The 12 Steps, and their Relationship to The Yamas and Niyamas (The Universal Vows) of the Ashtanga (Raja) Yoga Path

A wonderful offering On yoga and the 12 Step Tradition of AA

12 Steps and Yoga Embracing Recovery Through Yoga
Leslie Kalechman, LCSW,RYT ..http://embracingwellness.com

The 12 Steps, and their Relationship to The Yamas and Niyamas (The Universal Vows) of the Ashtanga (Raja) Yoga Path

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable. Satya, truthfulness, first and foremost with the self. Acceptance, surrender:
*Yoga teaches us how to physically, energetically, and mentally experience these difficult, ego-involved concepts and move through them towards greater growth, integrity and wholeness. In Yoga we are always resolving the dynamic dance of willful effort and radical surrender.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. How does one get here if one is a non-believer??
*Yoga hastens the transformation. Practices of Yoga open us up to a very real and tangible experience of a transcendent consciousness whatever we wish to call it, the higher Self, the Universal Mind; God; Allah; Christ-consciousness; Higher Power.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
*This saying, "Help, I can't do this all myself", is a very real point in the Yogic path, as described in the Bhagavad Gita, part of the Mahabharata, one of the seminal pieces of Yogic literature . In a key scene, the hero, Arjuna, is on the battlefield, (metaphorically the battle for the control of the mind over the senses); he must do battle with his own relatives, friends, teachers. He knows he devoutly wishes to avoid this battle, and doesn't know what to do. He turns to his Higher Power, Lord Krishna, who is in the war chariot with him and says: (Ch2:7) "I am weighted down with weakmindedness; I am confused and cannot understand my duty. I beg of you to say for sure what is right for me to do. I am your disciple. Please help me for I have taken refuge in you." This is the "conversion experience" referred to by Jung. Ishvara Pranidhana - the 8th limb of Ashtanga. The challenge here is to cooperate with our higher, or spiritual selves in a more positive and creative way. "Instead of using ego-power-trying to dominate and control everything for selfish gain, the type of compulsiveness that drives people to drink, drugs, and other destructive forms of behavior - each of us must come to be aware that we are accountable to an "inner dimension" that continuously invites us to be more loving, caring and responsible." (O'Murchu, Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, Vol.11, 1994, p. 177.)

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
*This is Satya, the path of being completely honest, first and foremost, with ourselves. Tapas, or self discipline, effort. Also Svadhyaya, self-inquiry. In AA this is looking at various "character flaws" and other difficult aspects of ourselves, eg. jealousy, anger, fear, sexuality; etc. Yoga teaches us how to witness ourselves having these "character flaws" (Yoga calls them citta vrittis, or fluctuations of the mind, and just assumes that these are the nature of the uncultivated, untrained mind) with neutrality and self-compassion (equanimity). Stephen Cope, in his book, Yoga and the Quest for the True Self does a wonderful job of talking about the importance of The Witness, necessarily being comprised of both Awareness and Equanimity.

5 Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
*The importance again of Svadhyaya, or self-study; Satya, or truthfulness, Saucha, cleanliness: doing some spiritual housecleaning! Satsang (an aspect of svadhyaya, or fellowship) as the profound experience of finding that others will accept us as we truly are, imperfections and all.

6.Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
*Working with surrender and acceptance, Ishvara Pranidhana. Also Santosha, contentment, equanimity, ready to accept whatever is necessary for our own growth.

7.Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
*Surrender and acceptance of help.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. Shaucha, cleanliness, cleaning up the messes we have made!
*Also Satya, truthfulness,; and Asteya, non-stealing in the form of returning, if possible, whatever we might have taken (on a psychological dimension.) Tapas, self-discipline.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Ahimsa, non-harming.
*Asteya, non-stealing: returning something that we took for ourselves. Tapas, self-discipline.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
*Continuous Svadhyaya, or self-study, self inquiry. Assumption is that the practices are for life. Tapas, the self-discipline required for this practice.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. While encouraging meditation, the 12-Step Program does not give specific recommendations or instruction on how this is done. "In the absence of a systematic, effortless meditation technique to direct awareness deep within, many recovering addicts have felt frustrated in their attempts to become attuned to this profound inner dimension of life."(O'Murchu, ATQ, p. 177).
*Yoga gives very clear steps on how to meditate through study of the last four limbs of the 8-Limb Path: Pratyahara ability to focus within, control of the mind over the senses; Dharana, one-pointed concentration; Dhyana, Uninterupted concentration/meditation; Samadhi, absolute tranquility.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. *This gives a beautiful example of the Yama of Aparigraha, non-hoarding; once we have achieved peace and serenity for ourselves we must share it with others. In an Ashtanga Yoga sadhana, or practice, we offer chants of peace to the world at the end, after we have connected with our own "bliss molecules", or own inner peace. We don't keep it only for ourselves; we share it with the rest of the universe.

Leslie Kalechman, Embracing Wellness In Recovery Through Yoga 2002.