I spoke to Dawn Clancy recently, creator of Growing Up Chaotic, a community for friends and families of addicts and survivors of abuse. Dawn and I met originally when we both wrote for AfterPartyMagazine. She shares some of her story with us and gives us some great advice on how to live a functional life,

From time to time I teach an eight week class at the Recovery Cafe San Jose called “Befriending Your Body”. A simple seated yoga practice combined with breathing techniques and meditation after a check in make for a lively session with the students. Combining some recovery oriented discussion with mindful movements is a way for

  Pretty much every recovering addict knows about 12-step meetings, sponsorship, working the steps, and going to therapy. And much of the time those tools are enough to establish and maintain early sobriety. Over time, however, addicts inevitably encounter situations where those highly useful forms of support are not available. In such cases, it is

    Blue, Baby, Blue One of my clients recently lamented, “I always feel blue around the holidays.” How often have you, or someone else, said the very same thing? Anxiousness & Isolation are the primary complaints. How ironic we feel isolation when it turns out there’s plenty of company with those same feelings. Is this

Thanksgiving is my favorite time of the year. I love that the weather is starting to get cooler. It gets dark a little earlier which gives me warm loving feelings of family and a deep sense Gratitude. It’s a time for me to reflect on how far I’ve come in my life and my Recovery.

  This Saturday, with a little bit of luck, I’ll be celebrating 34 years in Recovery. Very often at this time of year, I start reflecting on things that have happened in my life, and just how I got to this place filled with gratitude. I looked down at my keychain, and there, staring me

Being thorough with our nutrition intake has so many benefits for our wellbeing but it’s one of the hardest changes to make in our lives. We tend to make excuses as to why we can’t do it. Indeed it can be overwhelming to think about especially when our supermarkets are full of foods that tend

Where were you when I was sitting alone in the parking lot of the motel we called home? Where were you when I picked up that needle and stuck myself with it? Where were you? You knew he had HIV/AIDS. I used to cry and feel so lonely without you there. So I would go

Recovery is a program of action. We are encouraged to “participate in our own recovery”, to work the twelve steps until they work IN us. Being complete, being exhaustive in our efforts is highly recommended. In the big book of AA we are nearly promised a life free of relapse when we practice the principles

  I am full of resentments this election cycle in the U.S. I resent the candidate whose way of being in the world triggers all of my trauma issues down to their deepest core. I resent the loyal masses of followers voting for said candidate, including family and friends who belong to this group. I