We love Tommy Rosen’s videos on steps 1-5 in his Addiction Recovery Series.

Tommy takes the 12 steps from AA and uses the practice of Yoga to amplify and illustrate their importance and effectiveness.  On these Big Happy Day videos Tommy explains steps 1-5 and demonstrates how they are not only vital for those struggling with addiction, but for all human beings.  We’ll keep you posted on steps 6-12..

Step 1 encourages us to look at where we are powerless in our lives. When we step onto our yoga mat, the universe that lives on that space can help us to realize what we can and cannot change. By admitting what we cannot change, we feel a weight lifted off our shoulders.

In this next video Tommy shares Step-2 in the Yoga 12-Step Recovery Process.  Admitting we need outside help can help to open the door to new possibilities.

Part of the challenge in making decisions is the idea that we have to give something up in order to do something else.  Do you find that difficult sometimes? In this video,Tommy shares Step 3.  We can look at making decisions as simply as choosing to step onto our yoga mat to practice.

What is a fearless moral inventory? Tommy asks us: Are you brave enough to sit down and lay out all of your resentments and look at what has been leaking your energy for the whole of your life? A personal inventory means looking within at where we are stuck. Your yoga practice helps to support clearing your “stuff.”

Tommy asks us to look at the dark corners of our life in Step 5 of the 12-Step Recovery Process. The yogic connection with this step is the idea of being in and feeling supported in community.

Tommy Rosen has studied and practiced Yoga for 20 years, and is a certified Vinyasa Flow and Kundalini Yoga Teacher.  He completed the Yoga West year-long teacher training in June of 2008 and then went on to complete Yoga Works’ 200-hour teacher training with Annie Carpenter and Kia Miller in the Summer of 2009.  For 8 years, Tommy has studied Kundalini Yoga and “Life” from his teacher, Guruprem.