Mindful Healing: The Role of Yoga in Recovery
- Kula For Karma
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Yoga became a lifeline for Brianna Cummins during her recovery journey more than 14 years ago. What started as a personal practice evolved into a powerful tool for healing and transformation—for herself and those she serves. She now dedicates her work to bringing trauma-informed, mindfulness-based practices to individuals navigating addiction and trauma.
Brianna holds a BA in Behavioral Health with minors in Sociology and Addiction Studies, is a Certified Recovery Coach, and has completed extensive training in trauma-informed care. She earned her RYT200 and additional certifications in Restorative Yoga, Chair Yoga, Mindfulness, and Yoga Nidra.
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In 2016, she founded Namaste Recovery in Tampa Bay. Since joining Kula for Karma in 2019, she has led programs in juvenile justice and treatment centers. Today, as Executive Vice President of Programs, Brianna oversees Kula’s national program development and partnerships, expanding access to healing across diverse communities.
Brianna Cummins
"Fourteen years ago, I was sitting in a treatment center in Clearwater, Florida. I remember feeling completely lost, afraid, filled with shame, overwhelmed by anxiety, and unable to picture a future for myself. I was disconnected from my body and from any sense of who I really was. At that point, I could not imagine that life could ever get better.
After leaving treatment, I moved into a recovery house. I went to meetings and leaned on the simple but powerful truth of taking life one day at a time. Around my six-month milestone, someone invited me to try a yoga class. At first, I felt hesitant, awkward in my body and unsure if I belonged in a yoga studio. But something in me was ready to say yes. In recovery, I had begun to discover a new kind of freedom, the courage to step outside my comfort zone and to embrace the discomfort of growth.
That first yoga class changed everything, and I kept coming back. For the first time, I noticed my thoughts without immediately believing them. I began reconnecting with my body, the place I had long tried to escape. Breath by breath, posture by posture, I discovered the truth of who I was: whole, complete, and perfect just as I am. Yoga gave me a space to pause, check in with myself, and cultivate self-awareness-seeing my reactions, my triggers, and my inner strength. I found tools to calm anxiety, stay present, and create moments of stillness. Through consistent practice, I was beginning to heal my nervous system after years of living in survival mode.
Yoga became a source of strength and healing. It carried me through the fragile early years of recovery. It held me through two pregnancies. It gave me a supportive community as I navigated motherhood. And today, yoga remains the foundation I return to again and again, the practice that grounds me, heals me, and reminds me of who I truly am.
What I have learned is this: healing is possible. Even when it feels out of reach. Even when you cannot yet imagine the life that is waiting for you. For me, yoga and mindfulness opened the door to freedom, to wholeness, and to a life I never thought I could have. And through my work with Kula, I have the opportunity to introduce this practice to others in early recovery, with the hope of sharing the same sense of connection, stillness, and self-discovery that transformed my life."