Today I’m here to talk to you about rituals — specifically the unhealthy ones. The ones that are bad habits or compulsions that keep finding their way back into our lives no matter how hard we try to get rid of them. Sometimes these can even become these huge, shame-inducing, unspoken pieces in our lives that stick with us every single day. Rituals are so important for creating consistency and flow throughout our day — so it’s crucial that these rituals are good ones. In this week’s episode, I’m going to give you some of the tools and techniques I use in my practice to help replace these unhealthy habits with healthier ones. And stay tuned for the end of the episode for a special announcement, too!

The topic I want to talk about with you all today is forgiveness. Whether or not someone intentionally or unintentionally wronged you, you’re still hurt by it — causing you to be angered, resentful, or frustrated at this person. But ultimately, it will only be your downfall for holding on to these feelings. We can do all the work we want, but at the core of it is forgiveness — it is so, so important. I hope you’ll join me for this week’s episode as I share with you some of the examples of forgiving in my own life and how it has changed things for me, and some of the actionable tools I’ve used to help me along the way!

Today I want to talk a little more about perspective with you all — but this time, with a really specific slant. If you’ve read my book, The Abstinence Myth, you’ll know that I tell a story about my experience with women — specifically, this experience when I was in Jr. High where I ask a girl I really liked out. I plucked up the courage with my heart beating out of my chest… but she said no. I was devastated. Then, the next day at school, all of her friends knew. That experience was so traumatizing to me that I didn’t ask another girl out until my twenties! I relate this experience to the type of people I see now in my practice. Sometimes, their level of shame and embarrassment related to social faux pas become so extreme that they hold them back from doing the things that they want to do in the future. So, in today’s episode, I let you in on the revelation I had around perspective that allowed me to stop negative self-talk in its tracks; get out of these negative, self-sabotaging thought patterns; and move on from bad days without blowing them out of proportion!

Today I’m here with a special guest, Ruby Warrington. Ruby has a completely different approach to alcohol and addiction than I do with IGNTD — that’s why I wanted to have her on the show. Her new book, Sober Curious, is all about a curious approach to living alcohol-free. It’s a radical takedown of the myths that keep so many of us drinking. As both a conversation starter and handbook, Sober Curious strives to empower readers to transform their relationship with alcohol so that they can lead their most fulfilling life. In this episode, we talk about her approach to sobriety, her own journey with entering the “sober curious” space and questioning her own relationship with alcohol, her stance on all things addiction-related, and her book, Sober Curious.

For this week’s episode, I decided to take a closer look into somebody’s work that I greatly admire — Gary Vee —  and dug up 10 of his principles that I thought were applicable to the work I do here, with IGNTD Recovery. Gary Vee has made a name for himself on social media with more than 12 million combined followers across all of his social media. I’m sure he needs no introduction! These are my top 10 favorite concepts from Gary Vee’s work that I think we can take and apply to recovery. I hope you’ll find the same inspiration and motivation in them as I do.