21st Century Yoga: Culture, Politics, and Practice by Carol Horton

Author:Carol Horton [Horton, Carol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780615617602
Amazon: 0615617603
Publisher: Kleio Books
Published: 2012-09-19T04:00:00+00:00

—Thomas Merton

Note: I would not be here today without the support of many people not specifically named in this essay, but who nonetheless played a tremendous role in my recovery. Thank you Honey, Lana, Sherry, Betsy, Sophia, Gaynell, Jim, Melody, Holly, Dave, Jen, Alex, Amy, Sarah, Ife, and Michala.

6

Yoga and the 12 Steps:

Holistic Recovery from Addiction

Tommy Rosen

On the night I almost died from smoking crack, there was no conscious understanding of what was happening in my mind or body. I was reduced to a state of depravity, like an animal whose only purpose was to never come down from the rush of this high. I had also smoked a lot of pot that day. Once you start smoking cocaine, however, you no longer feel the effects of pot, so it loses its importance quickly. Not the case with cigarettes, though. Cocaine and cigarettes enjoy each other’s company. I had chain-smoked cigarettes for 10 hours that day – but not just any cigarettes. When I did coke, I smoked weird, strong cigarettes – Export A’s (The Blue Ones), Camel Straights, occasionally Marlboro Reds and of course, Djarum Clove Cigarettes – anything that packed a punch. If I didn’t feel them when they went in, they were too weak.

People who smoke crack together are stoic and precise in their communication. At first, as the initial preparation of coke is being cooked (we used to cook it ourselves into freebase), the participants (never more than three or four) may exchange mischievous smiles or amazingly cynical jokes. But inevitably, the verbal communication becomes less and less until finally the only words uttered are those needed to allow the “partying” to continue. There really are no pleasantries because nothing about this ritual is too pleasant. There is, of course, the walloping initial high produced by taking a big hit while everyone looks on as if they are watching you have an orgasm because in some sick, shadowy way, you are. Then everyone else wants to have the same experience over and over again, even though it lasts such a short time. It is horribly vacuous and in the end leaves you devoid of life force, crying like a man who realizes he has lost everything because for that night, at least, you have lost everything. Eventually, you will lose everything for good.

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