{"id":49029,"date":"2026-05-29T01:36:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T08:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=49029"},"modified":"2026-05-28T09:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:04:49","slug":"expanding-the-healing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2026\/05\/29\/expanding-the-healing\/","title":{"rendered":"Expanding the healing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elana Epstein shares her family\u2019s narrative of recovery in Today I Will Be Fearless. (photo from Elana Epstein)<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i>When Elana Epstein and her husband, David, confronted the reality that their son, Noah, was an addict, her life shifted on its axis.<\/p>\n

In her emotional, practical, moving book, Today I Will Be Fearless: Rising Through My Son\u2019s Drug Addiction<\/i>, Epstein shares her family\u2019s narrative of recovery, while digging into complex related issues like intergenerational trauma, societal silence and stigma, and finding purpose, resilience and power in the darkest moments of life. In the process of writing and sharing her story, Epstein has found new meaning and mission for her life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWriting the book was how I got better, deepened into my own recovery and saw the pattern of what recovery asks of us,\u201d the Vancouver mother of three adult sons told the Independent<\/i>. \u201cAnd, the deeper I went into the story, the deeper I uncovered the gems of the why I was doing things.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is happening for more than just my own son\u2019s healing,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s my<\/i> healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

She took her son\u2019s recovery as an opportunity for her own self-understanding and improvement. The book, though, intends to expand the healing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s for a wider community,\u201d Epstein said. \u201cI was determined to be a channel for whoever needed support and a companion along this journey because people do this alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Epstein, a yoga teacher, reiki master and spiritual practitioner, had long understood the language of healing. But addiction, she said, stripped her of any illusion of mastery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt as if everything I had learned was a waste because I did not know my son was struggling with addiction,\u201d she said. \u201cIt felt as if the tools were more of a hindrance than a help. But quickly my spirit reminded me the tools I had were the ones that would support me to get through this if only I could go deeper with them. That was the pivotal moment of my knowing I could and would get through this.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also realized that Noah was not the only one who needed to adapt to changing realities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took the lens of recovery and turned it onto me and took the opportunity to delve into the 12 steps and see where I needed to release myself from the clutches of my ego and some of my ancestral teachings or just threads that were hanging around,\u201d she said, adding that she began to see the impacts of intergenerational trauma.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI needed to peel back the layers and see that I was codependent and I was a people-pleaser and I didn\u2019t know how to love myself well enough \u2013 all while my son is learning to do the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several months into Noah\u2019s recovery, Epstein broke her leg while skiing. She took it as a sign from the universe to step back, focus inward and accept help.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe four days after surgery I was at home. I was sitting on the couch and I was feeling really sorry for myself. What has happened to my life? Isn\u2019t it enough? How many more things \u2026 COVID and Noah and the war. And then I break my leg and I hear immediately, \u2018You are going to write your book.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"image<\/a>There has always been a book in her, Epstein said. She just didn\u2019t know what it was going to be about. Now, it became clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my story, how I got through the journey of loving my son through his own addiction,\u201d she said. \u201cSo, I started just journaling, and one thing led to the other and, a year later, I had a blueprint.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the book came together, she realized the writing process was no longer just for her own healing. \u201cThis was how I was going to show up for people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Among the self-doubts she had to overcome was the realization that she has wisdom to share.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say things like, \u2018in my opinion\u2019 and \u2018in my humble experience,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cThat was classic Elana. I started to accept that I actually do know what I\u2019m talking about and there\u2019s no reason to hold back and let\u2019s go and let\u2019s be authentically who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

It turns out there was a demand for the wisdom of someone who has been through what Epstein\u2019s family has.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough I had a desire that this would be a companion, I couldn\u2019t have imagined it would be this well received … not just by families who are wading in the waters of addiction and recovery, but by people who are curious,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople are telling me this is a blueprint and a companion for life. One woman just said to me yesterday, \u2018I keep you by my night table and, every once in awhile, I just pick it up and I read a sentence and it\u2019s my teaching for what I\u2019m struggling with in my own life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Finding light in darkness is a recurring theme in the book.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen bad things happen, people look for the reasons and they look for the why. And they definitely want to blame something or somebody,\u201d Epstein said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to do that. You can accept what happens as a gateway to becoming and connecting to a version of yourself that is more beautiful than you can ever imagine and stronger that you can ever imagine. Stop being afraid of the potential things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her family\u2019s Jewishness infuses the book.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy message to the Jewish reader is this book is filled with mystical wisdom that can guide you to a more peaceful existence one day at a time with what is coursing through our blood and bones,\u201d said Epstein. \u201cI had the vision early on that I was going to be a part of bringing more awareness into the Jewish community because we have lost too many. Many children and too many people suffer in silence.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Rabbi Josh Corber took over the Jewish Addiction Community Service and Jewish Family Services took the group under their umbrella, Epstein discussed how she might contribute to the work.<\/p>\n

She took the lead on running a group for families navigating a member\u2019s addiction or recovery. She said she hopes that the book might land in the right place, just when an individual or family needs to hear her message.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that person can pick up my book, then we\u2019re living that old adage that the Talmud teaches: if you save one life, it is as if you are saving an entire world,\u201d she said, \u201cAnd I truly believe that.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elana Epstein shares her family\u2019s narrative of recovery in Today I Will Be Fearless. (photo from Elana Epstein) When Elana Epstein and her husband, David, confronted the reality that their son, Noah, was an addict, her life shifted on its axis. In her emotional, practical, moving book, Today I Will Be Fearless: Rising Through My […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[784],"tags":[2551,23487,3225,4435,218,1997,5107],"class_list":["post-49029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-addiction","tag-elana-epstein","tag-health-care","tag-jacs","tag-judaism","tag-mental-health","tag-recovery"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}