My sobriety doesn't need a higher power

For a few years, I thought that Yoga was the key to my sobriety.

I diligently did my practice every day, certain that if I let it slip for too long, I’d fall back into my old coping tools, drinking and smoking.

It was a compelling idea. I got sober during my Yoga teacher training. I know that learning to breathe, releasing tension in my mind and body, and finding new ways to see myself helped enormously. 

But I stopped practising yoga regularly about 18 months ago.

In those 18 months, I’ve lived through the hardest year of my life.

So if I needed Yoga to keep me sober, you’d think I’f have struggled. 

Well, I’ve definitely struggled. Life has nearly broken me, with one thing and another.

But I haven’t struggled to stay sober. Drinking hasn’t even crossed my mind. Even in the darkest, most painful days.

So if Yoga wasn’t my higher power, then what was?

I don’t have one. I have my own inner power. I have my sobriety. I have new ways to cope. 

Alcohol was never the problem. It was a solution to my problems. A way to get through the tough times. But it brought its own problems, and became a problem. 

Yoga helped me to unpack some of those problems. Writing helps me. Walking helps. Many things help.

But none of them is my higher power. Finding my inner strength. Knowing I can face my problems. Changing my perception of who I am. Claiming the identity of a sober person, rather than an alcoholic.

 I don’t think about drinking when life is hard because I am a sober person, and sober people don’t turn to booze to deal with their problems.

How do you deal with difficult challenges in life?