Integrating Yoga with 12 Step Recovery

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Integrating Yoga with 12 Step Recovery

Yoga and Recovery with Heather Hagaman Heather has a private practice as well as teaches yoga at Beloved Yoga in Reston, Virginia.

This is my current biography that I am sharing so that you can get to know me:

Heather Hagaman is a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) and an e500RYT with a Master’s Degree in Psychology. She also is a lead teacher of 300hr teacher training. A Pioneer in the new field of Yoga and Recovery, which utilizes Yoga and Meditation to help people move beyond Addiction and build fulfilling lives. Heather trained in Yogaville with Durga Leela, founder of Yoga of Recovery. There she learned the integration of Ayurveda and 12 Step tools to treat Addiction. Heather went to Kripalu to train with David Emerson E-RYT, author of Healing Trauma Through Yoga and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, MD, pre-eminent researcher in the field. She received her Certification as a Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Instructor and is working with survivors of complex post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Heather also is a Certified Y12SR (Yoga of 12 Step Recovery) Instructor and facilitates a 12 Step based discussion group coupled with a Yoga class that weaves together the wisdom of Yoga with the practical tools of 12 Step programs. Heather sees clients individually, by appointment, for Yoga and Recovery Coaching, offers workshops on Yoga for Eating Disorders, Codependency, Anxiety and PTSD. Every year she teaches a 30 hr Trauma Informed Yoga training program. Because of her own background in recovery, Heather brings compassion and deep understanding into her classes. She holds a safe, loving and confidential space for students to experience inner connection and a way back to wholeness. Heather believes that “the 12 Steps saved my life, and Yoga gave me a new way to go with it.”

12/26/2025

As the New Year approaches, I’m noticing how gently I need to hold myself around “resolutions.” I don’t usually make them.

But this year feels different. I’m out of wiggle room.

For most of my life, I’ve lived in a cycle of disordered eating - binges and restriction, sugar/carbs or all protein, rarely balance. I used to say (the same way I once did about drinking): I’ll stop when I hit rock bottom.

The truth is, my rock bottoms just kept getting deeper.

Today, I’m facing insulin resistance, heart and cholesterol issues, and I’m now using a continuous glucose monitor - a tool I never imagined I’d need. This feels like a moment of truth. Not punishment. Not shame. Just reality asking me to choose a different path.

I believe this is deeply connected to CPTSD and addiction - another place where my nervous system learned to survive. And now, like recovery has taught me, I don’t have to do this alone.

I’m sharing this to be honest, to stay accountable, and to ask for support as I learn new ways to care for my body with compassion instead of control.

If you’ve walked this path - or are walking it now - I’d love to hear from you. 🤍

My shift in perception starts today...this is the first step..

12/10/2025

I’ve been reflecting on how the first three Steps in AA mirror the heart of Kriya Yoga from the Yoga Sutras. Two very different traditions… yet they begin in almost the exact same place.
In yoga, Kriya Yoga is the foundation for all spiritual growth:
tapas — the honest heat of facing ourselves
svādhyāya — compassionate self-study
īśvara-praṇidhāna — surrender to a Higher Power
And AA starts with:
Step 1: I can’t.
The moment of truth, when our old ways stop working.
Step 2: Something greater can.
The inner clearing that makes space for real change.
Step 3: I’ll let that Power guide me.
The beginning of trust. The softening that opens the heart.
Different words, same wisdom.
Both Bill Wilson and Patanjali understood that the spiritual path doesn’t start with perfection — it starts with humility, honesty, and willingness. It starts with admitting we can’t do it alone… and discovering that we were never meant to.
This is the doorway to freedom in both yoga and recovery.
This is how old patterns loosen.
This is how we become available to grace. 🙏✨

11/07/2025

Step 5: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs

Yogi Step 5: We speak truthfully, satya… about the constant themes and samskaras to ourselves, to our higher power and to another trusting yogin. We feel seen, we feel heard and feel loved. We breathe in this love and let go of the grip of the stories of our lives.

11/04/2025

AA Step 4: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

Yogi Step 4: Once we are present, we are able to practice self awareness through svadhyaha and look at our parts in the unmanageable situations in our lives. We write out the story of our reactions seeing them as teachers that have given us the gift of learning. We trace back in time habitual reactions or samskaras and inventory them to look for a constant theme. We are fearless in our inventory and draw upon the breath to stay steady and grounded.

10/30/2025

Step 3: Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

Yogi Step 3: We make a decision to use this deep breathing as a way to ground ourselves into the present moment where we are able to allow our higher power to show us that we really can care for the Self, we can Self-regulate and Self-soothe. And we say: Everything is ok, we are safe and the higher power of our understanding has a plan for our lives.

10/28/2025

Step 2: Came to believe in a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

My yogi Step 2: We come to believe that the power of our breath will restore us to sanity. And as we breathe, inhaling and exhaling long, smooth breaths, we begin to feel calmer in our prakriti (body) and we awaken to the feeling that in our breath lives purusha (infinite body), or our higher power.

10/27/2025

Awhile back I created the Yogi 12 steps. The first step is We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.

Here is another way to understand step 1:

Step 1: When we are triggered or feel powerless by a situation that usually involves another human being and we are flooded physically with uncomfortable feelings such as the four rasas, or energetic essences of fear, anger, sadness and disgust, we become fully aware that our emotions are about to become unmanageable. We touch the ground, feel safe and solid knowing our feet are under us. We surrender these reactions to our breath so that we can pause and respond, practicing ahimsa rather than reacting and causing harm.

10/26/2025

Yesterday I began my day in a women’s meeting. I sat in a church, in a circle of thirty women, and felt myself exhale as I looked into the smiling eyes around me. Each woman shared from her heart — her struggles, her triumphs, her truth.

In yoga, we call this community sangha — a gathering of souls who walk the path of awakening together. In 12-Step recovery, we call it fellowship. Both remind us that we are not meant to heal alone. Sangha and fellowship save us from the loneliness and isolation that thrive in addiction.

When we sit in a circle of truth and compassion, we remember that healing happens in connection. Together, we learn to stop hurting ourselves and others. We choose to grow better, not bitter.

Through this sacred work, we don’t just help alcoholics stay sober — we help heal the world, one honest share, one compassionate moment at a time.

How do you find healing in connection today?

10/25/2025

Waking up and reaching for my phone first thing has become a deeply embedded habit. I can judge this harshly—or I can step back and be curious. What is my intention? Does knowing every detail help me feel safer? Do I believe that staying informed gives me more control, that I’m not putting my head in the sand?

When I pause long enough to notice what’s underneath, I often find a longing for safety, connection, and a sense of grounding in a world that feels anything but steady.

This is where yoga and 12-step recovery meet so beautifully—bringing awareness without judgment. The practice invites us to witness our patterns, not shame them. To breathe before reacting. To remember that serenity doesn’t come from the next headline or notification, but from turning inward, reconnecting with presence, and trusting a power greater than ourselves.

If you notice yourself doing the same—reaching for your phone before your breath—see if you can replace the scroll with one mindful inhale. Whisper a gentle reminder: I am safe in this moment. From there, begin again.

What helps you stay grounded when the world feels overwhelming?

08/18/2025

I just finished teaching a three-day training on Trauma-Informed Yoga, and I’m feeling so grateful for the opportunity to share my recovery, my experience, strength, and hope.
One of the most important truths I’ve learned is that trauma is often the root cause of addiction. Many of us grew up with childhood post-traumatic stress injuries. Without tools for self-regulation, we turned to external things—substances, behaviors, or distractions—to help our nervous systems find relief, to help our parasympathetic system kick in, so we could feel less combative and reactive to life.
But this coping comes at a cost. Trauma wires the brain to be deficient in “feel-good” chemicals, so when we finally stumble on something that makes us feel better, our brains light up and say, “I need more of that.” That’s when addiction takes hold—when we keep reaching outside ourselves to feel okay.
The good news is recovery is possible. Healing is possible. And trauma-informed practices like yoga give us the tools to pause, self-regulate, and respond to life rather than react.
We are not “bad people trying to get good.”
We are sick people trying to get well.
And wellness—real, lasting wellness—is absolutely possible.

07/04/2025

I bent over backwards (literally) and turned it over (spiritually).

24 years of one breath, one day, one Downward Dog at a time.
Some days I surrendered to a Higher Power.
Other days, I surrendered to child's pose.
Either way—I stayed sober. 🙏

Grateful for the steps that showed me the way and the mat that gave me space to fall apart (and put myself back together).

07/02/2025

As always, when my anniversary gets closer, I reflect on the past and look at who I am today and how do I live in this world as a sober human?

I was at a meeting the other night and it was on tradition 6. Traditions in AA literature serve as guiding principles to protect the unity, survival and effectiveness of AA as a whole. We read this step and these words popped out to me:

"Nearly every one of us had wished to do great good, perform good deeds and embody great ideals. We are all perfectionists who, failing perfection, have gone to the other extreme and settled for the bottle and the blackout."

Before recovery, I carried the weight of big dreams and ideals—always wanting to do good, to be good—but falling short and numbing the shame with the bottle. Perfectionism told me if I couldn't do it perfectly, it wasn't worth doing at all. And that led me to some very dark places.

Today, 24 years sober on July 4th, I can honestly say: my deepest wishes have come true—but not in the way I imagined. Not through perfection or grandiosity, but through humility, consistency, and grace. I get to live a meaningful life, be of service, and show up as I am—whole, imperfect, and free. That’s the miracle of this program.

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Reston, VA
20190

Telephone

+17035017476

Website

http://www.ResilientYoga4U.com/

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Our Story

This is my current biography that I am sharing so that you can get to know me: Heather Hagaman (500RYT) is a Certified Yoga Therapist with a Master’s Degree in Counseling. She is a full time Yoga therapist and is currently in training for her CSAC. Heather is A Pioneer in the new field of Yoga and Recovery, which utilizes Yoga and Meditation to help people move beyond Addiction and build fulfilling lives. Heather trained in Yogaville with Durga Leela, founder of Yoga of Recovery. There she learned the integration of Ayurveda and 12 Step tools to treat Addiction. Heather went to Kripalu to train with David Emerson E-RYT, author of Healing Trauma Through Yoga and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, MD, pre-eminent researcher in the field. She received her Certification as a Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Instructor and is working with survivors of complex post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Heather also is a Certified Y12SR (Yoga of 12 Step Recovery) Instructor and facilitates a 12 Step based discussion group coupled with a Yoga class that weaves together the wisdom of Yoga with the practical tools of 12 Step programs. Heather sees clients individually, by appointment, for Yoga and Recovery Coaching, offers workshops on Yoga for Eating Disorders, Codependency, Anxiety and PTSD. Because of her own background in recovery, Heather brings compassion and deep understanding into her classes. She holds a safe, loving and confidential space for students to experience inner connection and a way back to wholeness. Heather believes that “the 12 Steps saved my life, and Yoga gave me a new way to go with it.”