In this Along the Way installment of our interview series, Adam Dietz and Anthony Wright speak with Drea — Sober Herbalist — about recovery, illness, and finding a new path through plants, wellness, and spiritual practice.

Drea shares how she challenged the herbal world’s dismissal of non-alcoholic medicine, developing new ways to prepare remedies without alcohol. We explore her journey through sobriety, chronic illness, and research, and how traditions like Ayurveda, Buddhism, and Taoism shaped her approach to healing.

The conversation also dives into the world of Noah Levine (Dharma Punks, Against the Stream), punk rock Buddhism, the Esalen Institute, and the commercialization of wellness. Drea reflects on two-spirit healers in indigenous traditions and offers a deeply embodied practice: conscious bathing, massage, and even “touching your pain” as ways to reconnect with self and heal trauma.

✨ Topics in this episode:

– Sobriety as spiritual practice and renunciation

– Creating strong, alcohol-free herbal medicine

– Buckminster Fuller’s challenge: building new systems

– Fungi, indigenous wisdom, and plant consciousness

– Noah Levine, Dharma Punks & punk rock spirituality

– The Esalen Institute and the wellness industry

– Two-spirit healers and non-binary traditions

– Embodiment, trauma, and healing through touch

📬 Essays & reflections: https://thewaybetween.substack.com

🌿 Learn more about Drea’s work: https://soberherbalist.com