Kundalini yoga/Sat Nam Rasayan and alcohol

[mintgreen]

Hi yogis I was hoping some of you can share your thoughts on how Kundalini yoga practice relate to alcohol consumption from your experience?

My first attempts to meditate few years ago, prior to knowing anything about Kundalini yoga, had profound effects. Eventually I met an amazing teacher, and I practice KY and SNR regularly. I used to have a drink occasionally in the past, but I cannot even smell alcohol since I started meditating. Now, that's probably not too unusual, but it makes it very difficult to participate in social gatherings that involve alcohol consumption. In those situations I start feeling very disoriented and anxious. On the other hand, avoiding social events brings on other challenges.

Can you please share your experiences? Do you attend events where people drink and can you still enjoy them? If not, how do you socialize with non-yogis? Unfortunately, nowadays even building professional relationships require to attend events that involve alcohol (the most common way of bonding are happy hours). Did you ever need to work around that?

Thanks for reading! I can't wait to hear from you.

Sat Nam

[amarpreet]

Excellent topic! I am a recovered alcoholic, so my experience with alcohol may be quite a few notches more intense than yours. First a bit of background: I have been sober for five years, and my primary recovery tool was Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). Kundalini yoga is a wonderful tool to supplement my AA 12 Steps for better functioning and serenity, by the way, so I practice both on a daily basis.

Having said that, I am frequently in the presence of alcohol and drinkers, which should not be a problem for the ex-drinker, ex-problem drinker, or alcoholic as long as the ex-drinker etc feels comfortable with their sobriety. If you or anyone else feels uncomfortable in those situations, then first you have to ask yourself if you are simply bored or annoyed by that particular crowd of people, or is it a general discomfort being around anyone who drinks. If your answer is that you feel uncomfortable in all situations involving alcohol, then more introspection is needed, either with a doctor, therapist, or in a group setting with like-minded people.

I know that this is a bit vague - until I know more about you, it's kind of hard to give advice. When in doubt, ask for guidance in prayer and meditation, and do some journaling about it; the answers will come eventually. Feel free to write back with more details and/or questions - I love this topic because I've found a solution and have fully recovered from alcoholism...and I will stay recovered if I stick to my daily sadhana (in AA and Kundalini).

Sat Nam,

Amarpreet

[mintgreen]

Thanks for responding, amarpreet! I'm sure it takes a lot of strength to feel comfortable around alcohol during and after the recovery. And I strongly believe that KY and meditation practice can make one over time almost automatically reject toxins in the body. Alcohol, sugar, caffeine, you name it...

One of my friends is struggling with alcohol and he's not ready yet to take control over his life. It is difficult to accept that I cannot help much, so that may be lowering my tolerance for excessive drinking. If you'd like to share anything about how you decided to take first steps towards recovery, please do.

To answer your questions, I feel discomfort around people drinking in general. By drinking I don't mean having a glass of wine with a meal, but having more drinks in order to relax and socialize. Ultimately, people drink because they cannot accept reality, and that's not inspiring. Now that's analytic thinking, but on the other hand, meditation and Sat Nam Rasayan make one a lot more sensitive to what is going on energetically in the environment. So, I was wondering what other people's experiences are in the sensitive space, with growing awareness? (Btw, I practice about 2 hours every day)

Thanks for taking your time to write!

Peace & light