Episode Details

Tribe Sober - inspiring an alcohol-free life!

Welcome to our second "Sober Short" - an interim mini podcast to supplement the weekly Tribe Sober podcast.

I’m going to kick off this series by taking you through our Tribe Sober Toolkit – this toolkit is just one of the things that we share with you during our regular Zoom workshops – click here for more info.

Our workshops have been a gamechanger for many people so if you want to kickstart your sober journey then sign up today

In this episode

• Tool number two in our toolbox is exercise - we want you to Get Moving!
• We all know is that exercise is “good for us” and many many people exercise daily but they also drink on a daily basis – sometimes excessively
• We seem to have a lot of runners in our tribe – I always remember one lady telling me that she would wake up with a crashing hangover and then she’d force herself out for a run – often with tears running down her face as she felt so awful.
• These days she is sober and she runs twice as fast and enjoys every moment!
• There is a growing body of evidence about the benefits from regular exercise which we need to be doing all throughout our lives – not just when we are young.
• Exercise also has a role to play for people in recovery
• On episode  69 of the Tribe Sober podcast you can hear our Yoga Teacher Tamsin explaining how yoga can enable us to reconnect with our bodies in recovery – Tribe members have access to a daily yoga class with Tamsin which is a wonderful start to the day.
• But apart from yoga we need a more general exercise regime so lets look at some of the benefits of exercise

1. Exercise will release endorphins which relieve stress/anxiety and give you a natural high – just the job in those early days of sobriety when you are feeling a bit flat without the buzz of alcohol
2. Exercise improves our body image and our mental health – in fact its an essential, unavoidable part of being in good physical and mental health
3. It also improves self-confidence and self-esteem and is a genuine reward for your body and mind — unlike alcohol, which is more like a punishment."

• If we’ve been drinking for years then we will have deep neural pathways marking the habit we have developed – the trick is to replace this unhealthy habit with a healthy habit – and a daily exercise routine does the job perfectly
• Stick at it for 66 days and you will have build a whole new neural pathway!
• My daily habit for decades had been to open a bottle of wine at 6pm – when I quit drinking I simply put on my headphones at 6pm and went walking by the sea for an hour – every.single.day – this not only got me through my “danger hour” but it helped me to build a new healthy habit
• Now that I am nearly 7 years sober I still walk at 6pm every evening – not to avoid drinking but just because I love it and have built a new neural pathway –it just doesn’t feel right if I don’t do it!
• We can feel a bit low in early sobriety and exercise will not only reduce your depression but it can give you a sense of purpose
• Have a listen to Tribe Sober podcast number 55 where I talk to Dr Loretta Breuning who explains that we need projects when we are in recovery – working towards a project will trigger our happy brain chemicals and an exercise program fits the bill perfectly
• Draw up targets and go a little further each time you run or walk for example – if you lift weights then gradually increase the weights
• There is more and more evidence emerging that we must keep exercising as we get older – even if you don’t feel up to running these days then just get walking.  Get a Fitbit and make sure you hit that 10k target every single day.
• We really have to use it or lose it!
• If you are middle aged or older, lea