Yoga Therapy for Addiction Recovery: A Body-Based Approach to Healing and Lasting Change

Recovery isn’t just about stopping a behavior. It’s about healing what’s underneath: the pain, disconnection, and chronic stress patterns that led to that behavior in the first place. For many people, those patterns were developed long ago, resulting from adverse childhood experiences, unresolved trauma and abuse.

These past experiences shape how the nervous system develops and those behavior patterns helped create a sense of physical, mental or emotional safety, when outside circumstances felt anything but safe. While the patterns may have been useful in childhood, in adulthood they often become maladaptive and lead to difficulty dealing with others, self-destructive coping methods and ultimately a disconnection from the self. 

Research shows that addiction is deeply connected to nervous system dysregulation. Chronic substance use is often a way of managing internal states like anxiety, overwhelm, or numbness that feel too intense to tolerate. According to Gabor Maté, MD, substance use frequently begins as a coping strategy for unresolved trauma, and the body remains on high alert long after the actual danger has passed.

Yoga therapy offers a powerful way to support this healing. Unlike traditional talk-based approaches, yoga therapy brings the body into the process. Through gentle movement, breathwork, mindfulness, and somatic tools, clients begin to build a felt sense of safety from the inside out.

In fact, studies support the use of yoga and mindfulness practices in addiction treatment. A 2014 study published in Substance Abuse found that yoga can reduce stress, anxiety, and cravings among people in recovery. Another review in Complementary Therapies in Medicine (2017) concluded that integrating yoga into treatment plans improved emotional regulation, sleep, and overall well-being.

A Trauma-Informed Therapuetic Approach 

At Breathe Yoga Therapy, our yoga therapy groups are specifically designed for individuals navigating recovery. These are not typical yoga classes. All practices are accessible, done seated in a chair or standing, so clients of all fitness levels and physical abilities can participate comfortably. There is no floor work required and no yoga experience needed.

Instead, we focus on helping clients understand and regulate their nervous systems. Sessions include breathwork to shift out of the fight-or-flight stress response, simple movement to process stored tension, tapping techniques to tone the vagus nerve, and mindfulness to increase self-awareness and emotional resilience. These sessions also include nervous system education to help everything make sense and foster a sense of self-empowerment in the healing process.

This somatic work helps bridge a gap that many clients feel in recovery. Even with strong insight, therapeutic support, and structure, their bodies may still feel stuck. That’s because trauma patterns don’t just live in thoughts, they live in posture, breath, muscle tone, and nervous system.

Partners in Recovery

Since 2023, I’ve been partnering with recovery centers across the Richmond, Virginia area to offer weekly sessions for clients in residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient recovery programs. These groups create space for clients to reconnect with their bodies, release long-held tension, and experience moments of calm, sometimes for the first time in years.

Recovery is not just about what we let go of. It’s about what we learn to feel again. Yoga therapy supports that process by creating a compassionate, body-centered path toward healing.

If you're a provider, clinician, or program director looking for trauma-informed support that complements your clinical work, I’d love to connect. Click here to learn more and to schedule a call. Let’s explore how this work could support your team and clients.