by Anitra Lahiri, RYT-500
What if you saw your addiction in a different light?
What if, instead of believing the lies the world feeds you, that you were somehow a failure or a junkie or a lush or a slut … what if instead, you flipped the script?
You never intended to fall into addiction.
You never intended to hurt other people.
You never intended to cause harm.
You never intended to lie or waste money or be impulsive.
What you probably intended was to feel better by any means necessary, to numb some pain that only you know the depths of.
Instead of joining society in its criticism and judgment of you, remember your original intention, before you fell into addiction: You just wanted to feel better. And at its root, that is not something to be ashamed of, to judge yourself for. That’s actually the instinct of a living being trying to care for itself.
The choices you made in active addiction weren’t healthy, weren’t wise. But maybe, if you look closely, you can see that your addiction was not caused by immorality or badness or weakness.
At its root, your addiction was born out of misguided self-care. All living beings are wired to minimize the experience of pain and work toward pleasure. If you look at your addictive behavior through a compassionate, and even scientific, lens, you may recognize that you were suffering and running toward relief.
So next time you get angry at yourself for the addiction, the relapses, the lost relationships, the hurt people, the broken laws, the regrets, remember that none of that was your intention.
So, rewrite the judgmental monologue that’s been running through your head. You are not bad or weak. You were simply trying to care for yourself the best way you knew how at that time.
And now that you know how to care for yourself better, you can try to do better.
Anitra Lahiri is a dedicated yoga studio owner and self-love advocate, guiding individuals on their journey to healing and recovery.
Anitra Lahiri 