Sober Company (aka Sober Co)

Lacey speaks to Bianca Rivera, a sober Registered Dietician about her journey to sobriety as a working mom during the pandemic. They also talk about what alcohol does to your body, what behaviors and foods support recovery, and the deal with sugar cravings. Bianca also tells us how she speaks to her kids about alcohol and how she teaches them about healthy responses to emotions.

Lacey and Nik play some of their favorite songs about addiction and recovery and talk about why the lyrics are so meaningful to them.

Lacey and Nik speak to Murphy Jensen, a Grand Slam doubles champion and the Co-Founder of WeConnect Recovery, an app that supports folks in recovery through contingency management and direct cooperation with the person's care team. They speak to Murphy about his rise to tennis stardom, which included winning the French Open Doubles with his brother Luke, and about his experience with substance use; the impact it had on his brother and how it ultimately came to a head while Murphy was at the U.S Open and his first child was being born. They also talk about how Murphy came to help create the WeConnect app and how it supports people’s recovery. Murphy also describes what contingency management looks like and how effective it can be.

We're replaying an episode this week from January 2020 where Nik and Lacey talk to their friend Jake about the benefits and dangers of Antabuse and the debate as to whether taking drugs to help get you sober is "cheating" or not. We also discuss Jake's experience of early sobriety with a young family.

Lacey and Nik speak to Amani Sampson, the co-founder of Abundance Residency, an abundance community divested from alcohol culture. They talk about about how Amani decided to stop drinking and how a traumatic life event reshaped what was important to her. Amani speaks about the richness and joy sobriety has brought her and about the lack of representation of sober Black women and why it's important for her to be open about her choice to stop using alcohol.

Lacey and Nik talk about why people in recovery tend to get a bit obsessed with self improvement. They talk about leftover shame from active addiction and how it can lead to constant unlocking and leveling up. They also talk about their own personal growth routines and how they're trying to a bit kinder to themselves. Also how their Buddhism comes comes into play with their quest for personal perfection.

We speak to Jen talk about what toxicity is and why it's bad for your recovery. They also talk about having to move on from friendships with people who are still partying hard but how special and incredible friendships are that are created in recovery. They also go over creating boundaries with people you may not be able to totally cut out of your life, like family.

Lacey speaks to Carson Benowitz-Fredericks, MSPH, the research manager for industry watchdog Alcohol Justice about exactly how bad alcohol is. They discuss how intensely shady the alcohol industry is and why you shouldn't trust the studies that come out saying moderate use could be good for you. They talk about the links between alcohol and cancer and why "natural wine" is really the same as Natty Ice. They also talk about how the disease model isn't effective in capturing the whole story about addiction.

Nik and Lacey explain the basics of meditation, what you can expect when you first start, and exactly how meditation is so helpful (scientifically proven!) for addiction recovery. They also talk about their own personal experience and how meditation has helped them stay sober. P.S. This episode was recorded before the terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021, and so makes no mention of it. Meditation is a great tool for making space for anxiety and other feelings that can come up in response to such a traumatic event.

In honor of Dry January, we're replaying an episode from January of 2020. While oh so much has changed since then, the benefits of removing alcohol from your life have not. Nik and Lacey talk about some of the extra goodies that come along with not drinking, including better skin and a quicker brain (and a fatter bank account which they forgot to mention). They also go over some of the tricks that can get you through the initial discomfort.