Experts have long known the benefits that yoga and meditation can have on recovering addicts, but a new documentary called “Addiction, Recovery and Yoga” delves deeper and demonstrates the positive role that yoga has played in the lives of many people going through recovery.

The documentary tells the stories of addicts as they go through 12-step and other outreach programs and practice yoga. The film shows “how people have used yoga as part of their journey in recovery programs from serious addiction problems to a new life of well-being and emotional stability.”

The filmmaker, Lindsey Clennell, is a senior Iyengar Yoga teacher at the New York Iyengar Institute. Clennell is a yoga therapist and has trained 16 times in India with B.K.S. Iyengar, his primary teacher, and the Iyengar family.

Originally a medical student in England, Clennell became a documentary filmmaker and writer, producing and directing more than 200 music videos, concert series, and specials. Among his subjects were Muhammad Ali and Mikhail Gorbachev, and he was nominated for an award for Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema by the British Film Academy.

Reflecting on one of his last film projects—which led to the release of 30 American hostages before the first Gulf War—Lindsey cites a favorite quote from Sri Aurobindo: “All life is yoga.” This concept would have been unobtainable for him without Iyengar’s teaching, which gave him the stamina to endure creative demands and stress.

You can view the entire 85-minute film here: www.adyo.org