Excellent article. Having had "not-so-limited experiences with alcohol abuse" myself, this totally resonates. Moderation is impossible for some people. Recognizing *that* is the hardest part for many. btw, I recently heard that six months of regular crack cocaine use will transform the users' brain so quickly, that in just 6 months their brain deteriorates and looks as bad as an active alcoholic's brain after 30 years of drinking. Brutal!

The link is not working, Ben.

Fantastic! Love it!

RYT means diddly squat. They are churned out every month - no guarantees.

Thank you Satkirin Khalsa, and thank you Bob for re-posting this. I missed it the first time around. What a wonderful story!

Keep writing and keep us posted. Your perspective is a breath of fresh air!

I became vegetarian at the age of 15, just after I started practicing yoga. I had read about ahimsa but for me, even then, it was about learning to tread more lightly on the planet. I had lived in the Canadian Arctic when I was 13 and I saw that eating meat not only made sense but was a critical part of the Inuit diet and way of life. Hunting and being in tune with nature, respecting the animals and using every part to help sustain themselves in their harsh climate was a great example of treading lightly.

In the South, we have so many more options. Strolling through a supermarket, hunting for meat packed in styrofoam containers wrapped in cellophane made a huge impression on me - seemed so odd and somehow perverted - after I had personally witnessed life in the Arctic. In their culture, they even had a community freezer where hunters would deposit part of their "kill" so that no one went without. So civilized!

It hurts me to the core to know that the land and the people I love in the North are experiencing such great change in their climate and that this affects how they need to live to survive. I have great faith in their adaptability - they are true survivors. For those of us who live in other climes, and who don't know how to thrive much less survive on the land, it's hard to know what to eat, especially with the state of bioengineering these days. I know that, for me, I still choose to tread lightly. Every choice I make is based on that intention.

I love your comments too Nathan. Beautifully stated and so true.

Check this one out Waylon, called I Need A Yogi - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmCvkIqnEE0

Thanks girls. That is classic "do fucking yoga!"