Recovery Elevator | Stop Drinking, Start Recovering. | Alcohol, Addiction & Life In Sobriety

On today's podcast we've got Nate, he is 39, from Ohio and he took his last drink on October 9, 2015.   If you like the Recovery Elevator podcast, please leave us a review on iTunes and help eradicate the stigma.    My favorite part of RE is back. And I hope to see you at an upcoming event. We've got Costa Rica January 15-23 and then we're in Denver Colorado April 14th -17th.   Highlights from Paul   Is addiction a disease or not?  Paul says that addiction isn't a disease, but a learned behavior that expresses itself in unhealthy environments.  In unhealthy, traumatic, or lonely environments, we develop adaptive behaviors such as excessive drinking to help us cope.  Check out Paul's thoughts in more detail in the following video.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKY4l7ez5pw&t=35s   Crossing the river of addition means letting go of our resentments, fears, anxieties, jealousies, attachments, and choose love. If you ride that wave of pain long enough, it will give you two choices:  life or death.  Thanks

On today's podcast we've got Rebecca she took his last drink on October 22, 2019, she is from Madison Wisconsin, and  is 31 years old. Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.  Finding Your Better You Highlights When we don't know the root of our triggers, when we don't know the narratives that are ingrained in our brains and in our souls.  We think something is wrong with us. And when we think something is wrong with us, we feel shame. Part of taking responsibility of your healing is knowing yourself, so that you can get outside of this shame cycle and can walk the bridge over to self-empathy. When I know myself better, I can zoom out and see what was happening in my mind, understand myself better and allows me to manage my relationships differently. This makes me navigate my cravings better, because mine come when I feel this belief of, I am not considered.   Look within and find some narratives that are living inside of you? Stories that

I was open with people about my decision.  I put myself out there to create a level of accountability.  Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.    Today we have Katie. She is 38, from Ohio and took her last drink July 12, 2020.  This is her story of living Alcohol Free (AF).    Paul's Intro   Native cultures believed that a sick person is like the canary in the mine and it's the sick person who represents an imbalance in the community. Or that something is off. They also believed this person should be thanked for raising the alarm that something needs to be corrected within a community. Almost like, yo, thank you for taking one for the team.   So Contrary to today's culture where mental illness, autoimmune disorders, and addictions are prevalent and on the rise, these environmental conditions were rare in most cultures prior to modern times. So this is what native cultures did when there was a sick canary in the community. The whole tribe c

Today we have Susan, she's 61, she's from Pennsylvania and took her last drink Nov 19th, 2017.  This is her story of living Alcohol Free (AF).  Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.  Paul's Intro   Today I will share information on the 4 main chemicals we're dealing with when we ditch the booze. I'm outline them, give a framework of how to work with these chemicals in a healthier way and a loose timeline of what to expect when you quit drinking and how these chemicals will come back into balance.     The four main players dance with an addiction are Endorphins, Dopamine, Serotonin and Oxytocin.   Endorphins and dopamine are the chemicals of progress. Short-term feel-good chemicals. And Serotonin and oxytocin are the long-term chemicals.   Let's cover the short-term molecules first: endorphins and dopamine   Endorphins - We often hear the word endorphins with exercise. And it's true. This is the reason for the runners high. Endorphins have

Today we have Barela. She is 43 years old, from Salt Lake City, UT and took her last drink 42 days ago. Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.    From Paul: "All emotions are created equal"   You need all emotions to give you the barometer for good and bad or to define what emotion even is. Being able to feel both sides of the emotional spectrum is important. Some ying vs yang emotions are: Hope and fear, gratitude and anger, pride and shame, desire and repulsion, love and hate.     When we view all emotions as equal, we don't double down on them: we don't get mad that we are mad, or anxious that we are anxious. When you label an emotion as "bad" you have a higher chance of drinking over them. By viewing them as equal to "good" emotions all emotions are able to pass through us without being strengthened or intensified. Everything has a purpose to help us evolve.     Today's show is sponsored by Betterhelp.   [12:10] Odette introduces Barel

Today we have Kevin. He's  53, from South Carolina and took his last drink on October 6, 2019.     Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.    Kevin's interview is with Kris. You guys are going to love Kris's style. He's a grounded, laid back guy from North Dakota who fully gets the importance of connection. Just like you all gave me a chance, and Odette, please focus on the similarities, not the differences and welcome Kris.   Speaking of Kris, we've made 10 YouTube Videos, and some of them are funny, at least that's my opinion.  and our last video was my top 10 favorite recovery books. Go over to YouTube and type Recovery Elevator in the search bar.   I just finished the book "Breath" by James Nestor. The breath is the true foundation for all recovery work. It turns out, 5.5 breaths per minute is the optimal rate. That's 5.5 seconds on the inhale, and 5.5 on the exhale for a total of 5.5 per minute. So next time you're caught up in email a

Today we have Tamar. She is from Ontario, Canada and took her last drink on June 17, 2012.  Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.    You might be an alcoholic if... you report your car stolen, only for it to be found at the house you were drinking at the night before. This is from Miguel Reyes, the host of the Staying Fit ODAAT podcast.   Today is July 5th, you can still sign up for our Intensive Dry July course. You've still got 11/13 sessions left.  Go to Recovery Elevator.com/restore. We've got a KILLER group from all over the globe, and It's been a lot of fun so far.   RE now has merch! In fact, I'm wearing an RE hoodie now. Thank you, Stephanie Smale, for all the hard work. RE.comm/merch for your AF threads.     Okay, let's get started -   Today, I was going to talk about something else. More specifically that "all emotions are created equal." A topic, that I still plan on covering, but as I opened my computer and begin writing this

Today we have Brett. He's is 27 years old, lives in San Francisco, CA and took her last drink on January 2, 2020.  This is her journey of living alcohol free (AF).    Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.    If you love our intro and outro music then check out the artist DJ NYE on Spotify, and that link is in the show notes. Also in the show notes are links to download, for free, our intro and outro music, That's with my voice sampling and ET Tolle's voice samplings.   DJ NYE on Spotify.   Intro and Outro Music. Intro Paul: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/recoveryelevator/RE_Paul_Intro.mp3 Intro Eckhart Tolle: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/recoveryelevator/RE_ET_Intro.mp3 Outro Paul: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/recoveryelevator/Paul_RE_Outro.mp3 Outro Eckhart Tolle:https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/recoveryelevator/Eckhart_Tolle_Outro.mp3     Today is June 28th. This Thursday, July 1st, is the start date of our intensive 1

Today we have Laura, who is from Austin, TX and took her last drink on September 16, 2019.  This is her journey of living live alcohol free (AF). Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.  Headlines   Laura's Amazing Journey [16:04]– you will hear about Laura's story, and she has some great insights for all of us along this journey to gaining or maintaining sobriety.   Paul Churchill is back! He is using his Kermit the frog impression.   He missed us all and is so grateful to Odette and all of us for giving him a break this past year. Listen to his insights about his key learnings during the last year [11:20]. Paul describes being sick, mentally physically and spiritually.   He is dedicated and energized to continue Recovery Elevator (RE).   Season Three! 52 episodes – Paul will do 46 intros; Odette will do 6 and welcome Chris who will do an interview every month   RESTORE 13 session alcohol free Dry July course! com/restore 75-min

Today we have Tricia. She took her last drink on November 14, 2016.  She is from Dallas and is 40 years old.  This is her journey of living alcohol free (AF). Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.  Today's episode will be a bit different.  Tricia chatted with Paul previously on episodes 100 and 212.  We will focus on life beyond the bottle and what happens after you have some sober time under your belt.   https://www.recoveryelevator.com/re-100-binge-drinking-problem-2/ https://www.recoveryelevator.com/re-212-the-body-tells-us-where-to-go-next/   Today is the final episode of Season 2.  Season 3 of the Recovery Elevator podcast begins June 21st.  We are focused on having fun, staying authentic, spicy chili mango, ice cream and helping others along the way.    Finding Your Better You – Odette's weekly message.   Odette has encountered many people who feel stuck.  They are struggling with letting go of booze.  It's hard to let go of alcoh

Today we have Dane. He took his last drink on October 11, 2020.  He is from Washington State, and he is 32 years old.  This is his journey of living alcohol free (AF). Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.  Season 3 of the Recovery Elevator podcast begins June 21st.  We are focused on having fun, staying authentic and helping others along the way.    Finding Your Better You – Odette's weekly message.   Odette spoke about her beloved Peleton and the arsenal of "why's". and thought shifts.  The instructor encouraged Odette to dig into her arsenal of why's and keep going.    Odette reflected on Simon Sinek's book,  Start with Why.   Odette reflected on her time in rehab.   She focused on why she was recovering from food addiction.  She knew having a family was her why and   Actions can be driven by fear or manipulation or love and inspiration.  Simon says few people or companies can articulate why they do what they do.    Charisma has nothin

Today we have Adam. He took his last drink on December 13, 2019.  He is from Massachusetts, and he is 37 years old.  This is his journey of living alcohol free (AF). Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.  Season 3 of the Recovery Elevator podcast begins June 21st.  We are focused on having fun, staying authentic and helping others along the way.    Finding Your Better You – Odette's weekly message.   Odette spoke about early sobriety and thought shifts.  Early sobriety can be exhausting because your body is resetting, and your thoughts are playing tug-o-war.  You have permission to be tired in early recovery.  The mental work is exhausting.  Odette referenced Melody Beattie and the Language of Letting Go.  Letting go of fear is at the core of codependency.  Fear can help you protect yourself.  In recovery, waving goodbye to fear allows you to embrace safety, trust, peace, and acceptance.  Pay attention to healthy fears and let go of the r

Today we have Chloe. She took her last drink on June 7, 2020.  She is from the UK and is 32 years old.  This is her journey of living alcohol free (AF). Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.    Finding Your Better You – Odette's weekly message.   Odette spoke about growing up with her brother, Charlie and playing lots of video games.  Odette talked about trust and video games.  Trust is earned.  The more you do the next right thing and protect your sobriety, you get to the next level, just the way you level up when playing video games.  Facing recovery with fun instead of fear helps you recognize your increasing skills that come with practice.    [6:09]  Odette introduces Chloe   Chloe took her last drink on June 7, 2020.  She said it has been a crazy journey.  Chloe is 32 and lives in the UK.  She has a dog, and she loves walking the dog, running, anything active.   [7:16] Tell us about your history with drinking?   Chloe started drinkin

Today we have Erik. He took his last drink on March 9, 2019.  He is from upstate New York.   This is his journey of living alcohol free (AF). Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.    Finding Your Better You – Odette's weekly message.   Odette is training for a marathon.  She reached out to her fitness coach Paul from RecoveryFit1 to get some guidance on training, cross-training, etc.  She has noticed the training for the race is re-training her brain, rewriting her story and building her confidence.  Crossing the finish line of a marathon is scary for Odette.  During her childhood, she participated in the rally portion of the mini-Olympics.  She fell and as a result her team was in last place.  From then on, she told herself she was not a runner.    Odette recognizes we often get stuck in our stories because those stories are all we know.  We need to believe we can do things differently. She is using visualization techniques to overcome h

Today we have Gillian. She took her last drink on November 9, 2019.  She is from Boston and loves playing video games.   This is her journey of living alcohol free (AF). Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.    Finding Your Better You – Odette's weekly message.   Odette has been thinking about death.  She has anxiety about dying.  She read a chapter in the Untethered Soul.  The author, Michael A. Singer said having an active relationship with death is healthy.   "It is truly a great cosmic paradox that one of the best teachers in all of life turns out to be death.  No  person or situation could teach as much as death has to teach you.  While someone could tell you, you are not your body, death shows you.  While someone could remind you of the insignificance of the things that you cling to, death takes them away in a second. Death makes us all the same."  Keeping death at the forefront of our mind helps us stay in the moment.  We can stop

Today we have Bobbie. She took her last drink on December 16, 2019.  She is from upstate New York.    This is her journey of living alcohol free (AF). Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.    Finding Your Better You – Odette's weekly message.   Odette was inspired by Brian who hosted one of the Café RE chats.  Evolution of sobriety isn't always linear or a straight shot.  We assume it will be an upgrade.  However, sobriety can be messy.  You can feel stuck and get into victim mentality.    Odette compared sobriety to a puzzle.  Sometimes it can feel like we are going backwards.  When looking at the puzzle, we grab different pieces.  Sometimes the piece doesn't fit, but we make a mental note and later in the journey, the puzzle piece fits.  Traveling backwards is common because the tool or lesson may have not made sense at the time, but it does later in the journey.    Everything has a purpose and it's there for a reason. We don't always s

Today we have Lauren. She took her last drink on December 19, 2018.  She lives in Canada and is 37 years old.    This is her journey of living alcohol free (AF). Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.  Shout out to Jeni's ice cream who is one of the sponsors of our Bozeman retreat.   https://jenis.com/   Finding Your Better You – Odette's weekly message.   Odette reflected on a March NPR article titled, "A sharp, off the charts' rise in alcoholic liver disease among young women.   https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/03/16/973684753/sharp-off-the-charts-rise-in-alcoholic-liver-disease-among-young-women   It's important this article is placed in a bucked about the global crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic.   The article referenced a 30-year-old woman who was diagnosed with alcoholic hepatitis.  She drank nearly a liter of liquor every evening.  Doctors are seeing patients whose drinking has edged up in the last year.  In conversations

Today we have Marcella. She took her last drink on September 6, 2018.  She lives in San Diego.  Marcella lives in the arena and she shares her journey with the world on sobriety, parenting, and authentic Mexican food.  She leads from the front in a transparent way that is very inspiring.  This is her journey of living alcohol free (AF). Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.    Finding Your Better You – Odette's weekly message.   Odette reflected on her recent comments about judgement.  When we feel judgement creeping up, we need to remind ourselves that person we are judging is a flawed human trying their best … just like me.  When we bring judgment into recovery space because someone is doing it differently than we are we invite shame. If we want to help others recover, we need to detach from our shame.  We need to manage our own path.  Odette referenced an Instagram post from Lara Fraser saying, "nobody gets to define your recovery but

Today we hear from Aimee, who is the wife of one of our members.  Aimee will share from the perspective of what it's like to live with someone struggling with alcohol addiction. Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.  Aimee is the wife of Kris, one of the members of Café RE.   Kris shared his message on episodes 175 and 278.   He also does a lot of work for Café RE. Take a listen.  Kris stands out by helping others and being of service.    https://www.recoveryelevator.com/re-175-anxiety-and-alcohol/ https://www.recoveryelevator.com/re-278-day-one-emotions/     Odette's Weekly Message – Finding your better you.   Odette is focusing on loved ones.  She is an adult child of an alcoholic.  She has experienced her own struggles with addiction and married someone who struggles with addiction.   When Odette's Dad went into treatment, she was advised by the counselor that the whole family would be impacted.  While only one family member has the di

Today we have Cassie. She took her last drink on August 29, 2019. She is from Colorado and is 30 years old.  This is her story of being Alcohol-Free (AF). Today's Sponsor: Café RE Use the promo code CONNECT for one free month in the alcohol-free community Café RE.  Café RE Merch https://www.recoveryelevator.com/merch/ Discount code:  PANDA   Finding Your Better You – Odette's weekly message   Odette has been speaking with many people who got sober and stayed sober during the pandemic.  She is amazed and impressed with these folks making major life choices to ditch the booze during a global crisis.   Odette wants to remind you …. you can do hard things.   As Covid begins to recede, Odette can't help but wonder what post-Covid sobriety will look like?  As we return to normal or the new normal, how do we prepare for what's next?  Odette likened this to her rehab experience and working with her rehab team to develop a treatment plan when she left rehab.  Many people fear leaving rehab because you are going back i