Tribe Sober - inspiring an alcohol free life!

• Coping with Cravings... with Mary Ann Shearer

  Tribe Sober - Your guide to alcohol-free living! This week I'm chatting to an inspirational woman Mary Ann Shearer who is a best selling author and a motivational speaker. In this Episode Mary Ann is a woman before her time and was advocating veganism thirty years ago! Her first book "The Natural Way" was written more than 20 years ago She explained that if you give your children lots of sweet things it sets them up for alcohol dependency later in life Mary Ann had alcoholic parents and as a result she craves order and control and has never drunk alcohol We agreed that children of alcoholic parents tend to be like her - or they tend to follow the pattern of their parents She advised people who have stopped drinking to satisfy their cravings by eating fresh fruit not chocolates or sweets Our bodies need glucose and eating fresh fruit satisfies the craving for alcohol Mary Ann feels that alcoholics are clever people who need a creative outlet - sobriety will give them the time and space to find one She explained the damage that alcohol does to our endocrine system - and how it makes menopause much worse To find out more about Mary Ann go to her website - https://maryannshearer.com/ - her book is called "Perfect Health - The Natural Way" available on Amazon More info Subscription membership for Tribe Sober join up HERE To access our website click HERE To join our January Challenge click HERE - a small donation to a good cause will provide you with community and online support during January If you want to go it alone and would still like one of our trackers then email us at [email protected] Episode Sponsor This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program.  If you want to change your relationship with alcohol then sign up today.  Read more about our 8-step program and subscribe HERE.    Help us to spread the word! We made this podcast so that we can reach more people who need our help.  Please subscribe and share. We release a podcast episode every Saturday morning. You can follow Tribe Sober on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  You can catch our FB live on Saturday mornings (11am SAST) and you can join our private Facebook group HERE Thank you for listening!  Till Next Week Janet x

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• Bottling up Trouble... with Tabbin Almond

  My guest this week is Tabin Almond who shares her powerful journey from high-functioning drinking to lasting sobriety. In this episode: Tabbin grew up in a drinking culture and entered the boozy world of advertising. She tried AA but couldn’t relate – the labeling and negative focus didn’t resonate. Her breast cancer diagnosis became a pivotal moment  Tabbin read This Naked Mind and had coaching support to stop drinking for good. She’s now a certified alcohol-free coach working with professionals and organisations. She’s written a book called Bottling Up Trouble – which explores the hidden costs of alcohol in the workplace. There are some fascinating statistics in her book – including the fact that: 94% of people lie about alcohol-related sick days. The book also examines how workplace drinking culture impacts productivity, safety, inclusion, and wellbeing. Tabbin encourages companies to shift away from booze-centric bonding events and lead with empathy. She has a free assessment tool which you can access here:-  bottlinguptrouble.com – this assessment tool enables both leaders and employees to review any problem areas and start a dialogue Her book advocates for compassion, culture change, and better health education around alcohol. More Info Subscription membership – you can join up HERE. To access our website, click HERE. If you would like a free copy of our “Annual Tracker” or our e-book 66 Days to Sobriety, please email [email protected]. If you would like to come to our Saturday afternoon Zoom Cafe as a guest and meet our community, just email [email protected]. Episode Sponsor This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program.  If you want to change your relationship with alcohol then sign up today Read more about our program and subscribe HERE Help us to Spread the Word! We made this podcast so that we can reach more people who need our help.  Please subscribe and share. If you enjoyed the podcast, then please leave us a 5-star review on Apple podcasts. Take a screenshot of your review, and DM it to Tribe Sober’s Instagram page – see PS below for instructions. We’ll send you something special to say thank you! We release a podcast episode every Saturday morning. You can follow Tribe Sober on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram. You can join our private Facebook group HERE. PS: How to Leave a Rating/Review in Apple Podcasts (on an iOS Device) Open the Podcasts app. EASY. Choose “Search” from the bottom row of icons and enter the name of the show (e.g. Recover Like a Mother) into the search field. Select the show under Shows (not under Episodes). Scroll down past the first few episodes until you see Ratings & Reviews. Click Write a Review underneath the displayed reviews from other listeners. You’ll then have the option to rate the show on a 5-star scale and write a review (you can rate without writing too but it’s always good to read your experience).  

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• Never Question the Decision: with Functional Health Coach Laura

  We’re always on the look out for new benefits to offer our Tribe Sober members So these days apart from coaching, hypnotherapy, art therapy and accountability groups we can offer our members a functional medicine coach. A Functional Medicine Coach can help us with the transition between drinking a building a healthy lifestyle.  We all know vaguely what we need to do to be healthy but a Health Coach will personalise that plan for you and then ensure that you put it into action! So Tribe Sober’s new Functional Health Coach is called Laura Gujadhur  We began by clarifying the difference between functional medicine and conventional medicine. Laura explained that conventional medicine is disease management and treatment of symptoms whereas Functional medicine looks at the root cause of disease An example would be going to a conventional doctor with a rash – that doctor would be unlikely to ask you about your diet, your stress levels and whether you’ve had allergy tests -he would probably give you a cream to calm down the rash but he wouldn’t have got to the root cause of whats going on So functional medicine looks at the root cause of disease and illness and starts from there Conventional medicine is something we resort to when we are already sick Whereas functional medicine encourages you to work on your health so that you don’t develop chronic diseases… You become the architect of your own health Laura’s interest in health and wellness began about 5 years ago when she quit drinking A member of her family was diagnosed with depression and immediately put on anti-depressants which didn’t sit well with Laura About that time she had stumbled across a book called The Ultra Mind Solution by Dr Mark Hyman In this book he explains that when he heals someone’s gut and sorts out the imflammation the cognitive function improves and depression and anxiety go away As an ex nurse married to a doctor this came as a revelation to Laura – they never learned anything like this in medical school Laura decided to approach functional medicine in the same way that she had approached sobriety – she would read everything she could get her hands on After all Annie Grace’s book “The Naked Mind” had been such an eye opener for her and made her realise that Big Alcohol are inundating us with false messaging Her research into Functional Medicine made her realise that conventional medicine was simply driven by Big Pharma and that she had been naïve not to question it during her medical training and career. Laura’s decision to quit drinking for a month came after a party when she woke up with a hangover and thought…enough She white knuckled her way through the month and used the time that she saved (by not drinking) to read everything she could. Her belief systems around drinking had already been overturned by The Naked Mind and she realized that she couldn’t go back to drinking Laura threw the book at her sobriety and like so many others who have succeeded she treated it like a job. She told her husband she wouldn't be entertaining or going anywhere for three months as she wanted to concentrate on her reading. We all learn differently so it can be helpful to reflect on our personal learning style as we approach the difficult task of giving up alcohol and learning to navigate society without it. There are 4 distinct learning styles identified by Honey & Mumford in 1986. Activist Theorist Pragmatist Reflector So we all learn how to navigate our alcohol free journey in our own way and shouldn’t be comparing our progress with others… just keep trying and it will come together. Back to Laura.  What I found interesting was the fact that once she’d done all her research and reading she was absolutely ready to make a firm decision and her mantra was:- "Never Question the Decision" I think that’s such a helpful strategy which will stand her in good stead if she has a craving or is under pressure from others to drinking… She approached her sobriety with the same gusto and enthusiasm that she used to approach her drinking- focusing on what she was gaining rather than losing by leading an alcohol free lifestyle. However Laura did go into full blown sugar addiction when she quit drinking and wishes that she’d had a functional health coach teach her how to transition which would have resulted in her feeling a lot better sooner. These days Laura is qualified as Functional Health Coach. She talked about the 4 pillars of health Diet/Exercise/Stress Reduction and Sleep and emphasized that a Health Coach could ease the transition into the alcohol free lifestyle and help to avoid a cross addiction. As she said we all know broadly what we should be doing to stay healthy but the value of a health coach is that she will ensure that you implement and stick to the right eating plan and exercise regime. We agreed that coaching is super valuable to keep people on track - especially for women.  Laura feels that many women tend to focus on what they haven’t done rather than focusing on their achievements She said that anyone who has joined Tribe Sober should be proud of themselves,  just admitting that they may be a problem is a huge first step. Laura offers a free 20 minute call to Tribe Sober members as well as discounted sessions. You can reach out to her on what’s app +230 58675482 or via email on [email protected]  More Info Subscription membership – you can join up HERE. To access our website, click HERE. If you would like a free copy of our “Annual Tracker” or our e-book 66 Days to Sobriety, please email [email protected]. If you would like to come to our Saturday afternoon Zoom Cafe as a guest and meet our community, just email [email protected]. Episode Sponsor This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program.  If you want to change your relationship with alcohol then sign up today Read more about our program and subscribe HERE Help us to Spread the Word! We made this podcast so that we can reach more people who need our help.  Please subscribe and share. If you enjoyed the podcast, then please leave us a 5-star review on Apple podcasts. Take a screenshot of your review, and DM it to Tribe Sober’s Instagram page – see PS below for instructions. We’ll send you something special to say thank you! We release a podcast episode every Saturday morning. You can follow Tribe Sober on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram. You can join our private Facebook group HERE. PS: How to Leave a Rating/Review in Apple Podcasts (on an iOS Device) Open the Podcasts app. EASY. Choose “Search” from the bottom row of icons and enter the name of the show (e.g. Recover Like a Mother) into the search field. Select the show under Shows (not under Episodes). Scroll down past the first few episodes until you see Ratings & Reviews. Click Write a Review underneath the displayed reviews from other listeners. You’ll then have the option to rate the show on a 5-star scale and write a review (you can rate without writing too but it’s always good to read your experience).

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• Art Therapy in Recovery with Samantha Davis

  Tribe Sober - inspiring an alcohol-free life! This week’s podcast guest is an Art Therapist.    Sami has been running her private Art Therapy practice for the past 20 years. She’s worked with people who struggle with stress, addiction, depression and also people wanting to discover more meaning and purpose in their lives.  She has also worked with many people in recovery.   In this Episode Sami began by defining Art Therapy which involves “using art materials to help a client to communicate and express themselves with the guidance of a qualified therapist". We discussed how as adults many of us have lost the ability to play – we tend to get caught up in productivity and ticking boxes. We need to get back in touch with our creativity and art therapy can help us to do that. Some people feel intimidated at the thought of Art Therapy thinking that they need some artistic skill. This is not true at all and in fact Sam loves clients who come to her with no knowledge or aptitude for “art” – Art Therapy is in fact a way of getting in touch with our creativity and playfulness. Art therapy can play in important role in our recovery – it can help us to reconnect with ourselves and better understand who we really are. It can help us to decrease our reliance on alcohol and build new and different pathways and coping mechanisms. As drinkers some of us spent years numbing our feelings. Art therapy will help us to get back in touch with our feelings - and to express ourselves creatively. Sami sees the Art as the Bridge between what is inside and what is outside – it’s simply a way to express ourselves. We discussed the fragility of early sobriety where Art Therapy can play the role of holding a safe space where we can “check in”. We talked about the power of vulnerability and how art therapy allows us to express our vulnerability Sam explained the concept behind the vision board sessions which help us to reconnect with our passions using images, art materials etc – I’ve done one of these sessions and can really recommend it – a vision board allows us to express ourselves and then the power of manifestion will come into play. Our subconscious will register our vision and help it to become a reality. The vision board workshop is particularly useful for people in sobriety as it helps them to get back in touch with what they really enjoy doing. We have extra time on our hands when we stop drinking so we need to find constructive ways to use that time.  Sam is quite happy to run a group vision board session for people in recovery so do get in touch with myself or Sam if you are interested. Sam explained that addictions mean that we are always busy focusing on our next fix which prevents us from being in the moment. Art Therapy can help with mindfulness and mental health generally – focusing on a creative project will enable us to get “in the flow”  which can give our minds a welcome break from stress and anxiety.  Art therapy can help us to build resilience and help us to recognize our triggers – all of which will help to prevent relapse. We often say that “connection is the opposite of addiction” here at Tribe Sober and we are referring to community. Sam helped me to realise that we also need to connect with ourselves – to get to know who we really are. Understanding ourselves better means that we can find new ways of coping – instead of using alcohol. At Tribe Sober we love learning about neuroscience, happy brain chemicals and our Lizard Brains – our gurus have been neuroscientist Staci Danfield who you can hear on episode 67 of this podcast and author of the Happy Brain, Loretta Breuning who is on episode 55. Sami explained that Art Therapy will also trigger our happy brain chemicals and will give us a boost in early sobriety when we can be plagued with a low mood. Loretta Breuning explained to us that we need a project in early sobriety to stay happy and focused. That’s why we designed the Tribe Sober Success Path – to give you a project – the project of self discovery Sam and I both run our workshops on Zoom these days and agreed that they work really well and we enjoy opening them up to people all over the world. Sam works with individuals and with groups. Sometimes an individual will need personal attention for their growth, healing or recovery. However the group sessions can be special – she believes that groups come together for a reason – they bring their life experience and of course a key part of the workshop is about sharing our stories. Jung calls this the “collective unconscious” – the people who need to be together come together.  I loved that and it made me think of our workshops and the synergy and bonding that I’ve witnessed during the 6 years of running workshops. For more info about Sam and her courses just go to her website which is arttherapy.co.za  Episode Sponsor This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program.  If you want to change your relationship with alcohol then sign up today - here is the link.  Help us to spread the word! We made this podcast so that we can reach more people who need our help.  Please subscribe and share. We release a podcast episode every Saturday morning. You can follow Tribe Sober on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  You can join our private Facebook group HERE PS: How to Leave a Rating/Review in Apple Podcasts (on an iOS Device) Open the Podcasts app. EASY. Choose “Search” from the bottom row of icons and enter the name of the show (e.g. Recover Like a Mother) into the search field. Select the show under Shows (not under Episodes). Scroll down past the first few episodes until you see Ratings & Reviews. Click Write a Review underneath the displayed reviews from other listeners. You’ll then have the option to rate the show on a 5-star scale and write a review (you can rate without writing too but it’s always good to read your experience).

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• Alcohol is a Slippery Fish... with Ashleigh

  My guest today is Ashleigh who came to a workshop back in 2018 – and she’s been sober ever since! In this episode:- Ashleigh realised that there could be a problem when she found herself making lots of rules and then promptly breaking them So if you find yourself thinking I'm not going to drink during the week or I'm only going to drink at weekends then perhaps it’s time to reflect on what’s going on If you keep making rules and keep breaking them, then just recognize that you do have an issue and you need to make some changes. You heard Ashley say that by the end of the workshop she had gained enough new information to realise it would be pointless to try to moderate. She had to go all in. She knew that she'd crossed thatline into dependence, and that there could be no going back, only going forwards. Ashleigh felt confident as she was leaving the workshop. She had her toolkit. She had some new information. She had some new sober buddies.  She knew she could do this. At the beginning of her journey, she decided to treat herself to all the sweet things that she wanted. She drank hot chocolate. She often had coffee and cake, and she decided to just focus on not drinking which is very sensible. At Tribe Sober we say that we can only chase one bunny at a time – so at the beginning we need to focus on the not drinking bunny. The dieting bunny can wait a bit – our metabolism will work more effectively when we quit drinking so you might not even need to diet! In Ashleighs case she weaned herself off the sugar, off the sweet things, and she's lost an amazing 10 kgs. She talked about the many benefits of sobriety and these days she is much less anxious and more confident. So it's been a huge win on every front. For Ashley, the workshop was really a turning point in her life, so at the age of just 40, she's got a whole different future ahead.  In fact, she fully recognized that if she hadn't taken this step, she could have found herself in a very difficult place in five years time. As she said, it's a slippery slope or indeed a slippery fish, as I think she called it.  Many of us who’ve quit drinking can look back and realise that taking that hard decision to quit was a catalyst for changing our lives and building a happier and healthier future.   Episode Sponsor This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program.  If you want to change your relationship with alcohol then sign up today - here is the link.  Help us to spread the word! We made this podcast so that we can reach more people who need our help.  Please subscribe and share. We release a podcast episode every Saturday morning. You can follow Tribe Sober on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  You can join our private Facebook group HERE PS: How to Leave a Rating/Review in Apple Podcasts (on an iOS Device) Open the Podcasts app. EASY. Choose “Search” from the bottom row of icons and enter the name of the show (e.g. Recover Like a Mother) into the search field. Select the show under Shows (not under Episodes). Scroll down past the first few episodes until you see Ratings & Reviews. Click Write a Review underneath the displayed reviews from other listeners. You’ll then have the option to rate the show on a 5-star scale and write a review (you can rate without writing too but it’s always good to read your experience).

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  37:44

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