Encore: Yoga and 12 Step Recovery with Nikki MyersEncore: Yoga and 12 Step Recovery with Nikki Myers
Katherine Arati Maas
Host Catherine Arati Moss talks with Y12SR founder Nikki Myers about blending yoga with 12-step recovery to address addiction on both a mental and physical level. Nikki shares her personal journey, relapses, and the creation of Y12SR as an added tool for sustainable sobriety.
0:00•23 Aug 2016
Yoga, Recovery and “The Issues in the Tissues” with Nikki Myers
Episode Overview
- Addiction is framed as a deep disconnection from the self, often rooted in codependency, which Nikki calls “the disease of the lost self.”
- Nikki’s relapses showed her that, for her, yoga and 12-step work function best together as an additional support, not a replacement for either.
- Y12SR meetings combine a 12-step style discussion with a trauma-informed yoga practice themed around spiritual principles like surrender.
- Yoga and somatic work help release unprocessed energy held in the body – “the issues in the tissues” – without needing to analyse every story.
- A well-sequenced yoga class is described as realigning the five bodies (physical, emotional, mental, behavioural, spiritual), creating a sense of wholeness that supports ongoing recovery.
“I assert that at some level, all of us are addicted to the way we process our reality.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol and other addictions? This conversation between host Catherine Arati Moss and guest Nikki Myers brings that question right into the body. Nikki, founder of Y12SR (Yoga of 12-Step Recovery), shares how her past with addiction, trauma, relapse, and recovery led her to fuse yoga with 12-step work. She introduces herself with striking honesty: “I’m an addict.
I’m an alcoholic… I’m the survivor of both childhood and adult sexual trauma… and I say with the exact same gratitude and grace, I am the founder of Y12SR.” That blend of raw truth and self-respect sets the tone for the whole episode.
You’ll hear how Nikki came to see addiction as deeply linked to disconnection from the self and what she calls codependency, “the disease of the lost self.” She explains how, even after years clean, old patterns (samskaras) pulled her back into relapse, convincing her she needed both yoga and 12-step support as an “and”, not an either/or. For anyone curious about how yoga fits into recovery, Nikki breaks it down in simple, relatable language.
She talks about the idea that “the issues live in the tissues”, how unprocessed energy sits in the body, and why a well-sequenced yoga class can leave you feeling more whole. Y12SR meetings pair 12-step style sharing with trauma-informed yoga, turning phrases like “keep coming back” into something you can literally feel in your body.
This episode will likely speak to you if you’re in recovery, supporting someone who is, or you’re a yoga teacher wondering how your mat can meet the messiness of real life. It’s honest, practical, and surprisingly hopeful – and might leave you asking yourself: what extra tools could support your own long-term recovery?
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