Alcohol
the anti-Spirit
Yoga Mind requires a psychic communication neural network that is :
fine-tuned, and
continually seeks increasing coherence
Alcohol desensitizes the nervous system which is counter to the practice of Yoga.
By invoking spirits on the path of spirituality we cannot afford to quaff spirits and degrade our connection to them.
The first few links under Yoga of Consciousness are worth understanding well, for the scientific approach we are taking.
Yoga Mind
In AA practice the employ of God is endemic.
Thus defining "God" is critical - without a particular religion in mind.
Hence Yoga to the rescue since it is a platform for spirituality on which any nature of God can be defined and materialized for any culture.
Start with a first-level God for spirituality - later on you can make religious.
first-level God is Ishwara - defined as one who is untouched by :
klesha - the blockages in the psyche, thus having a clear lens by which we can see our world
karma - the repercussions of action, thus being skillful in all activity that we undertake.
vipaka - having to deal with the fruits of action, thus large hearted to share the fruits with humanity - hence spreading the word
The 12-Steps
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.
sutra 1.0 - now begins the inner self discipline of Yoga
craft a Yoga story to fit
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
sutra 1.23 Ishwara-pranidhana
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
applies 4,5,6,7 also
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
ready for Tapa
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
do the Tapa
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
sutra 1.33 - not perfect - but interesting
applies to 8,9
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
see point 4 above
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.
plenty of yoga tips
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.
share the vipaka fruits
essentially the Avatar of AA - like the avatar of Jesus or in our case a range of story examples of the Avatar Effect.