Suzula Bidon’s life has been a hero’s journey to healing trauma and clinical depression. She is here, so you know she is brave and has mustered up the courage to share the sordid details needed to become the hero in her own story. The advocate in smashing stigma/discrimination. The licensed attorney practicing addiction law and policy. The certified peer recovery specialist. The yoga teacher and program creator of Recovery Yoga Meetings®. The entrepreneurial leader and innovator in her interrelated fields.  DOWNLOAD

Suzula asserted bravery as she describes her journey. A life that began in Spooner, Wisconsin. A place where her Mom, Dad, and brother lived along the picturesque Yellow River. Her Dad and brother enjoyed hunting and fishing together while Suzula swam and caught tadpoles and frogs. A place where she became an avid reader.

Suzula was born a city girl in the woods, not unlike her Mother. They both grew antsy and felt isolated and alone. In need of stimulation, only a bigger city could provide with social activities and culture; they embark upon a family adventure to move to St. Paul, Minnesota.

Attending St. Paul Academy was a welcomed family change met with her father’s shocking and sudden death. At age 16, life turned upside down. Her brother, John, was 11 years old at the time. Hear the first part of her Hero’s Journey in this 3-part conversation.

A journey with calls to adventure encounters with enemies and allies, and an immersion into the depths of the underworld where the gateway drugs of cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana weren’t enough to numb the trauma and depth of despair Suzula found herself in.

Whom did she learn from to self-medicate with alcohol? What are the genetic percentages of her vulnerability to addiction? How does trauma fit into the propensity toward self-medicating with alcohol and drugs?

Eventually, Suzula confronts her inner villain and undergoes one ordeal after another, trying to get comfortable in her own skin. Her external world mirrors her internal turmoil and exposes wounds so deep she can’t outpace. How big is the monster of pain consuming her? How far is she willing to go to outrun her internal monster? What triggers her deep wound? How complicated does her life become?

How do desperation to heal outweigh rational thought and negative consequences? Will she be taken down by an ignited Opioid addiction and clinical depression? NO.

She will finally bottom out, with allies by her side. Suzula will claim herself and reintegrate into a new unfolding world. As a changed, healing person in long-term recovery from addiction, an unfolding entrepreneurial world thanks to the experiences on this life invigorating journey.

If you are wondering what a spiritual journey looks like, this is it. It is time to listen to Suzula describe the beginning of her journey.

WeMentor Meaningful Activities

Answer the following questions as you listen to Suzula describe the beginning of her life:

• What was Suzula’s call to adventure?
• What was the inciting incident that led her “off to the races,” as Suzula puts it?
• What is medication-assisted therapy? What is its purpose? How did it work for Suzula as a drug therapy treatment?
• How did unresolved grief and untreated depression show up in her life?
• How dark do you think her path is going to get in the next conversation?

Once you have finished listening to this episode, begin writing your Hero’s Journey or editing it.

• What was the call to adventure in your life story? What was the first life-defining moment that changed the trajectory of your life?
• Continue naming your life-defining moments until you are up to your current life. It may take more than a week to complete. Just start and see where it leads you. I will give you more tips next week.
• Check out our WeMentor E.L.M. LABs. Click to Get Help HERE

A Hero’s Journey to Heal Trauma and Depression, Episode 115

Learn more about Suzula and Recovery Yoga Meetings®  Click Here for Yoga Recovery Meetings 

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