Y12SR – The Yoga of 12-Step Recovery

Program Description

Introduction:

​Y12SR offers a mind and body approach for relapse prevention. Using the cognitive tools of the 12-steps and the somatic experience of yoga, Y12SR assists people to develop body awareness, learn to feel what’s going on in their bodies, and self-regulate.

Y12SR recognizes that yoga and its practices are a part of a holistic recovery program and, rather than a replacement, provides adjunct tools to address the physical, mental and spiritual disease of addiction. The 12-step recovery model, created in 1939, is the most well-known and pervasive addiction/recovery program in the world, with millions of practitioners internationally. In a word, the characteristics and effects of addiction could easily be described as separation. Addictive behaviors separate and disconnect us from our loved ones, our environment, and ourselves. Conversely, yoga itself means union, integration and balance. Yoga and its practices teach the fine art of balancing our multidimensional lives while living in a complex world. The 12-step program approaches addiction at a cognitive level, while yoga includes a somatic approach. The combining of the two creates a model that truly addresses addiction as the physical, mental and spiritual disease that it is.
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Y12SR® is a community organizing platform that provides a rich and powerful framework for integrating the wisdom of yoga and the practical tools of 12-step programs. Currently, there are 3 platform branches: Education and Training, The Addiction Treatment Center Initiative, and The Y12SR Foundation.
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Guided by it’s theme, "The Issues Live In the Tissues", Y12SR meetings are now available all over country and the curriculum is quickly becoming a feature of addiction recovery treatment centers across the United States.

​Program Description:

​Y12SR is a meeting and a yoga practice. The time is divided between a 12-step like sharing circle and a yoga session where we “take it to the mats.” 

Y12SR can be done using a yoga mat, a yoga block, or using a chair for those who are more comfortable seated. Meeting topics can come from the sharing circle or, if no topic organically develops, the space holder may suggest a reading. Simple yoga postures and breathing exercises will be practiced each meeting.