Trigger Warning: This episode contains references to suicidal ideation, childhood trauma, family violence, and mental illness. 

Laura has been alcohol-free since Christmas and the voice in her head keeps saying: this isn't going to work for you. Patricia is 83 days in, standing outside in minus-17 degrees watching the moon, finally letting herself cry. Feeling raw after quitting alcohol is exactly where both of them are. Coach Hayley and Coach Zoe don't try to fix it or rush past it. They just sit with it.

Laura discusses:

Feeling happy on the drive home and immediately wondering if she was doing something wrong

How stopping drinking opened up body awareness she didn't know she was missing

What it felt like when her shoulders released, her jaw unclenched, and she could finally breathe

Using a hand-on-heart practice to respond to emotional cravings instead of reaching for a drink

Coach Hayley's reframe: "A thought is not an instruction"

Why her morning practice made her smile — and how she almost dismissed it as not enough

Patricia discusses:

How 23 years of teaching children to feel safe revealed tools she already had for herself

Staying in her own box, processing old emotions, and building a new life without leaving the one she has

Why her long walks across Britain and the Camino were nervous system regulation she never recognized

Building a life from her own ingredients, not the fears handed to her by others

The difference between loving her adult children and enabling them

Why "I'm choosing today" is more sustainable than "I can do this forever"

And more topics…

Hayley Scherders is a certified TNM Coach with training from the Canadian Addiction and Mental Health Association. Drawing from personal experiences, Hayley understands how tough change can be and provides a safe, compassionate, and judgment-free space where her clients can feel supported. She believes that with the right mindset, anyone can change their life at any time.

Learn more about Coach Hayley: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/hayley-scherders/

Zoe Ewart is a Certified Naked Mind Senior Coach who brings her experience and understanding to help with the tricky parts of life’s big changes. Her coaching gives you an enjoyable, light-hearted, and safe environment to effortlessly take back control of alcohol so you can feel better physically, mentally, and spiritually. Zoe taught Pilates for 15 years. She has four adult children and more animals than the Ark ever had.

Learn more about Coach Zoe: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/zoe-ewart/

Episode links:

nakedmindpath.com

Related Episodes:

How To Stop Drinking To Avoid Emotions | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | E845 – https://thisnakedmind.com/drinking-to-avoid-emotions-afc-e845/ 

The Path to Inner Clarity | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | E748 – https://thisnakedmind.com/the-path-to-inner-clarity-alcohol-freedom-coaching-e748/ 

Healing Emotional Pain Without Alcohol | Reader Questions | EP 706 – https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-706-readers-question-healing-emotional-pain-without-alcohol/ 

Ready to take the next step on your journey? 
Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Green Chef, Quince, Shopify, Zazzle, and OSEA. BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at ⁠betterhelp.com/nakedmind ⁠Green Chef: Get 50% off your first month, then 20% percent off for 2 month at ⁠greenchef.com/NAKEDMIND ⁠Quince: get free shipping and 365-day returns at ⁠quince.com/naked⁠Shopify: Sign up for $1 month trial at ⁠shopify.com/mind⁠ Zazzle: Save 25% on your first order at ⁠zazzle.com⁠ OSEA: Get 10% off your first order sitewide with code NAKEDMIND at ⁠OSEAMalibu.com⁠

Is your life mostly intact — job fine, marriage okay, responsibilities covered — and yet you're drinking every single night and can't quite picture stopping? That's exactly where Tim Knapp was for years, and he was also, at the same time, one of the people other people called in a crisis. He spent over a decade working inside addiction recovery programs, walking men out of homelessness and incarceration, understanding the neuroscience of dependency from the inside out. High-functioning doesn't mean fine, and Tim's story is one of the most honest, clear-eyed accounts of what it actually looks like when the two things are true at once. 

Tim and Coach Cole discuss:

• Growing up in small-town Oklahoma and discovering the buzz at age 12 — including a homemade raisin wine operation that launched a decade-long love affair with the altered state

• Why Tim loved the buzz itself more than the taste, and how that distinction became the key to his freedom

• Working at the Bowery Mission in New York City while his own drinking quietly escalated in the background

• The painful intersection of conscious and subconscious mind: knowing something is hurting you and still wanting it anyway

• How reading This Naked Mind led to an afternoon of rereading, a conversation at the kitchen bar, and the first honest talk he'd ever had with his wife about his drinking

• Why you don't have to lose everything before you're allowed to ask for help — and why high-functioning drinkers are often the least likely to reach out

• The photo of his childhood self on the fridge, and what it means to welcome that person back

• Tim's coaching style: asking questions that get to the why, not just the what, and his conviction that you already have everything you need to change

Episode links:

https://thisnakedmind.com/bookhttps://www.timknappcoaching.com/

Related Episodes:

Healing Through Self-Love: Cole's Naked Life | EP 737 — https://thisnakedmind.com/healing-through-self-love-coles-naked-life-e737/ 

Find the Courage to Choose Yourself: Patrick's Naked Life | EP 735 — https://thisnakedmind.com/find-the-courage-to-choose-yourself-patricks-naked-life-e735/

EP 20: Reader Question – What do You do about Missing the “High” from Drinking? -  https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-20-reader-question-what-do-you-do-about-missing-the-high-from-drinking/

Ready to take the next step on your journey? 

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Green Chef, Quince, Shopify, Zazzle, and OSEA. BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at ⁠betterhelp.com/nakedmind ⁠Green Chef: Get 50% off your first month, then 20% percent off for 2 month at ⁠greenchef.com/NAKEDMIND ⁠Quince: get free shipping and 365-day returns at ⁠quince.com/naked⁠Shopify: Sign up for $1 month trial at ⁠shopify.com/mind⁠ Zazzle: Save 25% on your first order at ⁠zazzle.com⁠ OSEA: Get 10% off your first order sitewide with code NAKEDMIND at ⁠OSEAMalibu.com⁠

Have you ever gotten exactly what you wanted, only to wait for something to go wrong? That's where Brenda is in today's episode — alcohol-free, feeling like herself again, and quietly afraid to believe it will last. In the second session, Emma has spent five years in a cycle she can't seem to break, and she finally gets a look at what's really underneath it. Two coaches, two guests, two conversations that go to some genuinely surprising places. 

Brenda discusses:

• Why her alcohol freedom has felt "too easy" — and what that fear is really about

• How knowledge and science shifted her desire, not just her behavior

• The one-year and five-year visualization exercise that changed everything

• Reframing past "failures" as data points that guided her to exactly where she is

• Building self-trust day by day through The Path community

• And more…

Emma discusses:

• Her five-year cycle of months alcohol-free followed by weeks drinking again

• Why alcohol gave her permission to feel emotions she couldn't access otherwise

• Connecting with an emotional armor that formed in childhood to protect her

• An IFS-style coaching exercise to meet the "bouncer at the gate" with curiosity

• The moment her armor responded: "I've been so lonely"

• And more…

Hayley Scherders is a certified TNM Coach with training from the Canadian Addiction and Mental Health Association. Drawing from personal experiences, Hayley understands how tough change can be and provides a safe, compassionate, and judgment-free space where her clients can feel supported. She believes that with the right mindset, anyone can change their life at any time.

Learn more about Coach Hayley: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/hayley-scherders/

Cole Harvey is a certified Naked Mind Senior Coach. For years, he felt lost and used alcohol as a way to cope, until he decided to go alcohol-free and focus on finding his purpose. Through curiosity, self-compassion, and adventure, he transformed his life. As a habit change and mindset coach, Cole helps young men understand themselves, build better habits, and find meaning.

Learn more about Coach Cole: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/cole-harvey/

Episode links: nakedmindpath.com

Related Episodes:Trusting Yourself Again: Alcohol Freedom Coaching | EP 760 - https://thisnakedmind.com/trusting-yourself-again-alcohol-freedom-coaching-e760/ 

Reclaiming Your True Self: Alcohol Freedom Coaching | EP 770 - https://thisnakedmind.com/reclaiming-your-true-self-alcohol-freedom-coaching-e770/ 

Is the Drunk You the Real You? | Reader’s Question | EP 696 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-696-readers-question-is-the-drunk-you-the-real-you/

Ready to take the next step on your journey?

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Green Chef, Quince, Shopify, Zazzle, and OSEA. BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at ⁠betterhelp.com/nakedmind ⁠Green Chef: Get 50% off your first month, then 20% percent off for 2 month at ⁠greenchef.com/NAKEDMIND ⁠Quince: get free shipping and 365-day returns at ⁠quince.com/naked⁠Shopify: Sign up for $1 month trial at ⁠shopify.com/mind⁠ Zazzle: Save 25% on your first order at ⁠zazzle.com⁠ OSEA: Get 10% off your first order sitewide with code NAKEDMIND at ⁠OSEAMalibu.com⁠

Ever used drinking to cope with grief and felt like it wasn’t even a conscious choice but rather a reflex? Jonathan knows that feeling exactly. He'd been living alcohol-free for two and a half years when he lost his father-in-law and then his dad, just months apart, during the pandemic. On the drive home from the funeral, he stopped at a Mexican restaurant and ordered a margarita. He thought he'd have one and go back to his life. Instead, the door that had been closed swung open, and the whole cycle started over. This conversation with Coach Cole is about grief, identity, and what it really takes to find your way back to yourself.

Jonathan and Coach Cole discuss:

How a scuba trip at sixteen taught Jonathan that alcohol was the price of admission for real connection, and how that belief quietly ran the show for twenty-five years

Building his identity around being the life of the party through the service industry years, and the first time he realized he had no off switch

Spending an entire Renaissance Festival doing alcohol math in his head, calculating drinks instead of making memories with his wife

The fight, the blackout, and the tearful run in the rain that brought him to the This Naked Mind audiobook

How reading This Naked Mind produced what felt like an overnight shift, and the anger he felt at never having been told what alcohol actually was

Going two and a half years alcohol-free during the pandemic, then losing his father-in-law and his dad within months of each other

The single margarita at a Mexican restaurant that cracked the door back open, and how the whole cycle restarted without a single conscious choice

Going through the TNM Institute as his own first client, uncovering twenty-five years of people-pleasing, and finally stepping into who he actually is

And more on IFS parts work, somatic experiencing, rebuilding self-trust, and what it means to show up in your own truth...

Episode Links:

Start your journey at nakedmindpath.com

 https://www.thisnakedmindinstitute.com/tnmi-home

Related Episodes:

How Do I Deal With Death and Grief Without Alcohol | Reader Question | EP 262 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-262-reader-question-grief-without-alcohol/

How Quitting Drinking Saved My Life | Kay B.’s Naked Life | EP 717 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-717-naked-life-story-kay-b/

Alcohol and Grief | Coaching Questions with Pam McRae | EP 382 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-382-coaching-questions-with-scott-pinyard/

Ready to take the next step on your journey?

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Green Chef, Quince, Shopify, Zazzle, and OSEA. BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at ⁠betterhelp.com/nakedmind ⁠Green Chef: Get 50% off your first month, then 20% percent off for 2 month at ⁠greenchef.com/NAKEDMIND ⁠Quince: get free shipping and 365-day returns at ⁠quince.com/naked⁠Shopify: Sign up for $1 month trial at ⁠shopify.com/mind⁠ Zazzle: Save 25% on your first order at ⁠zazzle.com⁠ OSEA: Get 10% off your first order sitewide with code NAKEDMIND at ⁠OSEAMalibu.com⁠

What if the thing keeping you stuck isn't a lack of willpower, but a lack of understanding what's really driving you back? Linda has nearly 100 days alcohol-free and is starting to wonder if she trusts herself more than she thinks she does. Jane is asking a question she's carried for decades: why do I keep going back to something that gives me nothing anymore? In this episode, Coach Cole and Coach Zoe meet each of them right where they are, with warmth, honesty, and zero judgment. If you've ever felt confused by your own relationship with alcohol, you're going to feel very seen here.

Linda discusses:

Whether Antabuse has become a crutch, and what she realizes

A self-trust check-in that shifts when she remembers an overlooked moment

Finding an unopened margarita and pouring it down the drain without a second thought

The difference between running from a past she doesn't want and moving toward a future that actually pulls her

Building trust through evidence: 99 days, four big holidays, and choices she barely noticed making

And more…

Jane discusses:

Why do I keep going back to drinking — the question she's been carrying her whole life

Tracing her drinking from teenage rebellion through to a need to escape discomfort

The distinction between habit and addiction, and why it changes everything

The hand-on-heart practice Coach Zoe teaches her to become her own parent and witness discomfort instead of numbing it

And more topics…

Cole Harvey is a Certified Naked Mind Senior Coach. For years, he felt lost and used alcohol to cope, until he decided to go alcohol-free and focus on finding his purpose. Through curiosity, self-compassion, and adventure, he transformed his life. As a habit change and mindset coach, Cole helps young men understand themselves, build better habits, and find meaning.Learn more about Coach Cole: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/cole-harvey/

Zoe Ewart is a Certified Naked Mind Senior Coach who brings her experience and understanding to help with the tricky parts of life’s big changes. Her coaching gives you an enjoyable, light-hearted, and safe environment to effortlessly take back control of alcohol so you can feel better physically, mentally, and spiritually. Zoe taught Pilates for 15 years. She has four adult children and more animals than the Ark ever had.Learn more about Coach Zoe: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/zoe-ewart/

Episode links: nakedmindpath.com

Related Episodes:

Why Do I Keep Going Back to Drinking? | Reader Question | EP 570 – https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-570-readers-questions-why-do-i-keep-going-back-to-drinking/

How To Stop Drinking To Avoid Emotions | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | EP 845 – https://thisnakedmind.com/drinking-to-avoid-emotions-afc-e845/

Trusting Yourself Again | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | EP 760 – https://thisnakedmind.com/trusting-yourself-again-alcohol-freedom-coaching-e760/

Ready to take the next step on your journey? 

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Green Chef, Quince, Shopify, Zazzle, and OSEA. BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at betterhelp.com/nakedmind Green Chef: Get 50% off your first month, then 20% percent off for 2 month at greenchef.com/NAKEDMIND Quince: get free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/nakedShopify: Sign up for $1 month trial at shopify.com/mind Zazzle: Save 25% on your first order at zazzle.com OSEA: Get 10% off your first order sitewide with code NAKEDMIND at OSEAMalibu.com

What does it take to finally break the alcohol shame spiral when it's been running your life for decades? Krista knows the cycle well: a data point, the crushing shame that followed, a vow to do better, and then the slow, sneaky creep back to hiding bottles and pulling over on the side of the road to drink before going home. In this episode, she sits down with Coach Cole Harvey to share the full arc of her journey, from a childhood in the American South to bartending in New York City, to raising two kids in rural Ireland with no family nearby, to the night something finally, irreversibly shifted. A year into her alcohol-free life, Krista is clear: the work was hard, and she has never once looked back.

In this episode, Krista and Coach Cole discuss:

Growing up with alcohol woven into every family gathering, and starting drinking at 12 or 13 as a way to finally feel like she belonged

Bartending in New York City in her twenties, closing bars with no memory of getting home, and knowing even then that something was wrong

Moving to Ireland, losing her father while pregnant with her first child, and leaning harder on alcohol to cope with grief and isolation

Years of trying — and failing — to moderate, from "only on weekends" to hiding bottles, and the shame spiral that followed every data point

The rock bottom moment her husband came home and there was no hiding it anymore, and why that night became the turning point she couldn't explain

Returning to counseling, reconnecting with her Path community, and doing the inner work of learning she was worthy of her own care

Building a morning practice of meditation, journaling, and yoga, and recognizing that self-care wasn't a luxury but a necessity for her freedom

The daffodil metaphor: planting seeds at the beginning of her journey, and finally learning to cut the flowers and bring the beauty inside

And more on self-compassion, the stop-start cycle, and what it actually means to believe you are enough…

Episode links: nakedmindpath.com

Related Episodes:

Stopping The Shame Spiral | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | E883 — https://thisnakedmind.com/stopping-the-shame-spiral-afc-e883/

Overcoming Shame and Embarrassment After Drinking | Reader's Question | EP 722 — https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-722-readers-question-overcoming-shame-and-embarrassment-after-drinking/

Naked Life Story: Angela | EP 147 — https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-147-naked-life-story-angela/

Ready to take the next step on your journey? 

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Green Chef, OSEA, Quince, and Shopify. BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at betterhelp.com/nakedmind  Green Chef: Green Chef is offering 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months at greenchef.com/nakedmind use code NAKEDMIND. OSEA: Get 10% off of your first order sitewide with code NAKEDMIND at OSEAMalibu.com Quince: get free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/naked Shopify: Sign up for $1 month trial at shopify.com/mind

Trigger Warning: This episode includes conversations about grief, loss of loved ones, family estrangement, trauma, and depression.

Have you ever been in so much pain that reaching for a drink just felt like the most human thing to do? That is exactly where today's two guests have been, and this episode will meet you right there. First up is Cathy, 87 days alcohol-free, who joins Coach Cole to work through something she has been quietly carrying for years: a sibling estrangement that started when her family fell apart after her mom passed. She reached out. They pulled away. The hurt stuck around. Then there is Mike, 65 days alcohol-free, who opens up to Coach Zoe about a grief timeline that unfolded faster than he could process: his mom, his estranged brother, a DNR call made from behind the wheel of his car. Drinking to deal with loss became the only language he had for a while, and the depression that came with it crept in so quietly he did not even see it happening. What both of them found inside The Path is what this whole community is built on: a place where someone finally asks the real question, and you finally get to answer it.

In Cathy’s Session:

The sibling estrangement that started with her mom's estate and the grief that stayed long after

Why the hurt lingered even when she thought she had mostly moved on

The realization that joy and grief can exist at the same time without canceling each other out

Coach Cole's reframe: releasing expectations of others is one of the most loving things you can do for yourself

How approaching old pain with curiosity and playfulness changes what feels possible

In Mike’s Session:

Losing his mom to brain cancer, then his brother, and carrying all of it without telling a soul

A DNR decision made alone over the phone and the guilt that moved in quietly afterward

Drinking to deal with loss when there was no framework for grief and no space to speak it out loud

The coaching reframe that shifted his guilt into something that actually felt like grace

What 65 days alcohol-free looks like in the body: sleep, mornings, energy, and presence

The "forever" moment at a family party, said out loud for the very first time

And more on grief, identity, repair, and what it looks like to actually come back to yourself...

Cole Harvey is a certified Naked Mind Senior Coach. For years, he felt lost and used alcohol as a way to cope, until he decided to go alcohol-free and focus on finding his purpose. Through curiosity, self-compassion, and adventure, he transformed his life. As a habit change and mindset coach, Cole helps young men understand themselves, build better habits, and find meaning.

Learn more about Coach Cole: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/cole-harvey/

Zoe Ewart is a Certified Naked Mind Senior Coach who brings her experience and understanding to help with the tricky parts of life’s big changes. Her coaching gives you an enjoyable, light-hearted, and safe environment to effortlessly take back control of alcohol so you can feel better physically, mentally, and spiritually. Zoe taught Pilates for 15 years. She has four adult children and more animals than the Ark ever had.

Learn more about Coach Zoe: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/zoe-ewart/

Episode links: nakedmindpath.com

Related Episodes:

How do I deal with death and grief without alcohol? | Reader Question | EP 262 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-262-reader-question-grief-without-alcohol/ 

Alcohol and Grief with Pam McRae | Coaching Questions | EP 382 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-382-coaching-questions-with-scott-pinyard/

How do you deal with stress without alcohol? | Reader Question | EP 158 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-158-how-do-you-deal-with-stress-without-alcohol/

Ready to take the next step on your journey? 
Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Green Chef, OSEA, Quince, and Shopify. BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at betterhelp.com/nakedmind  Green Chef: Green Chef is offering 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months at greenchef.com/nakedmind use code NAKEDMIND. OSEA: Get 10% off of your first order sitewide with code NAKEDMIND at OSEAMalibu.com Quince: get free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/naked Shopify: Sign up for $1 month trial at shopify.com/mind

Wondering how I stopped drinking after trying to moderate for years? "Have I got a story for you!" says Michele. She ran a business, raised her daughter, kept things moving — and drank every night in a relationship where no one questioned it. Then the pandemic stripped away her structure, her purpose, and everything that had kept things manageable. She tried cutting back. She tried understanding it. Nothing stuck — until This Naked Mind gave her something willpower alone never could: a real understanding of what alcohol was doing to her, and the freedom to simply stop wanting it.

Michele and Coach Cole discuss:

How a functional habit quietly grew through a painful breakup, pandemic isolation, and lost purpose

Why Michele spent her first year using This Naked Mind while still trying to moderate — and what finally changed

The hospitalization that became her line in the sand

How This Naked Mind helped her understand what alcohol was actually doing to her body and brain

How shame became the thing that made drinking impossible to continue

Reframing her hardest moments as the reason her daughter now has a fully present mom

ADHD, generational patterns, and why "why can I stop sometimes but not others?" finally has an answer

And more on identity, community, and what it means to find your own path to alcohol freedom…

Episode links: nakedmindpath.com

Related Episodes:

Is Drinking In Moderation Possible? | Reader Question | EP 08 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-08-reader-question-moderation-possible/

Using Alcohol To Treat Adult ADHD | Amy’s Naked Life | EP800 - https://thisnakedmind.com/using-alcohol-to-treat-adult-adhd-amys-naked-life-e800/

I use alcohol to be a better wife and mother | Reader Question | EP 238 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-238-reader-question-i-use-alcohol-to-be-a-better-wife-and-mother/

Ready to take the next step on your journey? 

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Green Chef, OSEA, Quince, and Shopify. BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at betterhelp.com/nakedmind  Green Chef: Green Chef is offering 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months at greenchef.com/nakedmind use code NAKEDMIND. OSEA: Get 10% off of your first order sitewide with code NAKEDMIND at OSEAMalibu.com Quince: get free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/naked Shopify: Sign up for $1 month trial at shopify.com/mind

Trigger warning: This episode contains references to domestic violence, suicidal ideation, & self-harm ideation.

If you've been wondering how to rebuild self-worth after drinking, this episode will meet you right where you are. Coach Zoe coaches Katia through the power of her "alive goal" — learning to love the girl in the mirror after years of not being able to look at her own reflection. Then Coach Cole walks Tracey through meeting her inner critic with curiosity rather than shame. These coaching sessions are raw, real, and deeply human. Learning to trust yourself sober starts with understanding where that harsh inner voice came from — and realizing you don't have to keep carrying what was never yours to begin with.

Katia discusses:

• What an "alive goal" is and why it changes everything

• Years of avoiding mirrors and not recognizing herself

• A violent relationship, emotional eating, and the weight of survival

• Drawing a picture of herself — and seeing who she really is inside

• Giving herself permission to heal (and why that's harder than it sounds)

• Choosing The Path after years of trying to figure it out alone

• And more…

Tracey discusses:

• The self-compassion struggle when criticism is all you've ever known

• Meeting the inner critic — and finding out it's just scared

• Why binge drinking and shame create a cycle that's hard to break

• Tracing perfectionism back to a critical parent

• How to rebuild self-worth after drinking by separating your voice from someone else's

• Learning to trust yourself sober one small, honest moment at a time

• And more topics…

Zoe Ewart is a Certified Naked Mind Senior Coach who brings experience and understanding to help with the tricky parts of life’s big changes. Her coaching gives you an enjoyable, light-hearted, and safe environment to effortlessly take back control of alcohol so you can feel better physically, mentally, and spiritually. Zoe taught Pilates for 15 years. She has four adult children and more animals than the Ark ever had.

Learn more about Coach Zoe: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/zoe-ewart/

Cole Harvey is a Certified Naked Mind Senior Coach. For years, he felt lost and used alcohol to cope, until he decided to go alcohol-free and focus on finding his purpose. Through curiosity, self-compassion, and adventure, he transformed his life. As a habit change and mindset coach, Cole helps young men understand themselves, build better habits, and find meaning.

Learn more about Coach Cole: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/cole-harvey/

Episode links: nakedmindpath.comRelated Episodes:

Healing Through Self-Love | Cole’s Naked Life | E737 - https://thisnakedmind.com/healing-through-self-love-coles-naked-life-e737/

 Learning To Love Yourself Unconditionally | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | E875 - https://thisnakedmind.com/learning-to-love-yourself-unconditionally-afc-e875/

Love Yourself Sober - Naked Life Story – Kate & Mandy - EP 363 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-363-naked-life-story-mandy-kate/

Ready to take the next step on your journey? 

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Green Chef, OSEA, Quince, and Shopify. BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at betterhelp.com/nakedmind  Green Chef: Green Chef is offering 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months at greenchef.com/nakedmind use code NAKEDMIND. OSEA: Get 10% off of your first order sitewide with code NAKEDMIND at OSEAMalibu.com Quince: get free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/naked Shopify: Sign up for $1 month trial at shopify.com/mind

What if the thing you thought was holding your life together was actually pulling you under? JiAna spent years reaching for alcohol not because she wanted to drink but because she was living in relentless pain and nobody had anything better to offer her. Between a chronic illness that left her on the floor and a culture that pushed wine at baby showers and playgroups, it made a terrible kind of sense. But slowly, joy started disappearing. The glimmers faded. That's when she knew something had to change. JiAna describes how coaching helped her change her drinking not through shame or rigid rules, but through curiosity, community, and the kind of compassion she'd never been shown — or shown herself.

In this episode, JiAna and Coach Cole discuss:

Familial drinking culture and alcohol being normalized from childhood

Endometriosis, chronic pain, and why alcohol felt like the only option

Losing the ability to find joy — the quiet signal that something was wrong

Why shame-free support felt strange at first and transformative over time

The ACT technique: awareness, clarity, and turnaround in practice

Community in The Path and the bonds that lasted beyond the program

Becoming a certified Women's Health Coach and being named one of the Most Influential Women of 2025 

And more on self-love, hope, and turning pain into purpose…

Episode links: endo-ease.comnakedmindpath.com

Related Episodes:

Overcoming Using Alcohol as a Pain Reliever | Reader Question | EP 656 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-656-readers-question-overcoming-using-alcohol-as-a-pain-reliever/

How can I break free from Mommy Wine Culture? | Reader Question | EP 430 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-430-reader-question-how-can-i-break-free-from-mommy-wine-culture/

Learning To Love Yourself Unconditionally | Alcohol Freedom Coaching | E875 - https://thisnakedmind.com/learning-to-love-yourself-unconditionally-afc-e875/

Ready to take the next step on your journey? 

Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Green Chef, OSEA, Quince, and Shopify. BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at betterhelp.com/nakedmind  Green Chef: Green Chef is offering 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months at greenchef.com/nakedmind use code NAKEDMIND. OSEA: Get 10% off of your first order sitewide with code NAKEDMIND at OSEAMalibu.com Quince: get free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/naked Shopify: Sign up for $1 month trial at shopify.com/mind

Have you ever done everything "right" and still felt like alcohol had the upper hand? You're not alone — and there's a really good reason for that. Coach Hayley coaches M through the fear and doubt swirling around her upcoming break, while Coach Zoe helps Lawrence see that his drinking is actually rooted in a rebellious 15-year-old who never got to grow up. When you understand why willpower fails with alcohol, everything starts falling into place.

M discusses:

Why willpower fails with alcohol when “just one” never feels like enough

Fear of forever, and why one day at a time feels safer

Drinking alone, hiding, and the pain of not feeling like herself

Using experiments and data instead of shame

Wanting peace, sleep, and self-trust more than wine

Learning to meet her authentic self with curiosity

And more…

Lawrence discusses:

The childhood roots of rebellion and how they shaped his drinking

Why alcohol stopped feeling freeing and started feeling costly

Health, sleep, and relationships taking the hit

Realizing rebellion was hurting him, not helping him

Moving from survival mode into wise-adult choices

Letting go of old stories and building a life he doesn’t want to escape

And more topics…

Hayley Scherders is a certified TNM Coach with training from the Canadian Addiction and Mental Health Association. Drawing from personal experiences, Hayley understands how tough change can be and provides a safe, compassionate, and judgment-free space where her clients can feel supported. She believes that with the right mindset, anyone can change their life at any time.

Learn more about Coach Hayley: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/hayley-scherders/

Zoe Ewart is a Certified Naked Mind Senior Coach who brings her experience and understanding to help with the tricky parts of life’s big changes. Her coaching gives you an enjoyable, light-hearted, and safe environment to effortlessly take back control of alcohol so you can feel better physically, mentally, and spiritually. Zoe taught Pilates for 15 years. She has four adult children and more animals than the Ark ever had.

Learn more about Coach Zoe: https://thisnakedmind.com/coach/zoe-ewart/

Episode links: nakedmindpath.com

Related Episodes:

Willpower Doesn’t Work | Interview | EP 619 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-619-guest-expert-willpower-doesnt-work-with-dr-ben-hardy/

Ways To Rebel Without Alcohol | Reader Questions | EP 268 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-268-reader-question-sneaking-drinking-rebel-withouot-alcohol/

Sleep, with Michael Gradisar | Interview | EP 253 - https://thisnakedmind.com/ep-253-sleep-with-michael-gradisar/

Ready to take the next step on your journey? 
Visit https://learn.thisnakedmind.com/podcast-resources for free resources, programs, and more. Until next week, stay curious!

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, Green Chef, OSEA, Quince, and Shopify. BetterHelp: BetterHelp is offering our listeners 10% off at betterhelp.com/nakedmind  Green Chef: Green Chef is offering 50% off your first month, then 20% off for two months at greenchef.com/nakedmind use code NAKEDMIND. OSEA: Get 10% off of your first order sitewide with code NAKEDMIND at OSEAMalibu.com Quince: get free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/naked Shopify: Sign up for $1 month trial at shopify.com/mind