FEATURE: YOGA AND ADDICTION RECOVERY
to do every day and hold yourself accountable—how is that not
perfectionism?
if there’s ever a question, I ask the people who are important to
me in my life: my wife, my sponsor, and my friends in sobriety.
TH: Showing up every day doesn’t mean that it’s perfect. You
just have to show up, but you’re not graded on your performance…If I make it to my mat on a daily basis, I’ve succeeded.
Everything else is irrelevant.
EH: What is your purpose behind the book?
EH: You said yoga brings you closer to reality. What does reality look like to you today?
TH: The truth without my emotions that run through it. It’s an
accurate representation of what’s actually happening…It’s me
living my truth, its me being in line with my truth. It’s all about
alignment for me.
EH: What is “your truth?”
TH: I don’t know if I can say it without sounding kooky.
I’ve been given a second chance. I’ve listened to all the people
that come into my life…I believe my higher power talks to
me through people. I’m 100% aware of it, that’s why I listen so
good. My truth is aligning my will with my higher power’s will.
If I’m able to get rid of the Taylor personality, I become a vessel.
To slay the pink elephant. To talk about something that is not
very popular to talk about. By “slay the pink elephant,” I mean
bring the thing up that everyone can relate to but doesn’t want
to talk about it. Our program of recovery says that we must
have the awareness of a problem before we can be absolved of
it or healed…I’m using my story as a way to start the conversation. The book brings up different feelings for everyone. Everyone’s addicted to something. Everyone has their struggle.
EH: But not every addiction is going to kill the addict.
TH: Yes, but there can be just as much turmoil with someone
who has a gambling addiction or a shopping addiction. Mine
was more intense, maybe, in some aspects. But the book can be
relatable to any of those people.
I hope it helps everyone. It’s a serious thing. People don’t know
what addiction looks like. They just know that [alcoholics] get
drunk too much. There’s so much more, that’s just a symptom
of what’s going on. ■
EH: How do you know when you’re aligning your path with
your higher power’s path?
TH: You know how there’s these gut feelings that you get? I can
feel whether or not something is in line because of intuition. And
Photography: Emma Huddleston
INDIANA & YOGA MAGAZINE ISSUE I
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