Life prior to Back2Basics was filled with pain, despair, and doubt. However, when I left Back2Basics in early March of 2017, my life was radically different.
My earliest memories are of living with a crippling sense of social anxiety and feelings of social ostracism. During my sixth grade year, all of my feelings of inferiority, anxiety, and isolation began to accelerate. Once I found liquor and drugs, I learned that all those feelings could be shut away and I spent the next eight years hunting that fleeting feeling of inner peace that intoxication provided. And it worked.
For a long time I felt happy with myself, but bit-by-bit that began to deteriorate. Eventually, I found myself using drugs just to function and liquor just to stay sane. Then, I broke. Back2Basics combined almost everything that I wanted to incorporate into my life into their weekly schedule. Yoga, athletics, workout programs, a culinary program, and an immersive outdoor program; these were a part of my weekly and daily life, and they helped me to completely buy in to the Back2Basics process. It wasn’t ever easy. I constantly found myself challenged by my peers in community meetings and group therapies, and I had to confront my inner demons as I began to learn that these confrontations all came from a place of love. By the end of my 12 months at Back2Basics, I learned how to start loving myself and began to start loving other people. This is the greatest gift anyone can ever receive, and Back2Basics led me there. For this gift, I will always be grateful to Back2Basics.
