Yoga Saved My Life

**This post mentions drug use.......

Yoga saved my life. When it was suggested to me to try yoga for a medical condition back in 2013, I never realized how that choice, to actually try it, would lead me to today. I was all in for the physical aspects, skeptical about it being a stress reliever, but never dreamed how it would steer me in a certain direction in life.

I grew up in a family with quite a few drug addicts: uncles, cousins, a parent, and a niece who sadly passed away from a drug overdose. These were from prescription and/or hard street drugs like Heroin. We spent time when I was younger visiting relatives in Sheppard Pratt for drug detoxes, or halfway houses to see them, going to my grandparent's house where my drug addict uncle also lived, and would find drug needles lying all over the house, and holiday's ruined around relatives that were too high to come over or were passed out.

It was a possibility that being around such circumstances wouldn't bode well for how I would grow up or even my kids. I always had the feeling that if I stood up and said, "I don't want to be around this anymore," that I would be the one who was wrong. So I continued to try and help the ones who needed help for years and years, but to no avail.

I've known since trying yoga 12 years ago what a "game changer" it was for me. But it wasn't until this past week when I realized it was actually a "life saver" for me. Being around certain things, it's easy to be influenced. On top of that, if you're an insecure, easily anxious, people pleaser who has trouble setting boundaries, (all me), well, it's even easier to fall into a bad way.

I could very easily have decided to take that route as a way to numb myself from everything so I didn't have to deal with life, hard times, the grief that comes with losing a loved one, etc...because that's what I think most of my family did. They also had those underlying issues of insecurity, etc, as a lot of us do, and drugs became their answer.

I am proud to say NOT ME. I chose yoga. Yoga is my high, my euphoria, and when I finish taking or teaching a class, that's how it makes me feel. Sometimes when you make a choice, you don't actually realize how enormous that choice is, either in a good way or a bad way. Now more than ever I realize what an impact yoga has had on my life, in all aspects, and I am beyond grateful.

Who would have ever thought yoga could hold so much power?