Recovery Elevator | Stop Drinking, Start Recovering. | Alcohol, Addiction & Life In Sobriety

Today we have Santino. He is 37 years old from Taunton, MA and took his last drink on May 24th, 2022.   This episode brought to you by Better Help – 10% off of your first month Exact Nature use code RE20 to save 20% off your order   Recovery Elevator has merch! We have hoodies, patches, shirts, tank tops and bracelets. Help us keep this project going and shred the shame!   Last call for registration to our sober travel trip to Peru. Registration closes tomorrow June 3rd.   A study on the state of restaurants revealed that 40% of restaurants in 2025 plan to dedicate more space on their menus for alcohol-free drink offerings. And Door Dash reported an 82% jump in non-alcoholic beer orders in 2025 alone. Things are changing and they are changing fast!   [03:29] Thoughts from Paul:   On episode 527, Paul talked about how Gallitin County, Montana is the drunkest place in America. Ironically, this is where much of this podcast is recorded, and this is where Paul got sober. We are reminded that quitting drinking ca

Today we have Jenny. She is 53 yeas old from Belgrade, MT and took her last drink on August 25th, 2015.   This episode brought to you by Better Help – 10% off of your first month   Exact Nature use code RE20 to save 20% off your order     The message that alcohol is good for you is outdated. Paul shares an article from GQ that was released shortly after the World Health Organization declared that no amount of alcohol is safe for you.   WELCOME to all our new listeners to the RE podcast!   [03:56] Thoughts from Paul:   In the interviews on this podcast, you’ve heard the word nature probably hundreds of times as a powerful tool to help overcome an addiction.   Today Paul shares with us a specific free tool that can enhance your experience in nature: the Merlin bird app.   There is science behind how birding can help you heal. Listening to birds reduces cortisol, slows your heart rate and triggers the parasympathetic nervous system which calms us.   The opposite of addiction is connection, and Paul shares that

Today we have Kayleen. She is 27 years old, lives in Baltimore, MD and she took her last drink on April 6th, 2025.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month Café RE – the social app for sober people   There are a few spots left for Peru in October 2025. On this 10-night, 11-day trip of a lifetime, we will be hiking the Inca Trail and participating in two service projects. Registration closes in about three weeks.   [02:35] Thoughts from Paul:   There is so much speak in the recovery world about letting go. In recovery meetings, many of the topics are centered around letting go.   Paul shares that he has spent years thinking he needed to figure out HOW to let go. Like there was a secret technique that was missing. In fact, all you can do is realize you’re holding on and this awareness is the first real step towards letting the sunshine in. Once you realize you are holding on, or bring awareness to something weighing you town, it immediately begins to shift on its own, and

Today we have Ben. He is 45 years old from Liverpool, UK and had his last drink on September 26th, 2021.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month Sober Link - $50 off of device using this link   [02:01] Thoughts from Paul:   According to Stanford neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, all health, longevity, and your daily moods, along with your overall state of being, is tied to the quality of your sleep. When you drink alcohol, the quality of your sleep drastically diminishes, leaving you in a state of disrepair the following day.   Paul shares many examples of how poor sleep affects our bodily functions and how drinking even small amounts of alcohol adds fuel to that fire.   When we remove alcohol and we begin entering deep sleep cycles again, all of these negative consequences of poor sleep start to disappear. It may not happen in one night but within time, trust the body and this function will return to normal.   [09:22] Paul introduces Ben:   Ben was a previous guest on

Today we have Christopher. He is 27 years old from Melbourne, Australia and he took his last drink on July 13th, 2019.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month   On October 4th-15th, we are going to Peru!  There are still three spots available for this 11-day 12-night journey throughout Cusco, Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. Included in this journey are hiking the Inca Trail and a service project with Peruvian Hearts.   [02:38] Thoughts from Paul:   Today Paul presents the third of a three-part series where he covers the healing one may expect in the first year away from alcohol. This week he covers the spiritual (not necessarily religious) component of healing and what can generally be expected over the course of the first year away from alcohol.   Spiritual growth isn’t necessarily linear and likely won’t start in the first week. There may have been a moment before your last drink when time seemed to stop, and you were pulled into the present moment where you could

Today we have Adam. He is 34 years old from Denver, CO and took his last drink on May 19th, 2022.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month Café RE – the social app for sober people   [02:41] Thoughts from Paul:   Today Paul presents the second of a three-part series where he covers the healing one may expect in the first year away from alcohol. This week he covers the mental component of healing and what can generally be expected over the course of the first year away from alcohol.   In the beginning, don’t expect much but the brain fog will begin to lift by the end of the first week. Emotions will start to show up and you should embrace them. Seeing mood swings is completely normal but they will begin to improve over the next few months   Over the first year there are a lot of improvements to our awareness, our emotional regulation and our dopamine system.   Paul shares many more examples, but this is a short version of a longer list, and the mental healing goes on for

Today we have Maggie. She is 42 years old, from Switzerland, and she took her last drink on February 24th, 2024.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month Café RE – the social app for sober people     Registration for our annual alcohol-free retreat in Bozeman is now open. From August 6th through 10th, we will be spending lots of time in nature, doing breathwork, a lakeside hangout, laser tag and more.   In October of this year, we are going to Peru!  There are still spots available for this 11-day 12-night journey throughout Cusco, Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley.   [02:43] Thoughts from Paul:   A question Paul hears and sees frequently is what to expect when we put the bottle down. He shares that the destruction of alcohol happens in three steps. First the spiritual component, then mental and finally physical. Healing tends to happen in the reverse order. There will be overlap and the transition is not quite linear, nor does the healing ever stop.   Paul expands on w

Today we have Kaylee. She’s 33 years old from Camp Hill, PA and took her last drink on December 24th, 2024.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month Sober Link – learn more and save 50% off of a device   Registration for our annual alcohol-free retreat in Bozeman is now open. From August 6th through 10th, we will be spending lots of time in nature, doing breathwork, a lakeside hangout, laser tag and more.   [03:38] Thoughts from Paul:   Paul shares a comment that he heard recently in a Café RE chat. Stephanie said she eventually called the fight with alcohol. It is another way to frame the moment where we surrender to what is when it comes to our drinking. We know moderation isn’t working, anxiety is getting worse and the shame and torture from alcohol is reaching unprecedented levels. It becomes time to throw in the towel.   He also shares a line from an upcoming interviewee who stated, “sobriety has given me the keys to the car of my dreams, I just hate the color”. So

Today we have Jenny. She is 38 years old from Hudson, WI and she took her last drink on February 16, 2020.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month   Recovery Elevator has a nonprofit called Café RE which is our alcohol-free community. For all of our happenings and what we offer, click on Recovery Elevator Events.   [02:35] Thoughts from Paul:   It doesn’t really matter what word or label we attach to our relationship with alcohol. It doesn’t matter what we call it; we still need to do something about it. Paul says that his own pursuits of solving the “why” behind his drinking and how his addiction took hold has been a revealing journey of self-discovery even he won’t be able to pin down exactly why he crashed and burned so hard.   When we relentlessly scour the past for reasons why we drink, we take our energies away from the only moment where true healing and peace reside, which is this very moment right now.   Addiction does everything it can to pull us from the prese

Today we have Laura. She is 40 years old from Reno, NV and she had her last drink on August 1st, 2017.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month   Tomorrow April 1st, registration opens for our annual alcohol-free retreat in Bozeman. From August 6th through 10th, we will be spending lots of time in nature, doing breathwork, a lakeside hangout, laser tag and more.   [02:58] Thoughts from Paul:   On this life journey, what we think is fun or important to us is constantly changing. You have identified that serenity, happiness and peace have become much more important to you than the excitement of drinking. After all, drinking lifts us up for a short while but always lets us down in the end.   Peace is knowing we are living our healthiest life and knowing that whatever happens, we’re going to be just fine because we’re not making life harder than it needs to be by drinking.   We are aiming to place our bodies and minds in a state where they are properly nourished so then we c

Today we have Niko. He is 43 years old from San Juan, Puerto Rico and took his last drink on September 2nd, 2024.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month Café RE   Next week registration opens for our flagship retreat in Bozeman which is always a lot of fun. In addition to our lake hangout, breathwork and recovery workshops, we’re also playing laser tag. We also have a few spots left for our alcohol-free trip this October to Peru which includes travel to Cusco, the Sacred Valley and of course, Machu Picchu.   If you have quit drinking and are looking for new alcohol-free friends, Café RE is the social app for sober people. With 24/7 access to a like-minded community committed to living alcohol-free, you’ll never feel alone on this journey.      [03:25] Thoughts from Paul:   Jackass alumni Stevo-O once said he didn’t experience alcoholism until he quit drinking. In 1958 alcoholism was first classified as a disease. How does one experience this disease after they stop dri

Today we have Alyssa. She is 30 years old from Vancouver, WA and took her last drink on September 5th, 2024.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month Sober Link –   Next Monday, our five-week course called Ditching the Booze. This is our alcohol-free 101 crash course and is included with Café RE membership. All sessions are live and you’re tuning in with others who are in the same spot as you. The sessions are also recorded in case you can’t attend.   On Tuesday, April 1st, registration opens for our flagship retreat in Bozeman which is always a lot of fun. In addition to our lake hangout, breathwork and recovery workshops, we’re also playing laser tag.   [03:20] Thoughts from Paul:   Today Paul talks about why alcohol can be so hard to quit, why the process of quitting can take years and can contain many stops and starts.   Addiction guru Gabor Mate says, “addictions are always a human response to pain, suffering and trauma”. We are constantly in search of homeostasis.

Today we have Lisa. She is from Brisbane, Australia and took her last drink on February 24th, 2022.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month   If you have quit drinking and are looking for new alcohol-free friends, Café RE is the social app for sober people. With 24/7 access to a like-minded community committed to living alcohol-free, you’ll never feel alone on this journey.    [02:35] Thoughts from Paul:   Healing from alcohol addiction is more about restoring the original circuitry we arrived on the planet with, opposed to learning anything new. You already have everything you need to quit drinking. There is nothing wrong with you, we simply need to remove the layers of muck, grime, false stories and incorrect paradigms that we have accumulated over the years of living in a toxic culture.   As you clean up your inner mess, you’re also laying the foundation for others to begin their healing process. When you heal, others around you heal.   [07:27] Paul introduces Lisa:

Today we have Charlie. She is 32 years old from London, UK. She took her last drink on December 28th, 2024.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month   In October of this year, we are going to Peru!  There are still spots available for this 11-day 12-night journey throughout Cusco, Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. Registration closes June 2nd which is the deadline for Inca trail tickets.   [02:50] Thoughts from Paul:   According to NCS solutions, who poll people about their drinking, the number of people who want to cut back on their drinking increases every year.   In 2025, 36% more people participated in Dry January than in 2024. A good reason why the numbers are increasing is reflected in a poem Paul shares called Memories of Alcohol by an unknown author.   So much of the work we do is reframing how we view alcohol. Subconsciously it is still deeply ingrained in our culture that drinking enhances our lives, but we have all learned that it doesn’t. Once the voice in

Today we have Robbie. He is 43 and lives in Moses Lake, WA. He took his last drink on August 15th, 2024   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month   3,649 days ago, or 1 day shy of ten years, the first episode of the Recovery Elevator podcast dropped. Paul remembers the date well because for three months after the first episode released, he kept thinking “oh my God, what have I done?”. Burning the ships in podcast format gave Paul a lot of anxiety, but here we are, 523 weeks later and thank you listeners, for keeping the show alive.   30 Best Sobriety Podcasts   [04:13] Thoughts from Paul:   Paul shares the definition and his thoughts around the term gray area drinking. The definition states that it is the space between end-stage drinking and every now and again drinking. Gray area drinking could also be classified as someone who can stop drinking without medical detox or can stop on their own before someone stages an intervention.   Paul believes it’s all gray area drink

Today we have Jeremy. He is 43 years old and lives in Portland, Maine. He took his last drink on January 23rd, 2019.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month   Recovery Elevator is going back to Peru in October 2025. On this 10-night, 11-day trip of a lifetime, we will be hiking the Inca Trail and participating in two service projects. Registration has been open for two weeks and we have about five or six spots left.   [01:40] Thoughts from Paul:   About three weeks ago, we had a gentleman named Nate share his story for one of our dry January sessions. He mentioned that just before he quit drinking, his spouse poured out a bottle of Jameson Irish whiskey onto their lawn. The whiskey killed a circular patch of grass, making it an area where conditions were no longer suitable for growth, and Nate eventually had to replace the entire section of grass.   Today's episode is titled "Would a Drink Help?". This phrase is often depicted in movies, TV, and other media after a long

Today we have Dave. He is 69 years old from Beaver Creek, CO. He took his last drink in September 17th, 2024.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month Sober Link - receive $50 off of a device   If you have quit drinking and are looking for new alcohol-free friends, Café RE is the social app for sober people. Come join the party!   Tonight begins our first ever AF Songwriting Course starting at 8pm EST. Connect with other sober musicians and improve your own song writing skills.   [02:40] Thoughts from Paul:   Paul shares an article from the San Francisco Chronicle regarding the tanking sales of red wine in San Francisco restaurants. All alcohol sales were down but mocktail sales were up.   Many people share that it’s tough to quit drinking where they live. Paul discovered a statistic from the CDC that says where he lives in Gallatin County, Montana is listed as the drunkest of all 3,244 counties in America.   In the state of Montana, they place a white cross on the r

Today we have Kathy. She is 57 years old from Phoenix, AZ. She took her last drink on October 21st, 2024.   Sponsors for this episode include: Better Help – 10% off of your first month   Registration for one of our best international sober travel itineraries opens today, as we are going back to Peru October 4th – 15th, 2025. We are starting off in Cusco, then head into the sacred valley, and of course we’re doing the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.   Next Monday our first ever AF Songwriting Course starts at 8pm EST. Connect with other sober musicians and improve your own song writing skills.   [02:43] Thoughts from Paul:   At the end of last week's episode, I discussed how certain chapters in our lives might be closing, particularly those involving drinking and all the associated antics. As Yung Pueblo poetically expressed, endings are a natural part of life. The universe thrives on cycles, where every beginning anticipates an eventual end. Embrace this closure, grieve it, if necessary, write a farewell letter

Today we have Nick. He is 41 and lives in Richfield, MN. He took his last drink on November 8th, 2023.   In one week, registration for one of our best international sober travel itineraries opens, as we are going back to Peru October 4th – 15th, 2025. We are starting off in Cusco, then head into the sacred valley, and of course we’re doing the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.   Next Monday our first ever AF Songwriting Course starts at 8pm EST. Connect with other sober musicians and improve your own song writing skills.   Sponsors for this episode include:   Better Help – 10% off of your first month   [03:19] Thoughts from Paul:   Imagine if aliens were cruising the universe and made a stop on planet Earth and they saw human beings drinking a substance that appeared to be damaging their lives.   But first, this is revealing of the power of the unconscious mind, or the paradigms in our society. If you take crack, cocaine, heroin and meth and right off the bat it’s like, yeah, that will fuck your life up. But with

Episode 518 – Your Idea of Good Evolves   Today we have Ashley. She’s 25 years old from Spokane, WA and took her last drink on September 22nd, 2024.   Sponsor for this episode:   Better Help – 10% off your first month   This February, we are doing our first ever alcohol-free singer-songwriter course. In this six-week course you’re going to connect with other sober musicians. You’re going to improve your songwriting skills and hear from professional musicians. We will all write our own songs which we will share in the last week.   Registration is open for Recovery Elevator’s first ever Men’s Retreat will be April 5th through the 12th in Costa Rica.   [03:17] Thoughts from Paul:   Quoting Yung Pueblo, “Maturity is knowing that endings are a part of life. Jobs change, who you hang out with changes. Your idea of what is ‘good’ evolves. An ending is a sign that you’re opening a new chapter.”   There’s a saying in this space that we stop maturing when our drinking becomes problematic. When alcohol begins to take