Today I’m talking with a beautiful friend of mine Elena Brower. Elena is a well known yoga instructor, but she’s so much more than that.
Just before this interview, I came across her blog post about the ritual of recovery and her spoken word piece about her struggle with addiction. The writing and the piece are so powerful, and really resonated with me.
She also has written a fantastic book, The Art of Attention, about living mindfully and what happens when you give yourself that time and that space to be awake in your life. This woman is just inspiring, and I am so impressed with her honesty, and how she has just no shame. It’s such a wonderful model for healing, and I can’t wait for you to hear our conversation.
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“I have no reason whatsoever to add any other altering to this body. It is so high functioning now.” – Elena Brower
Show Notes:
- How long it has been since she left behind substances
- Why people are scared to talk about addiction
- What is a shadow addiction
- Why she decided to tell her story
- How her sobriety let do so much brain space
- The danger of having secrets
- How her book changed things
“It’s so much fun to be able to wake up in the morning and trust that there’s no lie in my space, there’s no secret.” – Elena Brower
- The power of community and collaboration
- How she was able to start her own courses
- How she created teach.yoga
- The value of being precise and concise
- Why she’s writing a book about divorce
- Why she makes an effort to think sweet thoughts about herself
- Why she tries to put her son to bed every night
“I am tasked to think sweet thoughts about myself: you are beautiful, this is ok, everything is just going to pass.” – Elena Brower
Links Mentioned:
- Read Gabby Bernstein’s book May Cause Miracles
- Read Elena’s blog post and listen to her spoken word piece
- Check out The Art of Attention audio meditation course
- Visit teach.yoga
- Connect with Elena:
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
“Freedom is tenderness with myself and tenderness with all.” – Elena Brower
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