It is almost impossible to describe the most incredible transformational and supportive weekend myself and 499 other women collectively experienced as we gathered together at the famous Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angles, for the She Recovers Conference.
So, what is She Recovers you might ask?
She Recover’s is a women’s movement founded by the dynamic mother and daughter team, Dawn Nickel and Taryn Strong. She Recovers is powerful beyond words (one must experience it to fully comprehend it) in that it promotes community, support and empowerment, regardless of what you are in Recovery from – how long you have been in recovery, and how you even recover is completely irrelevant, because we are all recovering from something in life.
In fact, the earliest understanding of myself and my recovery journey was that I thought I had a ‘drug and alcohol problem, which I did! It wasn’t until I had been abstinent for over 10 years and found myself struggling with overwhelming emotions with crippling depression, PTSD, prolonged and unprocessed grief, anxiety, disordered eating, and self-hatred that I realized that drug and alcohol use is often looked at as the presenting problems. Substance abuse was my solution to unresolved deeper issues even though it was a maladaptive coping strategy. It has taken me years and many restarts for me to heal emotionally from my history and I wished I had been presented with more alternative pathways offered to me earlier on my recovery journey.
After all, we are all #inrecoveryfromlife #sherecovers
Johann Hari states in his book ‘Chasing the Scream’ that the opposite of Addiction is not Sobriety, it is connection which I couldn’t agree more. Addiction cannot survive when we are in the community, but it can escalate in isolation.
The human species is wired for connection, so it is no surprise that we thrive in community, especially if it is a community that supports us unconditionally, is not judgmental, promotes all pathways to recovery and doesn’t even care what you are recovering from.
If you are suffering from whatever life has thrown your way, there is support for you and my wish for you is to feel more connected and please know that you do matter. This is my type of community. No stigma, no dogma or a prescribed one size fits all as to how we must recover.
What is important is that we are all supported on our unique recovery pathway and regardless of how and what we are recovering from. Often community outside of our family systems may be our only link to being validated in our challenges and it is vital that we can feel connected and supported.
What was the weekend all about?
Each morning we setup our day by attuning ourselves spiritually and physically doing Yoga with Taryn Strong, accompanied by two of the best meditation teachers, Sarah Blondin and Biet Simkin who lead us through morning meditation. If you haven’t had a chance to check out their work, I strongly encourage you, as you will not be disappointed.
The lineup of magnificent Key Note speakers included Laurie Dhue, Cheryl Strayed, author of “Wild,” Mackenzie Phillips, Janet Mock, and not to forget the hilarious Amy Dresner. Each of these women recounted their courageous stories of overcoming the most debilitating hardships, but more importantly was their inspiring messages of healing and hope. There was a moderated panel of leaders in our industry talking Recovery, Advocacy, and innovative businesses that have emerged from their own recovery journeys.
Friendships were instant, somewhat akin to a love fest with instant connection as we took our online relationships offline and forged lifetime bonds making us even stronger by meeting face to face.
After a day of speakers and breakout sessions, it was time to get all glammed up for our Gala dinner hosted in the same room as the famous Golden Globes Awards followed by our ‘Silent Disco’ as we left our inhibitions aside and danced sober for hours into the night. It truly was way too much fun!
The real miracle of this vision and weekend was the brave recovery warriors that said ‘Yes” to themselves. These brave badass warriors were open to alternative pathways of recovery as compared to the more traditional realms and found exactly what they were looking for coming home more empowered, more supported, more inspired and readier to make a difference to what recovery can look like in their own communities.
Recovery in the 21st Century has never looked more appealing with more and more curriculums, communities and models of care emerging to offer us an alternative and more holistic way to Recover.
Do you care to join me to be the Ambassador for change in your community?
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