Connecting with Your Body in Chemsex Recovery

Healing Conversations for Men Who Have Sex with Men

Adam Nathan Schultz is a massage therapist, yoga teacher, endurance running, and former chemsex user. Christopher Tearno is a nurse practitioner who has clinical experience with infectious diseases. Today, our two guests talk about the importance of connection to the body and rediscovering what your body -really- feels like after the use of drugs. Many providers focus just on thoughts and feelings but listening to and taking care of our bodies will deepen recovery and reduce risk of relapse.

TAKEAWAYS:

[2:35] Christopher shares how he got involved in this field.

[6:10] How did Adam get into this field?

[8:55] Adam tried everything to find his path to recovery.

[12:00] Christopher has seen that the sexual desires often get missed when trying to approach recovery.

[13:20] Why do people relapse? Christopher shares his experiences.

[16:45] You have to address all areas of someone’s life if you want to see recovery, and that includes their relationship with sex and addiction.

[17:10] Adam is a trauma survivor and has struggled with his own trauma for many years.

[19:30] How do you have a successful recovery?

[22:45] Adam tries to create ‘impatience’ within his classes to help his students practice being present.

[27:00] Connecting with your body is a much more sustainable way to recover from chemsex use.

RESOURCES:

Bodyquake.nl

Breathing space yoga

Email Christopher: [e-mail]

QUOTES:

• “I remember seeing those really scary ads on the bus stop. The tweaker ads with the crazy photos. It was just a big scare tactic.”
• “You need to get past seeing someone as a patient, and seeing them as a person.”
• “You just need to get clean and sober, and then the sex will take care of itself. It didn’t.”
• “We seek pleasure to mask the pain.”