Addiction to drugs and alcohol caused Troy Jackson, who was in his 40s at the time, to become homeless, get into fights and encounter frequent run-ins with the police.

While using, Jackson was fired from several jobs. At one job, a bouncer in Philadelphia, where he currently resides, he would come to work intoxicated, and he even put a plan to attack a customer into motion.

“The tipping point was when I threatened to kill someone, and I went looking for the person,” Jackson says. “My job sent me home, and I went looking for that guy that night to harm him. And luckily, I didn’t find him. My mind wasn’t thinking straight from the drugs and alcohol.”

After multiple failed attempts, Jackson, now 58 and 16 years sober, was able to conquer his addiction and stay clean with treatment, support groups and yoga. In fact, it proved to be such a powerful recovery tool for him that he’s now a yoga teacher.