Stop a craving without relapsing and jump off the Craving Express before it derails you.
They come on fast, like a runaway train, all speed and urgency. One thought, one smell, one stressor, and suddenly you’re strapped to the Craving Express, headed straight toward a place you swore you’d never go again.
But here’s the thing:
You don’t have to ride it to the end.
You can jump off. And survive it.
What Is a Craving, Really?
Craving is a learned neurochemical loop.
When your brain remembers a past moment of relief from a substance, a behavior, or even a thought, it cues the body to seek it again. Dopamine gets involved, not as a reward but as a motivator. That urgency and itch under your skin is dopamine saying:
“Go get it. Now.”
It’s not about pleasure; it’s also about prediction and survival.
Your brain learned that “X” brings relief, and now it wants to keep you alive by repeating it. But this ancient wiring doesn’t understand nuance. It doesn’t care if it destroys your life. It just wants comfort and familiarity.
What Yoga Teaches Us About Craving
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali identified this pattern centuries ago.
In Sutra 2.7–2.8, Patanjali names two root causes of human suffering:
Raga – attachment/craving for pleasure
Dvesha – aversion to pain
Both are energetic disturbances, vrittis, ripples in the field of awareness. The yogis taught that chasing what feels good and running from what feels bad both keep us bound in suffering.
So, craving is not just a chemical loop in the brain; it’s an energetic frequency in your being.
To heal it, we don’t attack it.
We witness it and ride its energetic wave until the energy shifts.
A Story: How to Calm A Craving Without Relapsing
She was four months sober when the old pattern showed up.
She answered her ringing phone and heard her mother’s voice. It was that same cold, clipped tone that always left her spinning. Her heart pounded as her throat closed, and her brain screamed:
“You need something. One drink. One hit. One bite. Just one escape.”
She grabbed her keys.
But something stopped her.
She sat down.
Closed her eyes.
Took one shaky breath.
Then another.
“This is a craving,” she whispered.
“It’s not me. It’s a wave.”
Her hands trembled. Her jaw clenched. She felt like she might explode.
But she stayed.
She breathed, and cried, and waited. The breath offered her the bridge through her experience.
Fifteen minutes passed. The wave crested… and broke.
She didn’t have to use, get a drink, or grab the ice cream from her freezer.
And she never forgot that moment, not because it was perfect, but because she was able to jump off the Craving Express.
This Is the Path: Not Perfection, But Presence helps prevent relapsing
The craving train will keep coming.
But every time you witness, breathe, and choose again, you lay down new tracks.
You are not the craving.
You are the witness.
The breather.
The chooser.
Left Nostril Breathing: A Yogic Tool to Calm the Craving
When cravings strike, your nervous system is in fight-or-flight mode – amped up, panicked, and desperate for relief.
One of the fastest ways to regulate and calm a craving is left nostril breathing, a yogic practice that calms the body by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system.
How to Do It and Stop a Craving without Relapsing
Sit comfortably. Ground your feet. Relax your shoulders.
Use your right thumb to gently close your right nostril.
Inhale slowly through your left nostril.
Exhale through the same nostril.
Continue for 3–5 minutes.
Why It Works:
The left nostril connects to the ida nadi, the lunar energy channel.
It’s associated with cooling, calming, and inward awareness.
This breathwork interrupts the loop of urgency and signals a sense of safety.
Craving wants you to act.
This breath invites you to pause.
Each inhale says, “I am here.”
Each exhale says, “I choose peace.”
This is a way to stop a craving without relapsing.
If Cravings Are Running the Show, You Don’t Have to Navigate It Alone
I’m a trauma-informed addiction recovery coach.
I help people build tools to regulate their emotions, manage triggers, and reclaim their power – one breath, one choice at a time.
If you’re ready to get off the Craving Express and return to peace, let’s talk.
📩 Book A Session to Work With Me.
You deserve a life where peace isn’t just possible.
It’s practiced every day.
And I’m here to walk with you.
