Journey to the Sunnyside | Mindful Drinking & Alcohol Health

Beej Karpen is a mindfulness-based coach and IFS practitioner who helps people change their relationship with alcohol in a more compassionate way, without shame, labels, or all-or-nothing thinking. She created Mindful Drinking 101 in 2020, has led more than 35 groups, and has spent the past 12 years running the first Moderation Management Women’s meeting In this episode, we talk about what is really happening underneath the urge to drink, why shame backfires, how IFS changes the way people understand inner conflict, and why the part of you that wants relief is not the enemy.

Learn more about Beej:  http://www.insightoutnyc.com/

RELATED ARTICLES FROM THE SUNNYSIDE BLOG:

CONNECT WITH SUNNYSIDE:

• Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3
• Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinsunnyside/
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/joinsunnyside/
• Twitter:  https://x.com/joinsunnyside
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joinsunnyside

ABOUT SUNNYSIDE:
 
Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol health app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days.

We now offer Sunnyside Med, a new program that provides access to compounded naltrexone, a medication that can reduce alcohol cravings at the brain level, offering a more clinical pathway for people who need it. Sunnyside Med is a complete, holistic approach to help you drink less or quit, including coaching, community, habit change, education, and more to help you create longterm change while the medication does its work.

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended as medical advice, and the views of the guests may not represent the views of Sunnyside. If you’re concerned about your health or alcohol use, please consider seeking advice from a doctor.

In this episode I talk about one idea from my conversation with Nir Eyal that I think is genuinely useful for anyone trying to drink less. He made a point about pain and signal that applies directly to what happens when a craving shows up — and it's a lot more practical than just white knuckling through it. A craving is real. It's uncomfortable. But it's not a command. This episode is about what to actually do in that moment.

Nir's Book, Beyond Belief: https://a.co/d/0bOchJVG

RELATED ARTICLES FROM THE SUNNYSIDE BLOG:

• Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3
• Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinsunnyside/
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/joinsunnyside/
• Twitter:  https://x.com/joinsunnyside
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joinsunnyside

ABOUT SUNNYSIDE:
 
Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol health app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days.

We now offer Sunnyside Med, a new program that provides access to compounded naltrexone, a medication that can reduce alcohol cravings at the brain level, offering a more clinical pathway for people who need it. Sunnyside Med is a complete, holistic approach to help you drink less or quit, including coaching, community, habit change, education, and more to help you create longterm change while the medication does its work.

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended as medical advice, and the views of the guests may not represent the views of Sunnyside. If you’re concerned about your health or alcohol use, please consider seeking advice from a doctor.

Nir Eyal is the bestselling author of Hooked and Indistractable, and he has a new book out called Beyond Belief. What I liked about this conversation is that it gets at why so many people stay stuck, even when they already know what to do. We talk about what belief actually is, how it shapes what we notice and feel, how labels can quietly become identity, and why some forms of positive thinking can actually keep people stuck instead of moving them forward. At the center of the book is this idea that beliefs are not just thoughts in the background. They shape what we think is possible, and often they are doing a lot more to drive our behavior than we realize.

RELATED ARTICLES FROM THE SUNNYSIDE BLOG:

CONNECT WITH SUNNYSIDE:

• Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3
• Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinsunnyside/
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/joinsunnyside/
• Twitter:  https://x.com/joinsunnyside
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joinsunnyside

ABOUT SUNNYSIDE:
 
Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol health app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days.

We now offer Sunnyside Med, a new program that provides access to compounded naltrexone, a medication that can reduce alcohol cravings at the brain level, offering a more clinical pathway for people who need it. Sunnyside Med is a complete, holistic approach to help you drink less or quit, including coaching, community, habit change, education, and more to help you create longterm change while the medication does its work.

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended as medical advice, and the views of the guests may not represent the views of Sunnyside. If you’re concerned about your health or alcohol use, please consider seeking advice from a doctor.

Over the last few years I've had the chance to sit down with researchers who study drinking behavior from a lot of different angles — psychology, neuroscience, habit formation, public health. And the thing that keeps striking me is how often what the research actually shows doesn't match the way most of us think drinking works. Not slightly off. Sometimes completely backwards. In this episode I walk through seven of those findings. The ones that surprised me most — and honestly, a few that changed how I think about the habit entirely.

RELATED ARTICLES FROM THE SUNNYSIDE BLOG:

• Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3
• Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinsunnyside/
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/joinsunnyside/
• Twitter:  https://x.com/joinsunnyside
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joinsunnyside

ABOUT SUNNYSIDE:
 
Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol health app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days.

We now offer Sunnyside Med, a new program that provides access to compounded naltrexone, a medication that can reduce alcohol cravings at the brain level, offering a more clinical pathway for people who need it. Sunnyside Med is a complete, holistic approach to help you drink less or quit, including coaching, community, habit change, education, and more to help you create longterm change while the medication does its work.

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended as medical advice, and the views of the guests may not represent the views of Sunnyside. If you’re concerned about your health or alcohol use, please consider seeking advice from a doctor.

Welcome back to Journey to the Sunnyside. Today I’m joined by Merrilee Burke, a licensed marriage and family therapist with over 20 years of experience, specializing in alcohol moderation, trauma, and eating disorder recovery. Merrilee reached out because she’s been noticing a shift with clients lately in how they talk about sober curious and alcohol-free culture. Not some huge backlash, but enough of one to make it worth exploring. So today we talk about what’s changing, why some people may be pushing back, and what they may really be reacting to underneath it all.

RELATED ARTICLES FROM THE SUNNYSIDE BLOG:

• Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3
• Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinsunnyside/
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/joinsunnyside/
• Twitter:  https://x.com/joinsunnyside
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joinsunnyside

ABOUT SUNNYSIDE:
 
Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol health app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days.

We now offer Sunnyside Med, a new program that provides access to compounded naltrexone, a medication that can reduce alcohol cravings at the brain level, offering a more clinical pathway for people who need it. Sunnyside Med is a complete, holistic approach to help you drink less or quit, including coaching, community, habit change, education, and more to help you create longterm change while the medication does its work.

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended as medical advice, and the views of the guests may not represent the views of Sunnyside. If you’re concerned about your health or alcohol use, please consider seeking advice from a doctor.

Last night, I found myself in a moment that felt familiar. Stress had been building, a disagreement pushed me further, and that quiet thought of a drink started turning into something I knew wouldn’t lead anywhere good. In this episode, I share what was happening in my mind, what helped me stop, and how one simple visualization changed the course of the night. I also break down the deeper lesson in all of it. Sometimes cravings are not really about alcohol. They are about pressure, relief, and wanting out of the feeling we are in. This episode is a reminder that those moments still happen, even when you’ve made real progress, and that what matters most is how you respond.

RELATED ARTICLES FROM THE SUNNYSIDE BLOG:

• Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3
• Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinsunnyside/
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/joinsunnyside/
• Twitter:  https://x.com/joinsunnyside
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joinsunnyside

ABOUT SUNNYSIDE:
 
Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol health app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days.

We now offer Sunnyside Med, a new program that provides access to compounded naltrexone, a medication that can reduce alcohol cravings at the brain level, offering a more clinical pathway for people who need it. Sunnyside Med is a complete, holistic approach to help you drink less or quit, including coaching, community, habit change, education, and more to help you create longterm change while the medication does its work.

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended as medical advice, and the views of the guests may not represent the views of Sunnyside. If you’re concerned about your health or alcohol use, please consider seeking advice from a doctor.

Today I’m joined by Andrea Pain, Executive Director of Moderation Management, one of the longest-running organizations helping people rethink their relationship with alcohol without an all-or-nothing approach. Here at Sunnyside, that philosophy really resonates with what we see in our own community, and a lot of our members actually find support using both Sunnyside and Moderation Management. So today we talk about the story behind the organization, how it has evolved over the years, and why more people are exploring moderation as a way to change their relationship with alcohol

RELATED ARTICLES FROM THE SUNNYSIDE BLOG:

• Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3
• Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinsunnyside/
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/joinsunnyside/
• Twitter:  https://x.com/joinsunnyside
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joinsunnyside

ABOUT SUNNYSIDE:
 
Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol health app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days.

We now offer Sunnyside Med, a new program that provides access to compounded naltrexone, a medication that can reduce alcohol cravings at the brain level, offering a more clinical pathway for people who need it. Sunnyside Med is a complete, holistic approach to help you drink less or quit, including coaching, community, habit change, education, and more to help you create longterm change while the medication does its work.

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended as medical advice, and the views of the guests may not represent the views of Sunnyside. If you’re concerned about your health or alcohol use, please consider seeking advice from a doctor.

You’re drinking less. You feel like you’ve turned a corner. And then one night something happens… you have more than you planned, or the old routine sneaks back in. The next morning a thought appears: “I thought I was past this.” In this episode, Mike explains why that moment is actually a normal part of behavior change. Drawing from neuroscience and habit research, he breaks down why progress with alcohol rarely happens in a straight line—and why those waves of challenge don’t mean you’re starting over. Understanding what’s really happening in the brain can help you move forward with more clarity, confidence, and self-trust.

RELATED ARTICLES FROM THE SUNNYSIDE BLOG:

CONNECT WITH SUNNYSIDE:

• Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3
• Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinsunnyside/
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/joinsunnyside/
• Twitter:  https://x.com/joinsunnyside
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joinsunnyside

ABOUT SUNNYSIDE:
 
Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol health app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days.

We now offer Sunnyside Med, a new program that provides access to compounded naltrexone, a medication that can reduce alcohol cravings at the brain level, offering a more clinical pathway for people who need it. Sunnyside Med is a complete, holistic approach to help you drink less or quit, including coaching, community, habit change, education, and more to help you create longterm change while the medication does its work.

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended as medical advice, and the views of the guests may not represent the views of Sunnyside. If you’re concerned about your health or alcohol use, please consider seeking advice from a doctor.

Today I’m talking with Jenny Williamson, Executive Director of Options Save Lives, one of the leading organizations focused on medication-based approaches to reducing alcohol use. We dive into how naltrexone actually works, why people often misunderstand the medication, and the important difference between cravings and habits when it comes to alcohol. Jenny also explains what the medication can — and can’t — do on its own, and why behavior change still plays such an important role.

EDITOR'S NOTE:
In this episode, naltrexone is discussed primarily in the context of the Sinclair Method (targeted dosing before drinking), which is the focus of Jenny Williamson’s work with Options Save Lives. Naltrexone is also commonly prescribed using other evidence-based protocols.

At Sunnyside Med, clinicians prescribe daily oral naltrexone, which has been studied extensively and shown in multiple clinical trials to help reduce heavy drinking and alcohol cravings. The approach used can vary depending on clinical guidance, individual goals, and drinking patterns. Anyone considering medication to change their relationship with alcohol should consult a qualified medical professional to determine the most appropriate treatment plan.

RELATED ARTICLES FROM THE SUNNYSIDE BLOG:

CONNECT WITH SUNNYSIDE:

• Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3
• Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinsunnyside/
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/joinsunnyside/
• Twitter:  https://x.com/joinsunnyside
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joinsunnyside

ABOUT SUNNYSIDE:
 
Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol health app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days.

We now offer Sunnyside Med, a new program that provides access to compounded naltrexone, a medication that can reduce alcohol cravings at the brain level, offering a more clinical pathway for people who need it. Sunnyside Med is a complete, holistic approach to help you drink less or quit, including coaching, community, habit change, education, and more to help you create longterm change while the medication does its work.

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended as medical advice, and the views of the guests may not represent the views of Sunnyside. If you’re concerned about your health or alcohol use, please consider seeking advice from a doctor.

At some point, a lot of people assume their drinking is just part of their personality. In this episode, we unpack the myth of the “addictive personality,” explain how habits get automated in the brain, and explore why reinforced behavior can start to feel like identity. What if this isn’t who you are — but just what your brain learned?

RELATED ARTICLES FROM THE SUNNYSIDE BLOG:

• Listen to Journey to the Sunnyside Podcast: https://bit.ly/4bxCqT3
• Subscribe to Sunnyside’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3zuoID4
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinsunnyside/
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/joinsunnyside/
• Twitter:  https://x.com/joinsunnyside
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joinsunnyside

ABOUT SUNNYSIDE:
 
Sunnyside is the #1 alcohol health app that helps you drink less without any shame, guilt, or pressure to quit. Optimize your alcohol habits to achieve benefits like sleeping better, losing weight, feeling more energy, and saving money. We know that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for everyone, so we focus on helping you set your own goals, celebrate small wins, and build a lasting system of accountability. As a result, 96.7% of our members see a big drop in their drinking after 90 days.

We now offer Sunnyside Med, a new program that provides access to compounded naltrexone, a medication that can reduce alcohol cravings at the brain level, offering a more clinical pathway for people who need it. Sunnyside Med is a complete, holistic approach to help you drink less or quit, including coaching, community, habit change, education, and more to help you create longterm change while the medication does its work.

Disclaimer: This podcast is not intended as medical advice, and the views of the guests may not represent the views of Sunnyside. If you’re concerned about your health or alcohol use, please consider seeking advice from a doctor.