The Unruffled Podcast

In this episode, Tammi and Sondra tackle the topic of friendship, which was a hard conversation. When you are first getting sober, everything changes, including relationships. Some slowly rebuild into something more intentional and sweeter, some are on hold and some don’t weather sobriety at all. So they talk about what they looked like before sobriety, what they look like now and what it’s like to make new friends...and look at us!

The ladies share their top three tools in their Unruffled Toolbox for the week:

Sondra: (1) Turn: Washington’s Spies; (2) Wanderlust: Heading to Chicago for HAMILTON!!!; and (3) Escaping the sweltering Texas heat at Barton Springs with the family.

Tammi: (1) My morning routine (read: alone time); (2) Experimenting with a meat-free diet; (3) Making art every single day.

Today, Tammi and Sondra talk to Erin Shaw Street. Erin is a travel writer and editor based in Birmingham, Alabama. They talk about how she came to sobriety (spoiler: Sondra had a guest appearance on that Day One), how she reconciles sobriety and travel and how caftans and gold shoes make life in recovery just a little more fabulous. Erin’s motto is to “live life unedited” and with her side-kick, 11 year old son Nate, she is doing it better than well.

This week Erin shares three items from her Unruffled Toolbox: (1) Pilates; (2) Chandresh Bhardwaj’s “Break The Norms” Meditation App + Noah Levine’s Youtube Meditations; and (3) The Bible.

Today, Tammi and Sondra dive into a conversation about gratitude. They talk about what it means to be in gratitude vs. happiness and ways you can cultivate a gratitude practice to help your own recovery and creativity. Hopefully, this conversation will inspire you to start your own practice or even expand that to a gratitude circle, where powerful bonding from meaningful exchange is limitless. Yes, it’s that good!

The ladies share their top three tools in their Unruffled Toolbox for the week:

Sondra’s 3 fave things: (1) Coffee + lunch dates with friends; (2) Daily morning meditations; and (3) 30-day experiment going meat, dairy and wheat-free!

Tammi’s 3 fave things: (1) her new Soda Stream, (2) Artist + Textile Designer Erin Flett; and (3) empty glass roll-ons for my essential oils.

Today, Tammi and Sondra talk to Nicole Morgan. Nicole lives in Austin, is an accountant by day; seamstress, knitter and rollergirl by night. Because Nicole is seemingly fearless in her creative endeavors and risks bruises for roller derby, she was the perfect person to talk to about fear and the girls take it on. They talk about how sobriety gives you the courage to take on other things, how discomfort, anger and stress all masquerade as fear and real strategies to sit with it and move on anyway. Nicole is vivacious and you can see for yourself on Instagram, she’s one inspiring lady.

This week Nicole shares three items from her Unruffled Toolbox: (1) Secular Buddhism + The Secular Buddhism podcast; (2) Trying new things; and (3) Quiet.

Tammi and Sondra very excitedly have Tiffany Han on the podcast this week. Tiffany is a writer, teacher and coach and she is the podcast host of Raise Your Hand Say Yes and the co-host of How To Be Remarkable. They talk about how her newfound sobriety aligns with her values, keeps her in flow and how that has helped her shift her own business to help other women align their creativity and spirituality so they can have businesses that feel authentic to them and feel powerful and resonate to the world. Tiffany is a MF-ing truth teller and her energy flows right through the mic. If you want to raise your hand and say yes with Tiffany, take your creative work to the next level and dive deeper into your intuition, you can get first dibs on her new program, 31 Days To Flow.

This week Tiffany shares three items from her Unruffled Toolbox with our listeners: (1) On Being with Krista Tippett podcast; (2) Medication, specifically, guided meditations with Lacy Young; and (3) All the notebooks. All of them.

This week, Tammi and Sondra talk to Daniel Blue. Daniel is the singer/lyricist in the Seattle folk/rock band, Motopony. Like many creatives, he has worn many hats, including fashion designer, graphic designer, painter, director, actor and poet. They talk about how Tammi and Daniel met, how he came to sobriety, and what it is like to be a sober rockstar (ok, our words, not his). Daniel and Motopony are currently working on a single, soon to be released. You can find out more about him on his website www.danielblue.com or on his band’s website at www.motoponymusic.com.

This week Daniel shares three items from his Unruffled Toolbox: (1) Upon waking, he rolls up on his knees, bows + releases his will; (2) pushes the pen + does morning pages; and (3) sets aside an hour for a meeting with his Higher Power + stays connected to other alcoholics + believers.

This week, Tammi and Sondra talk to Sandy Ford. Sandy is an attorney living in Chicago and the author of www.sobermormon.com. They take a deep dive into Mormonism and recovery, and how Sandy has reconciled the two. She shares the path to finding her seat in the rooms of AA and how she finally came to believe that she deserved a sober life that wasn’t miserable. Sandy also shares how she came see her honest, tell-all writing as a path to helping others.

This week Sandy shares three items from her Unruffled Toolbox: (1) Exercise; (2) Meditation: Headspace App + Dan Harris’s 10% Happier Podcast; and (3) Fiction.

Today, Tammi and Sondra interview Carly Benson. Carly is a recovered addict turned faithful believer in miracles, she is the creator of the site Miracles Are Brewing, sobriety coach and yoga instructor, co-creator of The Bloom Club, a subscription-based recovery club and has recently launched Om Vibes Only, a conscious alcohol-free gathering integrating yoga, deep house music and mindfulness. In a nutshell, Carly is a sober, creative power-house and her enthusiasm is contagious.

This week Carly shares three items from her Unruffled Toolbox with our listeners: (1) Yoga; (2) Prayer; and (3) Essential oils.

Tammi and Sondra tackle the tough subject of motherhood. “Moms that drink alcoholically carry an extra set of baggage in the overhead compartment.” Living in a world where alcohol is constantly marketed to moms, it was easy to justify, until an invisible line is crossed. So much shame runs throughout and most of the Why’s are still being processed, but they work through a few things today. In the end, they talk about “modeling the solution”. “I’m proud of me and I’m proud that he gets to watch me do this.”

The ladies share their top three tools in their Unruffled Toolbox for the week:

Sondra’s 3 fave things: (1) Horseback riding with her family; (2) The Unruffled Podcast secret FB group’s new virtual book club featuring Claire Dederer’s book Love and Trouble, A Midlife Reckoning as our first selection; and (3) Thrift Therapy which garnered an Hermès scarf for a buck! Tammi’s 3 fave things: (1) Ashley Whiteside, artist + mother from Oklahoma City who collaborates on her abstract paintings with her preschool-aged daughter, Nora; (2) Summer Selfie Project with her son is happening for the third year in a row; and (3) New Kusmi brand Blue Label Detox tea.

In this week’s episode, Tammi and Sondra check-in on four subjects: sobriety, health, family and creativity.

The ladies share their top three tools in their Unruffled Toolbox for the week:

Sondra’s 3 fave things: creating a Summer Master List; Bai Bubbles - a carbonated flavored drink; and staying in gratitude. Tammi’s 3 fave things: Summer Reading List: (1) The Universe Has Your Back by Gabby Bernstein; (2) What is the Bible? By Rob Bell; and (3) When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron.