It has been said that the opposite of addiction isn’t sobriety but connection. As a child who grew up disconnected, it’s not surprising that I was a sugar addict from before I can remember and, since sugar is a gateway drug, it’s also not surprising that my need to numb out from my reality in the form of flavoured wine, parties, boys, exercise and multiple jobs and studies became my addiction as a teenager and young adult. Some addictions care at least on a healthy trajectory but, in my current reality, whatever is done as an intentional or unwitting distraction from wherever I currently find myself is an addiction none the less because it takes me away from my self, my body, my mind and my heart.

When I did my first Art of Living course 15 years ago and committed to first a week then a hundred days … and then some … of no alcohol, sugar, coffee, chocolate, junk food of any kind, it literally saved my life as I extracted myself from a dysfunctional marriage, toxic friendships, life-threatening lifestyle choices and began the process of full-being (I say being, not body because it was multi-dimensional) detoxification.

Because like attracts like, once the impurities in the physical, emotional, mental and psychic bodies have been released, the cravings automatically wane and an intentional (and often excruciatingly painful) shift in choices naturally, with time and practice (and a whole truck load of patience), brings a state of harmony between inner and outer.

It takes courage and it takes commitment because, with addiction, when you re-introduce the substance associated with trauma denial/alleviation, the cascade effect in the chemical process in the physical body will get triggered by the emotional body to automatically begin craving the substance or behaviour because, generally, no matter how much shadow work one does in the back of that cave, there are always triggers waiting to send that ricochet of bullets through your psyche.

I have conquered most of the addiction demons but I still have a ‘sweet tooth’. Over the decade and a half I have worked with this vigilantly and have transmuted my craving for sugar into something that looks like this. Perhaps my brain is tricked into believing it’s a sugary fix or perhaps it is just the right kind of dopamine kick to appeal to my bliss. Whatever it is, this is pure indulgence and deliciousness and it contains no sugar, no preservatives, no dairy, no gluten. Beneath the layer of organic figs, raisins, raw cashews, superfoods cacao nibs and goji berries is a smoothie bowl of superfood Lean Green protein mix and chia seeds. This post would quadruple in length if i were to endeavour to list the beneficial nutrients in this one bowl of breakfast. 15 years ago I was pre-diabetic; yesterday I had my blood sugar tested for a medical form and it couldn’t be more perfect. Change is never easy and sometimes it’s a revolutionary act … but it is inevitable and it is essential.