The Bubble Hour

It can feel awful when someone we care about returns to drinking. How to respond? How to be supportive? What about feeling rejected and diminished? How do we protect our own sobriety while helping others? Jean discusses these questions with a special guest whose voice you may have been missing!  

An Olympic hopeful whose dreams were cut short by addiction, Karlyn explains how sobriety gave her a second chance at athletic success and at personal happiness. But neither of those achievements came quickly or easily.    Karlyn speaks frankly about her addiction to alcohol, and the many ways that affected her life. Her book, "The Do-Over" will have readers moving from tears to cheers to nods of understanding, and is a great read for people in recovery as well as those who long to understand addiction from the inside.

If we define ourselves by what we do, it can be hard to remain stable when a big change comes along. For Margaret, retirement could have left her searching for meaning and purpose. Instead, she is looking forward to the freedom to fully be herself.  Join us for a discussion about knowing ourselves from within, instead of that which others say we are.

Gaby had it all...until it disappeared overnight. Alcohol was a comfort through the difficult years that followed...until it nearly took her life. You might think this would convince her to never drink again, yet she chose to try moderating after regaining her health and was soon back in care fighting to stay alive. Today she is thriving in sobriety and hopes her story will convince others to stay alcohol-free in recovery.

Jean answers your questions about everything from skin picking to song writing with so much honesty she makes herself cry, and shares the feedback from our recent episode about perfectionism and motherhood ("Karen's Story"). Also covered is the meaning of the words "sobriety" and "recovery" - at least what we mean here on The Bubble Hour.

Karen's story will resonate with anyone who has ever drank to numb feelings of inadequacy or depression. Karen was a hard-working high-achiever with everything  under control until she embarked on a challenge she didn't feel she could master to her usual standards: motherhood. What she believed should be the happiest time of her life instead spiralled in a very different direction. Karen looks back on these low times and reflects on how far she has since come as a woman in recovery.

It's not necessarily common for alcoholics to have Borderline Personality Disorder, but it is quite common for people with BPD to struggle with addiction. Jean welcomes Michelle to explain her experiences with BPD as a person in successful long term recovery.

Milestones are an opportunity to take stock of how far we have come, and to celebrate the way that day by day, time adds up!  Jean welcomes guest Robin, who recently celebrated one year alcohol-free, to share her experiences and insights.  When asked what made her decide to quit drinking, Robin said (in her charming accent), "Well it was bad enough that I was getting old, I didn't want to be old and pathetic!" It is that kind of plain-spoken wisdom you can expect from this interview. Enjoy.

Ironically, the same difficulties in life that shake the foundations of recovery can be when sobriety is needed more than ever. In this episode, Anne (author of "A 30 Day Journey to Stillness" and ainsobriety.wordpress.com) joins Jean in person to share how she and her family have made it through a traumatic event that saw them evacuated from their community as it was threatened by out-of-control wildfires that displaced 90,000 people in one day. With just moments to leave, they escaped and could not return for weeks. This is a story of love, courage and commitment that will inspire you to keep going through rough times.

Does being in recovery make it easier or harder to handle the curve balls that life throws our way? That is the question I will be asking Kelly, who will tell us if being sober helped or hindered her through difficult times. We will talk about everything from kids to yoga to travelling. An intersting lady with lots of wisdom and insights to share!

Jean drops by with a quick update on what is happening with The Bubble Hour - where we have been and what is happening with the show. Our mailbox is full of messages from listeners and we have heard you, loud and clear! You have missed us as much as we have missed you. Listen to this update to find out what to expect in the weeks to come.

On this episode we will talk about those moments in recovery when we realize we're doing something (or feeling something) that used to make us want to drink, and yet here we are able to do them sober. Along with special guest, Author Dana Bowman, we will talk about what these moments were like for us when we drank, in early recovery, and what they are like for us now.  Lots of people, when contemplating getting sober, think: "But what about that vacation/wedding/holiday? How will I get through that sober?" It's not always the big events, though, that can be difficult to navigate; sometimes it's just a long, boring day, or a disappointment, or even when things are going really well, that make us think about a drink. Before we get sober, or in early recovery (or heck, sometimes even well into recovery) it can feel like we can't make it through these thoughts/feelings/moments without a drink, an escape or a way to numb. The good news is that in recovery there are so many ways to not only survive these things, b

An accomplished teacher and practitioner, Nikki Myers is an MBA, Yoga Therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and Certified Addiction Recovery Specialist. Born from her personal struggle with addiction, Nikki is the founder of Y12SR, the Yoga of 12-Step Recovery. Base on its theme, "the issues live in the tissues," Y12SR is a relapse-prevention program that weaves the art and science of yoga with the practical tools of 12-Step programs. Nikki's work has been featured in the New York Times, Yoga Journal, Black Enterprise, The Huffington Post, Origin Magazine, CBS-news.com and more. She is honored to be a co-founder of the annual Yoga, Meditation and Recovery Conference at Esalen Institute and Kripalu Center. In 2014, Nikki was honored as a recipient of the NUVO Cultural Visionary Award for her work with Y12SR. Y12SR meetings are now available all over the United States and the curriculum is rapidly becoming a feature of addiction recovery treatment centers.  Join us as we talk to Nikki about her addict

We are excited to have Mary Killian, author of "The Roustabout Heart: Adventures in Recovery" as a special guest on our show!  We'll talk to her about her addiction/recovery journey, what her life is like today, and discuss her amazing book!  More about Mary: She loves talking about her recovery. It's her favorite topic in the whole world. Being sober is the most important thing in her life. All the other neat stuff she knows and enjoys depends on this commitment. She has wonderful friends, a solid marriage and a happy, healthy family. She believes in her heart that she deserve these privileges. Her relationship with God is strong and beautiful. She's got dreams and goals. These are all huge developments. She's okay with letting folks know the details of her experience.She likes sharing her feelings. She is hopeful and proud of the person she is becoming. Find Mary on the interwebs here:  www.marykillian.com (Website) www.highwiregirl.com (New blog) www.highwiregirl.blogspot.com (Old blog) www.therous

We get a lot of emails from people saying they are still drinking but are concerned they may have a problem, or are trying not to drink and listen to this show as one of their tools. We are so grateful that the show helps people on their journey towards, or in, sobriety.  One pattern we see is that the arc of contemplating “am I or aren’t I an alcoholic?” looks very similar for most people.  This is especially true of people who are earlier on in this process and who have yet to experience many outward ramifications from their drinking. We can spend a lot of time thinking about whether or not we are truly an alcoholic, and this is an obstacle to taking action about your drinking. So we thought it would be helpful to talk about what this contemplative arc looks like, for many people, and provide a few resources that can be helpful in finding community that can help (because, as we talk about all the time on this show, community is the key to getting sober).

On Sunday's show Ellie, Amanda and Catherine talk about early warning signs and symptoms of alcoholism, as we reflect back on our own sobriety journeys.  We also have an honest conversation about "hitting bottom", what it means to hit an 'emotional' bottom, and some of the different challenges faced by people who get sober before any dire legal, financial, familial or medical issues occur.    

In recovery meetings it is common practice for one person to share their experience, strength and hope and then to pick a recovery topic for the group to discuss. We have recreated that concept here on The Bubble Hour. Hearing that there are other people just like us...with the same experiences, thoughts and feelings is revolutionary.   On this show, our guest Liz F., who is currently 23 years old and got sober young, will share her story and the impact recovery has had on her life. Liz's message of recovery applies to any age, but if you are young and struggling, or newly sober, or if you are the parent of a young person who is struggling, or new to recovery, this message is particularly relevant for you.

Setting boundaries is an essential skill in life, especially for people in recovery. Alcoholic and addicts often have dysfunctional boundaries: either too rigid (leading to suppressed emotions or distant relationships) or too enmeshed (depriving us of a sense of personal identity). If we don't learn how to create and maintain healthy boundaries interpersonal relationships may continue to be defined by old roles and patterns, increasing the risk of relapse. As part of recovery, we learn how to set boundaries and to respect other people’s boundaries in return.  But, especially in early recovery, this can be daunting.  An important aspect of setting healthy boundaries is learning, simply, how to say "no".  Another important part of setting boundaries is identifying how we are feeling; something that can take practice when we are newly sober. We can't teach other people how to treat us if we can't identify our own thoughts, feelings and emotions. On this show we will discuss what boundaries are, why they are i

The holiday season is upon us once again, starting (for those of us in the US) with Thanksgiving this week. In light of this, we thought it was timely to revisit tips and strategies for not just surviving the holiday season, but also reaping the gifts, choices and freedoms we enjoy as people in recovery! If you are newly sober, there is no doubt this can be a challenging time.  On tonight's show we will share tips, tools and advice and our own personal stories of what worked for us - and some things that didn't - when we were newly sober, as well as what we do today.

On the Bubble Hour we do not endorse or promote any particular program or pathway to recovery. We honor the traditions of twelve-step programs, and as such we do not discuss them by name, and we will continue to honor this policy. We receive emails from listeners who are considering going to a recovery meeting, or who have gone and have questions.  We have received requests to do a show about what recoovery meetings are like.   On this episode, our co-hosts will talk about recovery meetings, with the following important caveat: we can only share our own experience, strengh and hope. We do NOT speak on behalf of any program, nor do we endorse any one pathway.  On the Bubble Hour we strive to create community, which to us is the cornerstone to all forms of recovery. We honor and recognize that for many - but not all - this community is found in twelve step meetings.  Many listeners message us that they made the decision to try a recovery meeting to seek community.  Others tell us they are curious but fearfu