Happy 4th of July!!! Now let's dig into the wound of Independence. In this episode, I speak with Mary Wagstaff , a holistic alcohol coach for Women. She is radicalizing what it means to live alcohol-free through the lens of Women's empowerment for the aquarian age. We cover a lot of territories as we discuss masculine and feminine energy and the difference between independent and individual. "Independence" belongs to the group while "individual" belongs to the (surprise) individual. So many peop...
Jul 03, 2022•51 min•Season 8Ep. 3
Creating Chaos in our lives is easy, and we all do it. Every expectation we carry for ourselves or others creates chaos. In this episode, I am talking with Thomas FreeMe about how when we have expectations and lie to ourselves and others we are creating chaos. That, and how the system, that we look to for guidance is creating chaos as well. If you are interested in contacting Thomas FreeMe check out his work by googling "Thomas FreeMe Podcast" or just connect here on YouTube. Recover Yourself is...
Jun 19, 2022•44 min
I recently returned from Guatemala where I spent 5.5 days in complete darkness at The Hermitage Retreats . This experience gave me a lot to think about and a lot to integrate into my life. Darkness has always been beautiful for me. When I was much younger I used to sit in a bathroom in the house I lived in which got no light in it unless the basement light was on. Sitting in there I had beautiful experiences of space breathing, whatever that means. Needless to say, I was very excited to experien...
May 01, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 8Ep. 1
Awareness is a cumulative process. If you start right now and open yourself to becoming aware of something that you previously were not aware of, like “What are you avoiding doing?” Whether there is a clear answer or not matters less than being aware that the question may have an answer. That is how we become aware, we can simply start by asking a question about how we feel about something and approach it with curiosity. Ann HInce is the author of A Pathway to Insight , published a year ago toda...
Nov 14, 2021•35 min•Season 7Ep. 8
Harm reduction has been a huge focus of mine recently and I am happy to be conversing with Gretchen for this episode. I have to admit, I am a fan of toughness. That is not to say I am a fan of tough love, many people see my approach as one that stems from tough love but that’s not the case. Love, deep love, when we have it for ourselves and can offer it to others can very quickly look tough as it relates to the tough love movement, but it is what motivates those actions that are the measure. Lov...
Nov 07, 2021•54 min•Season 7Ep. 7
All of my work revolves around this concept of "Recovering To." Without hesitation, I believe that if we can each recover ourselves and stop living under the influence of others we will not only live amazing lives, we will contribute, love, inspire, and support everyone around us without even trying. Doing that will also help us naturally evade unnecessary conflict, stress, and health problems. But we first have to recognize where we are being influenced. I have been doing this work for a long t...
Oct 31, 2021•41 min•Season 7Ep. 6
In this episode With Jenna Velez, she mentions the phrase “Post Traumatic Growth” which I had not yet heard in my travels. It is such a great phrase for many of my experiences, because, yes, I have experienced trauma, but it was that trauma that I grew through. That is not to say I want others to experience that trauma as well but we, all of us on this planet, have resilience. In a recent episode with Ken Bain he mentioned that we punish people who try but have not yet succeeded. I mention that ...
Oct 24, 2021•45 min•Season 7Ep. 5
The system of treatment as it relates to substance use has not followed the research. There is no other way to put it. If we were to examine the system related to its actions and the outcomes they claim to desire we can easily see that the system has a problem. It is not acting appropriately and continuing to perpetuate problems. This is not only the case for the addiction treatment world, unfortunately. We have already seen this play out in education, in my interview with Ken Bain, and in Crimi...
Oct 17, 2021•32 min•Season 7Ep. 4
NAD is a supplement. Similar to testosterone, if we are not producing enough, we want to supplement it. Well, NAD enhances the ability of Vitamin B3 to support cellular healing in the body. This is a naturally occurring element in the body in which production can decrease for several reasons. Substance abuse or any abuse the body suffers could potentially erode the production of this in our body, as well as aging. I am talking with Mike Godfrey and Stephanie Rose who are working together on a re...
Oct 10, 2021•52 min•Season 7Ep. 3
Harm Reduction is exactly what it sounds like, the desire to reduce harm. If you are not actively wanting to do harm there is no reason to oppose the ideas around harm reduction. We are looking to have a system that treats people with more respect than it currently does. Does that mean when we get you to treat people better, we will stop, no it doesn’t. Because when you treat people a little better, we will ask you to once again reevaluate and treat people even better than that. Maia mentions in...
Oct 03, 2021•48 min•Season 7Ep. 2
I did bad in school. It’s no secret, but that experience kept me from seeking higher education. I also lived many years denying my own intelligence in an attempt to not have to face the pain of not fitting in. Many of you may know I do not enjoy reading, that is not an easy thing to own about oneself while surrounded by readers. It should be said that those who I surrounded myself with did love me, but it was my perceptions and fears that kept me from receiving it. All of that was because I was ...
Sep 26, 2021•47 min•Season 7Ep. 1
In this episode, I am speaking with Judy Grisel about the A and B processes. And this is something we all have to face. Have you ever drunk coffee to feel more awake and then, when it wears off you are more tired? That is the A and B process at work. The thing is though, as you hear in our conversation, that after a time, and increased use or abuse, the A process has to be used consistently just to feel normal. So, if you have been drinking coffee every morning for years it is likely that you, l...
Jun 13, 2021•49 min•Season 6Ep. 20
This episode is for Caregivers. If you are a parent, or a child caring for an elderly parent, a counselor, clinician, or even a sibling, this episode unpacks so much of the complex backdrop of caregiving. Over the past year, we have seen those in our lives who have usually been the most resistant, get taxed to their limit. This is because the normal resilient load has been multiplied, not only by more people but by more problems as well. As the world gets taxed, and it gets increasingly difficul...
Jun 06, 2021•53 min•Season 6Ep. 19
Energy is all around us and we interact with it at every turn, in every moment. There are things that energetically lift us and other things that weigh us down. How we interact with energy is one thing we can look at whenever we experience any sort of malady we can think of, even being a victim. This week I am talking with Dr. Marina Kostina about the energy of the choices we make. If everything we do has an energy cost associated with it then every choice, we make is filled with potential and i...
May 23, 2021•41 min•Season 6Ep. 18
So what is a pacifier? It is anything you do to soothe yourself when you are feeling uncomfortable. Some of these, like drugs, alcohol, or gambling have been known to cause serious problems in some people’s lives. That is primarily because people feel extreme levels of discomfort and want soothing. That, and the amount of dopamine, and other chemicals, these substances and activities are known to release, are such, that the person can easily be taken well beyond comfort and straight to escape. W...
May 09, 2021•51 min•Season 6Ep. 17
Connect with Kaii on Instagram @KaiiMarie_LLC or through her website https://www.kaiimarie.com/ It is so important for us to look inward especially as caregivers of any kind. We want so often to be of help simply because we may feel lost ourselves. When we look to help are we looking to solve the problems of others? Or are we looking to be a temporary post for them to lean on while they get their legs under them again? I have spoken with many people on this podcast about how the role of the teac...
May 02, 2021•39 min•Season 6Ep. 16
The most important relationship we have is with ourselves. Now that I’ve said that let’s look at romantic relationships in recovery. You’re move to recovery was done for you; I hope. Your partner is going to experience a lot of benefits from your hard work but that doesn’t mean they don’t have work to do as well. In this episode I am talking with Chantal Jauvin about her new book Love Without Martinis which is all about relationships after treatment. In it she lays out the ASCENT approach which ...
Apr 25, 2021•50 min•Season 6Ep. 15
The Long Game is not always something that is obvious. The world around us, especially here in the United States, wants us to focus on the Short Game. The Short Game gets us leaning on others, Google, status, money, and all sorts of things to help us feel more comfortable. We can fool ourselves into thinking the Short Game is the goal, like marriage. When the Long Game, which is hidden behind the Short Game, is where we are going to experience the most fulfillment. As it relates to marriage, the...
Apr 18, 2021•35 min•Season 6Ep. 14
Zero Tolerance is kind of a big deal. Like trickle-down economics, it doesn’t work but we (our society) keep on working it. When we turn away from the facts around zero tolerance like it causes more harm than good, which has been proven time and again, we are just kicking the can down the road. You see, Zero Tolerance is a bill that is going to have to be paid, but, and this is just like addiction, if we don’t face it head-on and make the changes we need to make now, well, we’re just paying the ...
Apr 11, 2021•46 min•Season 6Ep. 12
If we insist on waiting for the best time to do what we want to do or to do what is good for us, we’ll never get around to it. There is no perfect time to do anything. So, any time is the perfect time to do everything. I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to hear people use the phrase “Bucket List,” if you want to do something start doing it now. And that is no different when it comes to our vices. The last 2 years I spent smoking I did not enjoy it, but it was an identity I carried, and it w...
Mar 28, 2021•40 min•Season 6Ep. 11
Groups are a double-edged sword. They can act as a rocket booster to get us off the ground and moving in a direction. Just having done that in our lives we can be put in a position to idolize the group, and sometimes the people in it. Groups can intimidate just as easily as they support and groups can start out on one clear path and slowly, over time, completely change course. That is not to say an individual doesn’t do that as well, but we do it as it fits into our lives, whether erroneous or n...
Mar 21, 2021•36 min•Season 6Ep. 10
What we are capable of is immeasurable. We walk around believing so many things about ourselves, never having really looked at ourselves from the space of a blank slate. We come into the world already wired through the womb of our mother to believe the world is how they experienced it. From there we further get trained to learn how to experience and expect life to be. But we, individually, are so much greater than that. How do I know? Because not you, nor I, or anybody can ever be described, or ...
Mar 14, 2021•53 min•Season 6Ep. 9
Revenge is one of those things that, once we are under the influence of it, we can find it hard to separate from. We all have grievances, but once we allow ourselves to feel like we are being victimized things can quickly get out of hand. In this episode, I am talking with James Kimmel Jr., a lead developer of the NonJustice System, and we are talking about forgiveness. Those of us in some sort of recovery may have, and may still, feel victimized. We may have utilized our DOC (Drug of Choice) in...
Mar 07, 2021•58 min•Season 6Ep. 8
TRIGGER WARNING In this discussion we mention child sexual abuse, rape, and the holocaust. In this episode, I am speaking with Geoffrey Godfrey of Ideal Option https://www.idealoption.com/ and we are tackling a big step for all of us. Not just recognizing there is a problem but admitting it. So often we can see a problem and as long as no one else brings it up we feel like we are hiding it well. You would be surprised how many children know their parents drink and yet the parents believe that th...
Feb 28, 2021•42 min•Season 6Ep. 7
If you’re interested in a walkthrough of Yana, I encourage you to check out this episode on YouTube. Just jump to the 26th minute, and to watch as Tyler walks me through the essentials of Yana and addresses its platform directly. Tyler Matheny is a co-founder of Yana (You Are Not Alone) which is a program agnostic activity app for the sober community. Tyler helps us define some of the major differences between the terms: abstinence, sobriety, and recovery. Tyler faces his recovery, like many who...
Feb 21, 2021•27 min•Season 6Ep. 6
Addiction holds a lot of stigmas and this episode might really agitate a lot of people because I am looking to place addiction in the hands of every one of us. Those of us who have been traditionally seen as addicts have held the bag long enough. Politics have divided us and turn us on one another, but that is only on the face of it. Behind the politics, at the core of everything that has been going on in the US my entire life, is addiction. We have journeyed headlong into a contract with any, a...
Jan 17, 2021•35 min•Season 6Ep. 5
Karith Foster is a comedian, speaker, television and radio personality, actress, author, and entrepreneur. In this episode, we are talking about identity and doubling down. When we attach so heavily to our identities, we can easily get lost in details that might not be as important as the feel at the moment. Our identities are things we really hold dear, but we are always changing so much it is hard to even pin down an identity. However, in our world, today, being attached to an identity can be ...
Dec 27, 2020•49 min•Season 6Ep. 4
Tracy Markle and Dr. Brett Kennedy are the fore of developing best practices for the treatment of digital media overuse issues. And to have them contribute the some of the insidious ways persuasive design is used to keep us engaged is a huge win for this podcast. In this episode, both Tracy and Brett share both their expertise and their experiences. C heck out what they are doing at dTEC here https://digitalmediatreatment.com/ The reason we, as people in recovery, want to know about this is beca...
Dec 20, 2020•49 min•Season 6Ep. 3
Our identity is something we cling to. It doesn’t matter that we know identity is temporary, I mean none of us hold the same values and identity that we did when we were 10. There is also the fact that change is the only constant in our lives. However, we still grapple with identity. From being a sibling, or parent, to having a career or a place we call home, all of that is merely how we identify at the moment. These, short order identities, can be some of the most important things to us, especi...
Dec 13, 2020•45 min•Season 6Ep. 2
How important is the bottom line and how many people have been pushed aside for that bottom line? Our culture has put business in front of all else and this has caused a fracturing in everything worth a damn. The bottom line has broken up families and has directly challenged some of our most dearly held ethics. As our friends, neighbors, and our entire social media streams all become increasingly transactional relationships, I think it is time to look at Dope. Tracking how opioids spread can hel...
Dec 06, 2020•35 min•Season 6Ep. 1
