Growing up on the road following the Grateful Dead tour, Elan didn’t experience much in the way of boundaries. This loose childhood caused Elan to feel uncared for and unsafe. Alcohol wiped that feeling away, and she quickly began to rely on the substance. As Elan got further into childhood, her father remarried, and his new wife installed strict boundaries. Elan rebelled intensely, and landed in the first of many treatment centers at age 13.
It’s clear to Elan now that treatment could only work for her if the yearning for change came from within, and Elan simply wasn’t ready. So, she continued to drink throughout her teens and twenties, until her alcohol consumption resulted in a debilitating bout of pancreatitis. Though she was told to stop drinking alcohol, she was prescribed painkillers to deal with the pain, and she quickly became addicted to those instead. This led to a dangerous time in her life that resulted in her partner dying as a result of his own experience with painkillers.
It was at that moment that Elan experienced a wakeup call. Feeling her own grief, and seeing the grief that poured from his loved ones, Elan realized she never wanted to make someone feel like that. She was killing herself, and she needed to stop.
Elan chose sobriety at 28 and began a deep spiritual journey to learn who she was, how she felt, and how to process it all. She found that sobriety offered her access to the full range of human emotion - and that true joy was only available to her within a sober life. Sobriety has been a massive portal for her personal growth, and she feels like she’s only just beginning!
Elan can be found on Instagram @joyreignitionspecialist
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