Tribe Sober - inspiring an alcohol free life!

In this inspiring episode of the Tribe Sober podcast, Janet talks to Tribe member and Ambassador Beth as she celebrates her first full year alcohol-free.

Beth had known for many years that alcohol was holding her back. She tried AA, medication, self-help books and numerous attempts at moderation, but nothing lasted. Then she discovered Tribe Sober and realised that it wasn’t too late to change -and that she didn’t have to do it alone.

Beth speaks honestly about the difficult early months of sobriety, when her body and brain were recovering and her emotions felt overwhelming. She explains how trusting the process, connecting with the community and listening to others who had walked the same path helped her keep going.

Gradually, the benefits began to emerge: peaceful mornings, mental clarity, renewed confidence, more energy and an almost childlike excitement about life.

Beth’s decision also had a remarkable ripple effect. Her husband chose to stop drinking a month later and subsequently lost three and a half stone. His previously high blood pressure returned to a healthy level, allowing his doctor to take him off medication.

Now a Tribe Sober Ambassador, Beth is passionate about helping others discover the freedom she has found. She also shares a moving story about a caged eagle that had forgotten it was born to fly - a powerful metaphor for the way alcohol confines us and sobriety sets us free.

In this episode, we discuss:

Why Beth’s previous attempts to stop drinking didn’t last

The importance of getting off the fence and making a commitment

Why the first six months can feel so challenging

Trusting the recovery process through the difficult days

How connection and community support lasting change

The return of peace, clarity, energy and self-belief

The positive effect Beth’s sobriety had on her husband

Why helping others strengthens our own sobriety

Beth’s hopes and creative ambitions for her second alcohol-free year

Why we must “choose the hard that leads to freedom”

Beth’s message to anyone who is still sitting on the fence is simple:

“Seize the moment. Decide that this is your time for recovery and sobriety. You were created to be free.”

If you’re ready to change your relationship with alcohol, visit www.tribesober.com to learn more about our community, programmes and support.

Show Notes – Thinking Is Best Used as a Power Tool
🎙️ Tribe Sober Podcast

🎵 Intro and Outro Song: Remember – Sutherland

🦋 Episode Summary
What if one of the greatest sources of our suffering isn’t our circumstances—but our relationship with our thinking?

Inspired by a powerful insight from neuropsychologist Dr Julia DiGangi, Lynette explores why thinking is best used as a power tool: something to be picked up intentionally, used wisely, and then put down.

Drawing on neuroscience, recovery, and lived experience, this episode explains why our brains are prediction machines, why familiar thoughts can feel like facts, and how emotional freedom begins when we stop treating every thought as an instruction.

Recovery isn’t about controlling every thought.

It’s about changing our relationship with thinking itself.

✨ In This Episode

Why thinking is a powerful tool—but a poor master.

How the brain creates predictions from familiar patterns.

The difference between a thought and a fact.

Why cravings often arise from well-rehearsed neural pathways rather than genuine need.

How becoming a “detective” of your thinking creates freedom.

Why awareness gives us choice.

The difference between surviving on autopilot and living intentionally.

How emotional sobriety extends far beyond alcohol.

💡 Memorable Quotes
“Thinking is best used as a power tool.” – Dr Julia DiGangi

“A thought is an invitation, not an instruction.”

“Our brains don’t predict what is true. They predict what is familiar.”

“Recovery isn’t about never thinking about alcohol again. Recovery is about changing our relationship with thinking itself.”

“The most powerful tool in the workshop isn’t the drill. It’s the person holding it.”

🌱 Reflection
Take a few quiet moments this week to reflect on these questions:

Where in my life is my thinking running on autopilot?

Which thoughts do I repeatedly mistake for facts?

What old prediction keeps showing up in my life?

Which thoughts deserve my attention… and which can I simply notice and let pass?

What would change if I remembered that I am the operator—not the tool?

💛 Remember…
Your brain is doing exactly what brains are designed to do.

It generates thoughts.

You don’t need to believe every one of them.

You always have the power to choose which thoughts you nourish, which you question, and which you simply allow to pass by.

That is where freedom begins.

🤝 Let’s Connect
I’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s episode or learn more about your own recovery journey.

📧 Email: lynette@llrcoaching.com

If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may be carrying their “power tool” with the switch permanently on.

Until next time…

Stay curious. Stay compassionate. And remember… you are always more powerful than your thoughts.

🎵 Closing Song: Remember – Sutherland

This week I'm talking to Cape Town-based CBT practitioner Emily about the practical ways Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can support behaviour change and an alcohol-free life.

Emily explains how our thoughts, feelings and behaviours become connected over time, and why drinking can become an automatic response to anxiety, stress, celebration or discomfort. Rather than judging these patterns, CBT encourages us to become curious about them — and then start interrupting them.

Emily introduces the simple STOP technique for dealing with an urge:

S — Stop: pause rather than reacting automatically.
T — Take a breath: interrupt the urge and calm the nervous system.
O — Observe: notice the thought or feeling without treating it as a command.
P — Proceed: choose what you want to do next with intention rather than running on autopilot.

We also discussed urge surfing, journalling and thought records, as well as how to challenge limiting beliefs such as “I deserve a drink” or “I can’t relax without alcohol.” Instead of simply replacing these thoughts with positive ones, Emily suggests looking at the whole truth: What is alcohol really giving you — and what happens afterwards?

The conversation also explores why people can become trapped in repeated attempts at moderation, the importance of building alternative coping strategies, and why an alcohol-free life needs to contain things that genuinely provide relaxation, pleasure, connection and purpose.

There’s even a fascinating discussion about dogs and emotional regulation — including Emily’s six-month-old Staffy, Vizoo — and the role that movement, routine, connection and unconditional companionship can play in our wellbeing.

Emily leaves us with a beautifully simple message: you don't have to change everything at once.

If you're feeling stuck in your drinking, becoming curious is already a beginning. Take one small step — write down a thought, speak to someone, try a tool or experiment with a few alcohol-free days. Change doesn't require perfection; it begins with awareness, curiosity and action.

You can find Emily on Instagram - @cbtincpt

You can find Tribe Sober here

Eclipse the Story: Remembering Your Light
🎵 Intro and Outro Song: Remember – Sutherland

🦋 Episode Summary
This week, Lynette reflects on the symbolism of the recent total solar eclipse and asks a powerful question:

What if it isn’t life that’s eclipsing your light… but the thoughts you’ve been practising?

Drawing on neuroscience, coaching, and her own journey as she approaches nine years alcohol-free, Lynette explores how our brains become prediction machines. Repeated thoughts, when linked with feelings and behaviours, become familiar neural pathways that shape our beliefs, our identity, and ultimately the life we create.

Using a simple coaching model—Circumstance → Thought → Feeling → Action → Result—this episode explores how we can become detectives of our own thinking, understand why we keep repeating old patterns, and intentionally create new ones.

Recovery isn’t just about stopping drinking.

It’s about remembering who you’ve always been.

✨ In This Episode

Why the eclipse is a powerful metaphor for recovery.

The difference between circumstances and the thoughts we have about them.

How the brain becomes a prediction machine.

Why familiar thoughts often feel like facts.

How repeated thoughts become beliefs.

The coaching model that transformed Lynette’s life.

A real-life example of how one thought can lead to completely different outcomes.

How to stop reacting to life and begin creating it intentionally.

Why recovery is about changing identity, not just behaviour.

🌱 Reflection Questions
Take a few quiet moments this week to reflect on these questions:

What thoughts have been eclipsing my light?

Which thought do I keep rehearsing that no longer serves me?

What result do I want to create in my life?

Who am I becoming?

What new thought could I begin practising today?

💛 Remember…
An eclipse never destroys the sun.

It simply hides it for a while.

Your light has never gone out.

Old stories, old beliefs, and old predictions may have hidden it—but they don’t define who you are.

As Sutherland’s beautiful closing song reminds us:

Remember.

Remember your strength.

Remember your light.

Remember who you’ve always been beneath the stories.

🤝 Let’s Connect
I’d love to hear what resonated with you from this episode.

You can email me at:

📧 lynette@llrcoaching.com

Or come and join us inside the Tribe Sober community, where together we’re learning not only how to live alcohol-free, but how to create lives we genuinely love.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may need this message today.

Until next time…

Keep noticing your thoughts. Keep protecting your light. And remember… your light has been there all along.

Tribe Sober - inspiring an alcohol-free life!

This week my guest is tribe member Clive Vanderwagen.  Clive is a business and leadership coach who is also a wine expert!  

In this Episode

Clive’s father offered him a taste of wine at quite an early age in an effort to make it “less exciting” but looking back Clive feels this was a bit naïve and if he was ever a parent he would probably share with his kids that he had struggled with alcohol himself and that it should be treated with caution.

Educating our kids about alcohol is SO tricky but one thing is for sure – it’s easier to do it if we don’t drink – it’s no good saying one thing and then modelling another as we open our nightly bottle of wine!

Like many of us Clive felt invincible when he was younger and the fact that he became dependent on alcohol took him by surpise. Alcohol dependency tends to sneak up on us over the years and its only when we try to cut down or give up that we realise we have a problem!

That’s why regular breaks are so important – if you want to try 21 alcohol free days with online, community and audio support then just sign up for Accelerate

I could really identify with Clive when he said he went to AA to see everyone chain smoking and talking about their rock bottoms and just didn’t feel he fitted in! He just didn’t feel like an alcoholic because he wasn’t drinking in the morning, crashing cars, losing jobs etc

The thing is we don’t have to wait until we hit “rock bottom” before we make a change

Like most of us Clive tried “moderation” and we agreed that our “drinking neural pathway” will always be there so once you’ve crossed a line with your drinking moderation is no longer an option.

Clive talked about being triggered by a sunny day and the thought of drinking rose – he has a sensible approach to his triggers – he just recognizes them, gets a bit curious about them and then lets them pass without acting on them

One way of dealing with those triggers is to create another ritual to replace it – for example if Clive started enjoying a glass on AF bubbly everytime he sat drinking in the sunshine then his subconscious would gradually create a new and less harmful trigger.

Clive’s Madonna Story was a classic example of how we expect alcohol to enhance our experiences – in Clive’s case he ended up almost blacking out and missing most of a concert he’d been looking forward to for months!

Clive has made the joyful discovery that “Clive doesn’t need alcohol to be Clive” – he can still be the life and soul of the party when stone cold sober!

11 months into his sobriety Clive feels he's regained control of his life and reduced his anxiety -he feels strong and is proud to be alcohol

Clive ended our interview by reading his stunning Goodbye to Alcohol letter which he found a powerful and cathartic experience 

Just go to tribesober.com and hit the "join our tribe" button to read more about the benefits of membership

More info

Subscription membership for Tribe Sober join up HERE

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If you would like a free copy of our "Annual Tracker" or our e-book "66 Days to Sobriety" please email janet@tribesober.com

If you would like to come to our Saturday afternoon Zoom Cafe as a guest and meet our community just email janet@tribesober.com   

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Thank you for listening! 

Till Next Week

Janet x