Chris Cuevas started working with bands in the ’80s, one of the first being Primus. He dove into a career in the music business and all that accompanies that lifestyle: partying, long nights, “craziness.” Every night there was a new city to visit, a new hotel, and alcohol and drugs were readily available.
Although his rule was to hold off on partying until he had finished his responsibilities for the night, at the time Chris said that he was always the one ready to push people’s limits, to encourage them to go harder, longer, faster. In this video he shares how that kind of lifestyle wears you out: the partying, barely sleeping, trying to rest on buses. It all breaks you down and makes you susceptible to getting sick.
At one point, Chris met someone who was into meditation and involved in Alcoholics Anonymous. One day he asked Chris if he wanted to attend a meeting. His response: “Not really, but I think I better.”
This was a life-changing turning point for Chris, a “doorway into at least sobriety.” But for him, AA wasn’t enough, and he had urges for something else. He had always read Eastern spirituality books and found himself drawn back into those types of materials. He began meditating, which he calls a game-changer.
He credits the practices of yoga, meditation, and Eastern philosophy with spurring his epiphany to quit his old lifestyle and transform his entire life into what it is today.
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Video shot and edited by Edward Boyce
Accompanying text by Kristin Diversi