and readily
apply to their daily routines, possi­
bly with the aid o f books and cas­
settes, hopefully with other teach­
ers. To demonstrate the com m on­
place opportunities to stretch at home
and on the job, we frequently work
with chairs (yoga for Chairmen!).
Like most over-stressed yoga stu­
dents, Beech Hill residents loved the
last part o f the class, in which they
would recline in “corpse” position,
and experience guided progressive
muscle relaxation to special sooth­
ing music. As often as not, someone
would volunteer that they “haven’t
felt this relaxed in years.” It’s at
such moments that my work with
these groups is most rewarding.
The limitations inherent in such a
population not withstanding—includ­
ing poor physical condition, lack o f
preparation (most wear street clothes
to class), and a high rate o f student
tum over-for thousands o f alcohol­
ics, therapeutic yoga has made a sig­
nificant contribution to the health
recovery process. Without any overt
reference to things spiritual, their
experience nevertheless reflects the
best sense o f the term—people over­
coming suffering and embarking on
their path towards wholeness.
Childhood asthma prevalence
Asthma is the most com m on
chronic childhood disease. It causes
more hospital admissions, visits to
the emergency room, and school
absenteeism than any other chronic
disease in childhood.
Estimates o f the number o f chil­
dren under 17 with asthma vary
from 3 million to 8 million, but some
experts believe the incidence is much
higher than the statistics show.
Asthma may often be misdiag­
nosed as acute infectious bronchitis
(inflammation o f the bronchi) or
bronchiolitis (infectious inflamma-
tion o f the bronchioles), viral dis­
eases, or recurrent pneumonia.
Though asthma can occur at any
age, about 80 percent o f the children
who will develop asthma do so before
starting school.
The common “trigger” is a viral
upper respiratory infection. Child­
hood asthma appears to be increasing
worldwide.
In American children 3 years old
to 17 years old, asthma’s prevalence
rose 50 percent in the 1980s, accord­
ing to the National Center for Health
Statistics. The death rate for children
under age 14 doubled from 1977 to
1983.
Health professionals don't know
why asthma is on the rise, but they
think that air pollution or other envi­
ronmental changes may be impli­
cated.
Asthma is a bronchial disease in
which the airways are so sensitive
that they sometimes become blocked,
making breathing difficult
O f the many factors involved in
this airway hypersensitivity prob­
lem, the one most experts are sure
about is heredity.
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