3 Ways to Build Your Resilience in The Face of Pivotal Events
Atheists in Recovery
"Never let a good crisis go to waste." Winston Churchill Welcome to today’s show! In today’s episode, I list 3 ways to build your resilience in the face of pivotal events. I announce a new project I’m excited about and invite you to join me on my new journey! WHAT WE’LL LEARN What types of events are pivotal (e.g. arrest, loss of a job, divorce/break up, big birthday, pandemic/languishing, loss, trauma, realization that I’m on the wrong path and life is passing me by). How do these events impact us? Understanding the Window of Tolerance. What do...
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How to Tell When Your Pain is Protecting You: dialoguing with our overwhelming emotions.
Atheists in Recovery
Welcome to today’s show! In today’s episode, I talk about how to tell when your pain is protecting you by dialoguing with our emotions. And the pain that I will be referring to is guilt, shame, remorse, maybe judgment, self judgment caused by the inner critic. WHAT WE’LL LEARN What are the types of pain? The pain of guilt or shame, remorse or judgment caused by the inner critic. Who is the Inner protector is and what is its purpose. How to listen to the healing signals through writing (what can they be signifying or letting us know we need to pay attention to?) I give a...
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How to Deal with Feelings of Loneliness and Isolation The Right Way
Atheists in Recovery
“You had someone to go places with. You had a date on national holidays!” -Marie, When Harry Met Sally, 1989 Welcome to today’s show! Loneliness is a feeling that I know a lot of us try and avoid. And the thing is, we've all felt lonely at different points in our life. So it's an important topic. I've described loneliness as an epidemic in previous shows (and so has the 19th Surgeon General of the U.S. Vivek Murthy). It's so prevalent and it's also so destructive mentally, and physically. So let’s dive in. WHAT WE’LL LEARN What does society tell us about loneliness (hint:...
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Top 3 Masks We Wear and Why We Should Take Them Off
Atheists in Recovery
“Man is least himself when he talks in his own persona. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.” -Oliver Wilde Welcome to today’s show! In today’s episode, I talk about the masks that do more harm than good. The masks we wear because we are afraid; we are afraid that it anyone see’s how incompetent we are at our job, relationships, parenting, at anything we feel is part of our identity, the costs will be too great. WHAT WE’LL LEARN I talk about the top 3 masks: the social mask, the emotional mask, The “Who AM I” Mask. I give you a challenge to...
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How to Cultivate A Resilience Mindset - from breakdown to break through
Atheists in Recovery
People who are resilient allow themselves to be changed by the experience of adversity. To be resilient is not to avoid difficulty but to play an active role in how difficulty transforms you. -Kelly McGonigal, PhD, health psychologist, Stanford University Welcome to today’s show! I’ve found that if one can focus their attention on resilience in these trying times, it shows that they can handle almost anything-it’s a learned capacity to cope! Resilience is as important to our well-being as Josh allen is to the Buffalo Bills. :) WHAT WE’LL LEARN Skills and...
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How can a creative act like writing move us through a healing process?
Atheists in Recovery
“Creativity is a basic human response to trauma and a natural emergency defense system,” Louise DeSalvo Welcome to today’s show! I spend some time talking about what writing can do for us and why writing works. I talk about how writing in community can be beneficial and how I will structure my upcoming writing groups based on the literature and personal experience. WHAT WE’LL LEARN Why writing? What writing can do for us? Writing in community - what is the additional benefit? What should we be aware of regarding safety/boundaries with writing I will explain my...
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The secret to not losing yourself: recovering from narcissistic abuse
Atheists in Recovery
Welcome to today’s show! WHAT WE’LL LEARN What is narcissism really? I discuss the myth of narcissism and how social media gets it terribly wrong. How do you know if you’ve been in a relationship with a narcissist? You’ve tried to be who your partner needed and when they are gone, you’ve lost yourself. Now what? How writing helps with healing. I give you a few writing prompts. RESOURCES MENTIONED ...
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3 Ways Writing Takes You from Hopeless to Hopeful: the final episode
Atheists in Recovery
Welcome to today’s show! In today’s episode, I list 3 ways writing takes you from hopeless to hopeful:. And I’ve decided to end the Atheists in Recovery podcast so this is the final episode. I thank you all for listening. I announce a new project I’m excited about and invite you to join me on my new journey! WHAT WE’LL LEARN Writing as a coping mechanism. Writing allows us to sit with the uncomfortable feelings and be curious about them-their contours, shapes and sizes. Writing can help us honor and light up our stories while prompting us to envision our future...
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How to Fight Your Sugar Addiction
Atheists in Recovery
Welcome to today’s show! WHAT WE’LL LEARN: How Johnathan’s early view of religion helped shape his identity in the world. How his southern baptist “angry form of Christianity” messages made him question life. At age 37, Jonathan found himself at a critical crossroads when staring into a garbage can. The three steps to help you overcome your sugar addiction. Why Johnathan feels the willpower argument is a lie. Johnathan talks about what to do now that we are physically distancing and food is everywhere. What practice Johnathan started in order to socially connect while staying...
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5 Ways Hypnotherapy Can Help Cure Addiction
Atheists in Recovery
Welcome to today’s show! In today’s solo episode, I’m sharing how I use hypnotherapy to treat addiction. Below I outline 5 takeaways hypnotherapy can help you with addiction. WHAT WE’LL LEARN Hypnotherapy is not new. Hypnotherapists have been getting to the root cause of one’s suffering for years Say hello to your future self. You are the storyteller of your present & future When you fire it, you wire it. Making new neural connections The language you use matters The story of Duane (how he kicked his 20 plus year smoking habit) Some amazing things happen during...
info_outlineWelcome to today’s show!
WHAT WE’LL LEARN:
- Chris described his deepest roots as being introduced to spirituality by way of “special event Catholicism” God and the idea of a higher power was a novelty to Chris
- How his relationship with sobriety was one of coercion by being court ordered into fellowships, group therapy, jail, and house arrests.
- Chris describes his high school locker as a small black marketplace for anything he needed.
- How being “uncomfortable in his own skin” led to finding relief from alcohol.
- How Chris fell into a 12 step meeting around his hometown and had friends in that meeting-all young people. This was the first time Chris said to himself, “This could be fun. Sobriety can be cool”
- How his last year of addiction was the darkest place he's ever been. This led to a call for help from God laden with curse words. From that day on, Chris has been sober.
- Chris states he did not find spirituality until he found recovery.
- When going to Hazelden, Chris flashed back to the 1st time he really got sober and hearing the professionals say, “The disease is doing pushups in the parking lot while you’re inside trying to get sober.” Chris clenched onto sobriety as tightly as he could during his stay. Even though his default thoughts were negative.
- What Chris’s first spiritual experience was like on his walk “taking the long way home.”
- How the gift of recovery helps one take pause to live a better life.
Key Quotes:
“The disease is doing pushups in the parking lot while you’re inside trying to get sober.”
“I was really self-conscious in addiction and found my voice in recovery.”
RESOURCES MENTIONED
- A.I.R. Survey Please take this 45 second survey to help direct the future of the AIR podcast.
- Taking The Long Way Home by Chris Blavelt
- Augustine Recovery
- Augustine Recovery-Facebook
- Augustine Recovery-Instagram
- [email protected]
For more info, head over to atheistsinrecovery.com and subscribe to our email list. And thank you for listening!
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