Indiana & Yoga Magazine Summer 2016 Issue 1 | Page 47

FEATURE: YOGA AND ADDICTION RECOVERY to do every day and hold yourself accountable—how is that not perfectionism? if there’s ever a question, I ask the people who are important to me in my life: my wife, my sponsor, and my friends in sobriety. TH: Showing up every day doesn’t mean that it’s perfect. You just have to show up, but you’re not graded on your performance…If I make it to my mat on a daily basis, I’ve succeeded. Everything else is irrelevant. EH: What is your purpose behind the book? EH: You said yoga brings you closer to reality. What does reality look like to you today? TH: The truth without my emotions that run through it. It’s an accurate representation of what’s actually happening…It’s me living my truth, its me being in line with my truth. It’s all about alignment for me. EH: What is “your truth?” TH: I don’t know if I can say it without sounding kooky. I’ve been given a second chance. I’ve listened to all the people that come into my life…I believe my higher power talks to me through people. I’m 100% aware of it, that’s why I listen so good. My truth is aligning my will with my higher power’s will. If I’m able to get rid of the Taylor personality, I become a vessel. To slay the pink elephant. To talk about something that is not very popular to talk about. By “slay the pink elephant,” I mean bring the thing up that everyone can relate to but doesn’t want to talk about it. Our program of recovery says that we must have the awareness of a problem before we can be absolved of it or healed…I’m using my story as a way to start the conversation. The book brings up different feelings for everyone. Everyone’s addicted to something. Everyone has their struggle. EH: But not every addiction is going to kill the addict. TH: Yes, but there can be just as much turmoil with someone who has a gambling addiction or a shopping addiction. Mine was more intense, maybe, in some aspects. But the book can be relatable to any of those people. I hope it helps everyone. It’s a serious thing. People don’t know what addiction looks like. They just know that [alcoholics] get drunk too much. There’s so much more, that’s just a symptom of what’s going on. ■ EH: How do you know when you’re aligning your path with your higher power’s path? TH: You know how there’s these gut feelings that you get? I can feel whether or not something is in line because of intuition. And Photography: Emma Huddleston INDIANA & YOGA MAGAZINE ISSUE I 45