by Kris Oyen | Jan 10, 2022 | Podcast
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Today we have Lane. She is from San Francisco. Her last drink was on December 30, 1996.
The RE Alcohol Free Ukulele course registration opens January 7th 2022. Sign up here.
For more information about our Denver event, please go here.
Paul reminds you that you’re declining one drink at a time. When we think about quitting drinking, a scenario arises in our mind with 100’s of people, simultaneously offering us drinks, all at once. That will never happen, and just like one day at a time, you’re saying no to one drink at a time.
As Paul mentioned at the end of last year he wants to cover the Nervous System, which is what he’ll be covering today, and in future episodes. Today he covers why it’s important to have a balanced nervous system and he explains, in layman’s terms, what the nervous system is.
[11:38] Odette introduces Lane.
Lane is in her 50s, and lives in San Francisco, CA. She took her last drink on December 30, 1996. Lane is a wife and mother and a mindfulness and meditation teacher. Lane loves to hike, listen to really good music and dance.
Lane had her first drink at the age of 12 and blacked out. This pattern continued with her into her 20s. She loved the effect that alcohol had on her. She was very involved in sports during school and nobody knew she was drinking like she was.
Everything on the outside looked normal, but on the inside she depended on that drink. She didn’t think she had a problem because her friends drank like she did. To be hungover was normal, was life.
It wasn’t until she sent her best friend to the hospital with a concussion, while in a blackout, that she started to think that something was wrong with her drinking.
On New Years Eve (1996) she went to a “meeting” with some friends, unknowingly this meeting turned out to be an AA meeting. She heard the message of recovery that night and had hope.
When Lane was 5 years sober she fell into Buddhism and found a way out, through prayer and meditation and that has been the golden thread throughout the last 20 years of her recovery.
Lane says becoming a mother 12 years ago has been the most challenging thing in her recovery.
You may have to say adios to booze if…
you just drank and you get into a car and you drive.
Odette’s final thoughts:
Take care of yourself, believe in yourself and believe in possibility.
Upcoming events, retreats and courses:
- You can find more information about our events
Sponsors:
SOBERLINK:Did you know there are 15 million people in the U.S. with an Alcohol Use Disorder? And yet, there is still a stigma that surrounds addiction and recovery. We need to stop being ashamed and start sharing in our sobriety.
That’s why we’re so excited to have a sponsor like Soberlink who shares in our beliefs.
If you haven’t heard of the Soberlink alcohol monitoring system, it’s the perfect accountability tool for those in recovery. It can help you rebuild trust and get back on track despite slips or relapses.
We’ve teamed up with Soberlink to provide you with “Tips for Handling a Relapse” which is a guide that can be downloaded at www.soberlink.com/recovery-elevator.
On that page, you’ll also find a form to sign up for a $50-off promo code for you or a loved one who is ready to take the next step in their recovery journey.
Exact Nature exactnature.com Code: RE20
Affiliate Link for Amazon: Shop via Amazon using this link.
The book, Alcohol is SH!T, is out. Pick up your paperback copy on Amazon here! You can get the Audible version here!
Resources:
Connect with Cafe RE – Use the promo code OPPORTUNITY to waive the set-up fee.
Recovery Elevator YouTube – Subscribe here!
Sobriety Tracker iTunes
“Recovery Elevator –together is always better- I love you guys.”
by Kris Oyen | Jan 3, 2022 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe to the Recovery Elevator Podcast Apple Podcasts | | More
Today we have Shea. She is 42 years old and from Michigan. Her last drink was on August 9, 2021.
The RE Dry January course: REstore began January 1. There’s still time to join us! Sign up here.
The RE Alcohol Free Ukulele course registration opens January 7th 2022. Sign up here.
For more information about our Denver event, please go here.
From Paul: “I cannot tell you how to quit drinking”
For Paul the most important thing that helped him along his journey to being alcohol free is: accountability. Paul tells his story of one of his attempts to stop drinking in 2014. He told his family he needed help.
Paul’s 2022 goal is simply: To be sober.
As he continues to build time away from alcohol, he wants to remind listeners that even he doesn’t have it all together. And the thing he’s most proud of is the ability to recognize the insanity of his own thinking mind.
* Silencio Bruno *
[09:03] Odette introduces Shea.
Shea is 42 years old and from Michigan. She took her last drink on August 9, 2021. She has two boys, a full time physicians assistant for cardiac surgery and is also in Law School. For fun she loves to move her body, recovery related activities and build community.
In Shea’s senior year of high school she began to develop coping mechanisms for trauma through her life. At first the focus was on an eating disorder and then she turned to alcohol. Immediately she took to alcohol and drugs and she lost all fear. While she knew this path was wrong, she wanted freedom and thought it was here. By 18 she had developed an addiction to heroin, but focused on school with daily drinking. During this time she also attended her first AA meeting. Through some admitted luck she was able to avoid jail time and was put into a court appointed drug and alcohol program.
After 13 years (2015) of alcohol and drug recovery she decided she wasn’t an addict anymore and began to drink again and would be able to moderate. Before the first glass of wine was done she was planning the second.
The community and steps of AA work for her, knowing that there are a million different avenues she can take to recovery has made her experience this time around different and meaningful. Finding and accepting her own self honesty has given her freedom.
You may have to say adios to booze if…
you are finding bottles in your basement in old boxes and you don’t remember putting them there.
Odette’s final thoughts:
This is a great time to set some goals and intentions. Write down what you want to happen this year.
Upcoming events, retreats and courses:
- You can find more information about our events
Sponsor: Exact Nature exactnature.com Code: RE20
Affiliate Link for Amazon: Shop via Amazon using this link.
The book, Alcohol is SH!T, is out. Pick up your paperback copy on Amazon here! You can get the Audible version here!
Resources:
Connect with Cafe RE – Use the promo code OPPORTUNITY to waive the set-up fee.
Recovery Elevator YouTube – Subscribe here!
Sobriety Tracker iTunes
“Recovery Elevator –together is always better- I love you guys.”
by Kris Oyen | Dec 27, 2021 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe to the Recovery Elevator Podcast Apple Podcasts | | More
Episode 358 – Don’t Forget to Sing Your Song
Today we have Randy. He is 43, from Indianapolis, and took his last drink on December 30, 2016.
Registration is now open for Restore which begins January 1,2022. https://www.recoveryelevator.com/restore/
Highlights from Paul
This week’s tips from Paul include: 1) not everyone drinks, 2) sing, 3) give yourself a hug and say I love you.
There is a lot of uncertainty in the world and change is hard. Find your song, that melody in your soul that is uniquely you that you sing over and over. You are the master creator of your life. https://www.recoveryelevator.com/meditations/
Exact Nature exactnature.com Code: RE20
[9:27] Randy has been sober for nearly 5 years. He is married with 4 kids and loves animals and running.
Randy was on episode 129. Randy was in the restaurant business, and he was always surrounded by people who drank. Toward the end, the hangovers and anxiety began to take a toll on him.
Drinking was a reward for Randy. Today, Randy doesn’t have to think about drinking. He isn’t spending money on alcohol. Now he can afford season tickets to the Colt’s game. He doesn’t have to think about getting there or getting back, because he is sober.
Randy is now methodical vs living on instant gratification. He is more approachable and he loves giving service to others.
Initially watching football was really hard for Randy, because the sport was so engrained with alcohol. Now he enjoys games more than ever.
Kris’s Summary
Kris speaks to the term chosen family. Kris’ recovery family wants him to be successful and free. They take him at his best and his worst. They laugh together, cry together, dance and walk the path together. We need to open up, be vulnerable and let others love us until we learn to love ourselves. You can do this.
Sponsor: Exact Nature exactnature.com Code: RE20
Holiday 2021 AF Survival Guide
- Stock up on your favorite AF beverages or another type of treat.
- Begin a new healthy practice that you enjoy.
- Develop a detailed craving game plan.
- FOMO to JOMO – Pick an upcoming event and sit it out.
- Select a Holiday Theme Song.
- Pick your Thanksgiving beverage of choice and enjoy
- One minute of intense mindfulness
- Sticky Note – Write a reminder, affirmation, or goal on a sticky note and place it somewhere where you’ll see it each day
- Have a fun escape plan
- Offer to do the dishes
- Study your why’s
- Rest
- Uno reverse card
- Remind yourself you are safe
- Play the tape forward
- Treat yourself to a gift
- Take 3 deep breaths
Upcoming events, retreats, and courses:
- You can find more information about our events
Resources
Connect with Cafe RE – Use the promo code OPPORTUNITY to waive the set-up fee.
Recovery Elevator YouTube – Subscribe here!
Sobriety Tracker iTunes
by Kris Oyen | Dec 20, 2021 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe to the Recovery Elevator Podcast Apple Podcasts | | More
Episode 357 – Practice Saying No
Today we have Jenn. She is 34, from Michigan, and took her last drink on April 10, 2020.
Registration is now open for Restore which begins January 1,2022. https://www.recoveryelevator.com/restore/. AF Ukulele course starts 2/5/22 at 3 PM EST. https://www.recoveryelevator.com/ukulele/
Highlights from Paul
Paul talks about the parameters for success. There’s an unhealthy paradigm in the sobriety world that it’s all a bust if we drink once. While continuous sobriety is the ultimate goal, getting there is never pretty, and most likely is launched off a series of relapses or field research. If you are drinking less than you did last holiday season, that’s a huge improvement.
This week’s tips from Paul include: 1) say no, 2) practice saying no, 3) create your own pep talk.
Sometimes the desire to stop drinking only swirls in our thoughts. Don’t underestimate the power of thought. Our thoughts are powerful. They create our world. Immediately discard the thoughts that don’t align with your goals. Deconstruct them and become aware of thoughts that are not congruent with what you want and need in life. Use the thinking mind for creation and visualization. Visualize that you no longer drink. Repeat it, say it out loud and repeat it again. What you put in is what you get back. https://www.recoveryelevator.com/meditations/
Exact Nature exactnature.com Code: RE20
[12;43] Jenn took her last drink April 10, 2020. She has a husband, two children and loves hiking, being in nature and spending time with her family.
Jenn said from her first sip of alcohol she felt some inner peace. Her first black out was at age 14. She started off with a bang and got in plenty of trouble. She experienced some trauma and started to use alcohol as her coping mechanism. She had suicidal ideations and started cutting. She drank a 5th a night. Before she turned 21, she added cocaine.
She was a functioning alcoholic through her twenties and early thirties. In her thirties, her drinking took on a dark shift. She was suicidal and she knew that she had to save herself and get some help. Jenn had to be brutally honest with herself. She was asking the wrong people for help. Her internal and external worlds were completely opposed.
Jenn had multiple attempts at sobriety. She worked with a therapist for two years and real change began. The accountability of Café RE reinforced her commitment to sobriety. She is now a recovery coach.
Odette’s Summary
Odette reminds us that change starts with us. If you are waiting for things to change, for people to change, for life to change, you may be waiting for a long time. Recovery is our responsibility. Everything that we wish to see in others needs to start with us. Be the person you wish everyone around you was and see how life can change.
“I really think the secret to being loved is to love. And the secret to being interesting is being interested. And the secret to having a friend is being a friend.”
Sponsor: Exact Nature exactnature.com Code: RE20
Holiday 2021 AF Survival Guide
- Stock up on your favorite AF beverages or another type of treat.
- Begin a new healthy practice that you enjoy.
- Develop a detailed craving game plan.
- FOMO to JOMO – Pick an upcoming event and sit it out.
- Select a Holiday Theme Song.
- Pick your Thanksgiving beverage of choice and enjoy
- One minute of intense mindfulness
- Sticky Note – Write a reminder, affirmation, or goal on a sticky note and place it somewhere where you’ll see it each day
- Have a fun escape plan
- Offer to do the dishes
- Study your why’s
- Rest
- Uno reverse card
- Remind yourself you are safe
- Play the tape forward
- Treat yourself to a gift
- Take 3 deep breaths
Upcoming events, retreats, and courses:
- You can find more information about our events
Resources
Connect with Cafe RE – Use the promo code OPPORTUNITY to waive the set-up fee.
Recovery Elevator YouTube – Subscribe here!
Sobriety Tracker iTunes
by Kris Oyen | Dec 13, 2021 | Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe to the Recovery Elevator Podcast Apple Podcasts | | More
Episode 356 – Play the Tape Forward
Today we have Ashley. She is 35 from Orange County, CA, and took her last drink on January 7, 2006.
Registration is now open for Restore, which begins January 1, 2022. https://www.recoveryelevator.com/restore/
Café RE: https://www.recoveryelevator.com/cafere/
Highlights from Paul
Paul encourages you to check in with yourself about your feelings about your AF journey. There are more recovery modalities than ever. Keep searching for the one that works for you. This week’s tips are: Play the tape forward. Treat yourself to a gift. Take three deep breaths into the lower lobes of the lung.
Drinking served a purpose for you initially. Alcohol suppresses your inner turmoil: It gives you a sense of calm. As you continue to suppress those voices, they grow louder, and you must drink more to make those feelings go away. If you continue to override your internal guidance system, you live life truly blind, and nothing of significance takes place. When do the miracles of sobriety occur? Day 1, day 500? It’s up to you to find out. https://www.recoveryelevator.com/meditations/
Exact Nature exactnature.com Code: RE20
[12:45] Ashley took her last drink on January 7, 2006. She is married, has twin boys, and in 2010 co-founded an SV start-up that offers online outpatient addiction treatment. She has a podcast called the courage to change. https://www.lionrock.life/couragetochangepodcast She is finishing her MBA, loves yoga, the outdoors, reading and comedy. Since she got sober at 19, she has been revisiting fun at her current stage of life.
Ashley’s first drink was a beer she stole from her parents’ fridge, and it took her a week to finish it. She felt like she was born with her skin too tight and always believed she was too much. She tried to make herself into what others wanted her to be.
Ashley hired alcohol and drugs to do a job for her to make her feel okay and want to be on the planet. By age 14, she was addicted to cocaine. Through a boyfriend, she got addicted to heroin. She was sent to several lockdown programs that were popular in early 2000. She couldn’t stay sober in treatment. She would create disasters, leave, and change treatment centers. She eventually left treatment and decided to drink instead of doing drugs.
In 2006 she started going to AA meetings, listening, and letting go of her old ideas, which was hard to do. Her life became different when she let others help her and did what they said. She went to college, had relationships, and started a company.
Instagram: @sobermomsquad ; https://www.lionrockrecovery.com/
Ashley went to meetings four days a week in early sobriety and participated in the fellowship. Ashley did not heal her trauma in 12-step; therapy was essential for Ashley to do the work. A young people’s AA group in So CA allowed her to meet some great young people, and they partied without the alcohol. She has been reinventing her recovery since having children.
Odette’s Summary
Where do I feel safe enough to be my best calm self?
Sponsor: Exact Nature exactnature.com Code: RE20
Holiday 2021 AF Survival Guide
- Stock up on your favorite AF beverages or another type of treat.
- Begin a new healthy practice that you enjoy.
- Develop a detailed craving game plan.
- FOMO to JOMO – Pick an upcoming event and sit it out.
- Select a Holiday Theme Song.
- Pick your Thanksgiving beverage of choice and enjoy
- One minute of intense MINDFULNESS
- Sticky Note – Write a reminder, affirmation, or goal on a sticky note and place it somewhere where you’ll see it each day
- Have a fun escape plan
- Offer to do the dishes
- Study your why’s
- Play the tape forward
- Buy yourself a gift
- Take three deep breaths
Upcoming events, retreats, and courses:
- You can find more information about our events
Resources
Connect with Cafe RE – Use the promo code OPPORTUNITY to waive the set-up fee.
Recovery Elevator YouTube – Subscribe here!
Sobriety Tracker iTunes
