Alex and Cathy are SO excited to be celebrating Cathy's 3 Year Soberversary with a big announcement: They are launching a brand new, full year, sobriety program! Weaving together Alex's 30-60 Day Sober Girls Yoga Challenges and Cathy's 108 Day Recovery program, brings the brand new Full year Sober Girls Yoga Challenge.
Listen here!
If you enjoyed this episode please don’t forget to subscribe, rate and share the podcast so it can reach more people that it will serve and benefit.
You can learn more about the program here! https://www.themindfullifepractice.com/30daychallenge. Follow me on Instagram @alexmcrobs and check out my offerings in yoga, meditation and coaching at http://themindfullifepractice.com/.
Transcript
Alex: Hi friend this is Alex McRobbs founder of the Mindful Life Practice and you're listening to the Sober Yoga Girl podcast. I'm a Canadian who moved across the world to the Middle East at age 23 and I never went back. I got sober in 2019 and I now live full-time in Bali, Indonesia. I've made it my mission to help other women around the world stop drinking, start yoga and change their lives through my online sober girls yoga Community. You're not alone and a sober life can be fun and fulfilling, let me show you how.
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all right there we go we're on
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hello good morning everyone all right so I have us on the side here oh there's Laura yay Laura was just in our yoga class good morning Laura nice to see you hi Carolyn yeah it's so nice to see you so we will um and we are both Kathy and I are both Starbucks addicts which is how we know that we are a match made in heaven for friendship exactly we didn't plan this but we both have our Starbucks so cheers cheers and if anyone else has their Starbucks out there let us know in the comments Laura says happy three years sober bursary Kathy thank you so much oh my gosh thank you thank you thank you oh it's amazing what a journey I think like three years ago today when it was your day one could you see forward to this point in time at all no like I was in such a dark like you know the Sun's shining in Romney right now and all of that it was probably a day like this outside but I didn't know it you know like I I was just in such a dark place and like physically mentally emotionally just in pain and I I was just sick and tired of being sick and tired and um
yeah no like I couldn't have imagined what my life was gonna be like and I I did it out of I put it down and said well I'll try again because I had tried no I always tell people who um cut back um that I'm so glad that there's cut back tracks now and you know like or so we're curious and it's so funny how the landscape has changed in three years um and maybe there was and I but I just didn't know it because I didn't want a label and I didn't want to join any group because I I just consider myself weak so I'm glad that because I kept trying and I kept not getting it and I was really beating the crap out of myself and then it finally the you know a millionth time was the charm so yeah keep practicing and what was different about like what would you say was different on um July 22nd 2019 compared to like other times you had tried what was the changing thing for you you know it's interesting I mean I really I was in a relationship that was toxic um and it was my desperate way of keeping it together and both of my kids
were sick and tired of me um you know they loved me but you know they they loved me so much that they put a boundary in with me um and they were you know like 16 and 19. um and I was just I was so isolated and I was taught you know I just I I still look back and I don't know but I really feel like it was the universe and I know that sounds woo-woo saying okay just You Gotta Give it up and my you know the longest I had made it before was 90 days and I'm like if I could make it my nieces um um wedding was like in October I'm like I need to make past her wedding if I could do that that will be huge and I just you know meanwhile like that guy
and I broke up um you know just all sorts of things and it was my daughter's senior year like her last year of high school and I wanted you know I was present but I just kept trying but I just really the other thing is I didn't go out like I didn't try to go sit at the local restaurant and sit and have you know water where I would usually have Chardonnay I just didn't I just let myself sit and that was hard I guess that would be the answer I'm glad we talked about this because I I didn't go do the things that I was like well I could go do that but you know I'll just won't drink I didn't do that that's probably it I never figured thing while big moment right here you're witnessing it and so so um I think that was a changing pivoting thing for me too when I quit drinking um was I remember like just withdrawing you mean like just not going to the social things you would normally do I did good sexy and canceled the birthday party canceled
the party eggs under me and then when I felt like I could handle it like step back into those situations that would normally be really triggering yeah yeah no that's that's exactly it yay my daughter was coming with me who you know um and I also knew like you know it was going to be with family and they didn't really know what was going on my family at all I kept it very quiet um but my one nephew when I sat right next to him at the wedding I said listen I'm not drinking and I I also gave up sugar I gave up Dairy I gave up meat um so like I had to like go through a lot of things before I would get to alcohol I would not recommend the Kathy
plan but I had a Catholic plan that was out of control you know um no I didn't go see a doctor that would have been logical I didn't have a therapist that would have been logical you know all the you know those things no I didn't do that right at first but it was around the you know it was around the holiday time that I was like I am really still shaky and why I like why isn't this like just why don't I just feel better so I was like well let me get a therapist I'm gonna go to the acupuncturist and you know I slowly started to do things like that um yeah just trying like holistic um yeah I was really determined to do holistic things and you know I didn't
want to be part of you know the only myself a label and so I was really really adamant that like I get angry if somebody would even mention it one of my best friends would say he would be like why don't you go I'm like I'm not like them you know like I would get really disdained and so labels cut me out of a of getting community help for a long time right as I think they do for so many people like for me that was definitely a barrier
um was that I didn't want to label myself as um as an alcoholic like I didn't feel comfortable with using that label and I think the stigma and the stereotypes and the beliefs we have about certain communities can totally keep us out of something that can be amazing and so supportive exactly exactly and then once I did you know like at eight months um when the world shut down you know I'm grateful that I was you know not drinking when that happened and I ended up joining Laura McGowan had book free book club tours and I got on there with
the luckiest club and I just saw I like sat like this well actually my camera was off for like a couple of months and just sobbed and sobbed and sobbed and sobbed I said I felt like I was a spot like that sponge that gets so like a big imagine a big spot sponge getting like just so so wet and so so heavy and it took me finally opening my mouth at a
meeting and slowly that sponge started to ring out and then the neck the still like water in that sponge and then it was meeting you and the mlpc that rung the rest of it out so that I like I was completely a new you know like a new Fresh person so you know that I had to use every tool that was working for me and work it so incredible and so I I think it's about a year since we met as well um yeah so let's talk a little bit about that so happy anniversary to us friendship anniversary exactly so Kathy came into my life in um June or July I got I don't know when I first got that DM from you but um Kathy was inviting me to be a guest on the show that she was co-hosting with Jeff Graham who's a big part of the mind for Life practice as well and I ended up being a guest on their show and then they were both guests on my show and then they both joined on as mindful life practice members and like what do you know a few months later Kathy is in the yoga teacher training and it was just
one of those like serendipitous like meant to meet type of moments yeah ah yeah I mean it was so funny because like Jeff like I I kind of like got to the point where I was like looking for the people from the guests and I came across you on Instagram and I'm like oh my gosh we must have this woman on holy mackerel and I was so excited and then um you know it and I I went to and I had done yoga over the years but you know you know I've told the story a zillion times but I could barely walk when I met you and I went to one of your classes and I kept the same as I did in sober
Community I cut my camera off I didn't want anybody to see me because I was embarrassed and you know I finally put my camera on one time when you did like a journal and yoga thing and said the weirdest thing came into my mind that I want to be a yoga teacher and and then like a month later not even like you were like have you saw that I'm like Alex I can't even walk how could I do this and you were so encouraging and it that was that was life transformational doing the yoga teacher training under you it literally um it changed my life it gave me a whole new passion I always say my dad he my dad was a golfer and he went on golf trips and always said it never rained never rained on a golf course and after
Mexico I've written it up but I haven't I haven't posted it yet but I have a something I wrote about how it never rains on a golf course or a yoga mat and I found my version of of golf trips with yoga and found my people because of of this community I've just gotten Shivers oh that's so beautiful never rains in a golf course or yoga mat oh I love that okay so let's talk a little bit about okay so fast forward so we Packy did the yoga teacher training starts running yoga programs within my employee practice and then she came up with an idea a couple of months ago and so for those of you that are not part of the Mind life practice and you don't know a little bit about it I'm just gonna um give a little so we have this yoga membership we have yoga teacher trainings and then I've been running these 30 and 60 day sober girls Yoga challenges which are amazing because they help women quit drinking develop a
yoga practice develop a meditation practice but then the challenge ends and then it's just kind of like over like they're with me for two months and then it's kind of done and so Kathy came up with this idea and this program that she started running for the first group in April this year and I'm gonna let Kathy tell you about it because it's just been amazing yeah so you know you do the 30 and 60 day challenge and you let me be part of
it like you know because I was I'm a meditate I call it meditation you know like what we do like people come together and it's a sober Circle and what I love about it though is it's over curious people so like maybe I don't know I'm just taking a look at it to sober people but I remember thinking okay after this is over what happens and I've been part of other programs like a 12-step program and all that I'm like they're gonna need more so that's you know um you know I I started yoga teacher training the level 300 which I described to people as when you do yoga teacher training how I have described it is the 200 hours your first one it's like an undergraduate degree the 300 to me like a master's degree and it's specific and you're doing the mental health and substance abuse the very first thing you taught us and you're probably laughing on the inside and trying to keep it together because I'm saying all this and I'm like Alex's worst student been for attending this this class and doing homework but you taught us about the koshas which is the five layers of self and that was it it was like my bam of that's what we need in this program here at the mlpc or under sober yoga girl so
you and I and Lee and we like Rachel like we all kind of met and came together and developed this like 108 Day program from beginning to end where we do so every week there was a topic under the koshas and we do not just journaling but journaling reflection of the koshas which the coaches are your physical self your energetic self your mental health self your wisdom self and then you eventually get your bliss and um how do we get to that and then so I felt like you know what what I felt like during my journey is there was such a
disconnection between my body and my mind during my sobriety like in all my life but then really in sobriety I just am doing yoga really connected all of that for me and so I so that's where this like I felt like so every week what we did is we did a journal that had a few things that had um a journal prompt it had the kosher prompt where you would think every day like you know how are my coaches going where am I you know like you would shade in and then affirmation for daily things and then a body scan every single day to check in with your body how are you
doing and so you had just this for 108 days you're connecting to your whole self so that you know and in the group we had 10 women who you know some of them are still on cutback and but you know I was asked the question when we were in Mexico by some by Lee she said so what's been your favorite part about this group and what's been going on and I said I have seen women go from self-loathing of themselves to self-love for themselves in a community where they throws each other up under having this and connecting daily with each other and how we connect it daily is we have the WhatsApp but we also had meetings twice a week and they could be part of the mlpc program as well sober your yoga girl program but um it just really it really um helped everybody to just really start walking through their
version of getting to know themselves amazing answer but I yeah I covered everything but that's the short version and so I've been watching it from the sideline because I um so I did the 30 and 60 day and then quite a few of the women who did that from January February then jumped into Captain's program and I've just been part of the WhatsApp group and watching it evolve and I'm like man this is amazing and as I'm watching it go on I'm like this feels to me like I think I thought okay 30 60 days and then they can integrate with the community but like you need more support and you need to be part of this little group you need to be held and I was thinking the other
day it's almost like a retreat group you know like we have our Retreat group from Mexico that got so close and connected 12 women were so bonded for life and it's like you have your little Retreat group but you have that group all year holding you connecting with you supporting you on WhatsApp in the meetings you don't even have to make every single meeting um and so this is so Kathy's got her 108 day thing going I have the 30 60 and then basically what we've been talking about between me and Kathy is like okay the people that are in our current group don't want it to end like they want more okay what's happening next and I'm like that's a really good question you know and you know what's so funny I the Mexico people would ask me about the
coastal group and I'd say it's like this but virtual like it was like that's so funny you and I never even talked about but that's exactly how I described it I because I just think it's like this intimate like the other thing is because it's all women there was nothing that was sacred you know like we talked about everything in that group and that was so cathartic you know and the group helped it you know everybody's like oh it's Kathy's group and I'm like oh heck now this is our group and they are the ones that ran with it and they're the ones that said but what's next so go ahead
okay so we came together and um had a meeting to discuss this and Kathy and I basically I think we're on the same page on this that both of us agree that what has helped us long term say long term stay sober is helping other people and and Kathy would describe that as part of like um you know the 12 separate AAA model is giving service and um I've thought about that in terms of me you know doing my podcast running my Facebook group doing I did free sober yoga for a long time I still do lots of free classes and copy said this idea to me you know we've thought about what about service and there's a word in Sanskrit called say that and Seva means selfless service and basically the people of ancient India
thought that um it was really important for your spiritual health to be giving back and providing service to your community which is like basically the same concept so we thought what about coming up with what about stringing it all together so we have our 30-day challenge our 60-day journey then we have our 108 day recovery which takes you to about six months sober and then we have our Seva program which is a six-month program that's going to help guide you through a full year of sobriety and so it's an ongoing thing where you start off you can just commit to like okay I'm gonna do one year so I'm gonna do one month
sober I'm gonna do two months and then maybe you're enjoying this and you're like I'm gonna keep on going on and we basically have something to go along the way all the time so we have the new Seva program um and do you want to speak a little bit about that Kathy yes and so you know I just thought that word was so beautiful when you came up with the the Seva program and that's what I said like when I was you know I'm in you know other programs and it's what I ran the meetings and I stepped up as a yoga you know doing yoga teacher training I found my voice you know more of who I am and helping others and you know like there again the ten women that are in the
original program the ogs as they're calling themselves um you know some of them are still on cutback track but you know here's the thing when I've been in other programs and let's say you know I did the 12
Steps I'm still going back to meetings and I'm hearing from the newcomer and that helps me so much and there you know I'm helping them and that keeps this very real and really grounded and so my challenge to the original group is bring what you have and let's carry this forward wherever you're at in your journey because we're going to help you again can let's build this you know I really believe there's no other mind-body so sole program out there than what we are doing especially for women you know um you know we are we are addressing
things such as the Trump you you have taught us trauma-informed yoga trauma-informed conversations inner child work boundaries these are things that are not really you know you can go to a program but you got to pay four thousand dollars for it or whatever we are putting this as part of a community and connecting your mind to body with us and how do we carry each other through these things and so I just feel like the Sala program is the next and we just keep building this beautiful community of women that are raising each other up
saying yeah I had that happen to me too or me you know what I haven't but I know somebody else and we're growing this together because this is such this is the community where I became whole as a person and I feel the least I can do is give that back and everybody who has joined this community has helped me so much to get to today with the three years and it's the least I feel I can do in giving back and I just think to save a program makes sense and then if people want to become yoga teachers or bring other talents to the table this is this is a platform to grow underneath this
but we're looking at things from the science-based way of the mental and the physical which I think is and the spiritual and I think that's very important I think it was a great answer I think it was a great answer Yeah so basically that is that's exactly right so we've come up with this full year program and we're so excited about it and the way it's going to work is every 30 and 60 day challenge is still going to start with me so if you come in and you do a 30-day um or 60-day alcohol-free program it's going to be me leaving it however
there's going to be a lot more involvement from other people in our community so people in the Seva program are going to have an opportunity to keep coming back to these meetings they're going to get to be mentors um one-on-one to individual people they can help in other ways around the community and people in the Seva program are also going to have their own weekly meeting um and it will be led by either me or Kathy and it's going to be all about the four aims of life um which is basically the whole goal of life as
outlined by pontanjali in the yoga sutras and so the same of people will still get their own little group but they'll also get to be more integrated into the other groups and then after the 30 and 60 day challenge and journey finish for people that are curious and want to carry on that's where Kathy's program is going to take over and so we have the 108 days which will move you through months three four five six of sobriety and then the Seva program is for six months onwards and so it all is
weaving together to make this like amazing full year thing that we're so excited about and you know the other thing I was thinking to Alex is like you know there are a lot of times the women would say to me I didn't even get to the journal this week you know like I there's so much information you're giving and that's okay we can't we can only we we have to take take what we can right in that moment and keep moving and you know that's the importance of the save a program you know I was saying to the original group now we can go back and maybe you'll have more time for the journal and reflecting it in a different way and it just helps us you know as I've gone through other programs when I go back it's like it hits you in different ways and different spaces and just like you said did you think three years ago you you know you'd be anything
like this I had no clue um you know so it just it helps just to keep saying your key you keep coming home to yourself over and over and over again and I think that's the only way to find your home is to keep coming back and layer after layer finding it yeah oh it's so beautiful um Sue has just commented on the feed Sue says how do we sign up and pay yay Susan so um what it will look like right now so I have I have current group right now that has that is in the middle of the 30-day challenge so these people are going to carry on with the 60-day challenge whoever wants to in that group and then I'm going to be starting a new 30-day challenge next month so for anyone that hasn't done the challenges
um I'll be starting next month at the start of August at the same time our next Seva program is going to start in August so anyone that's been through the challenges and the koshas already with me and Kathy can jump into the save up as well as some of our longer term members like if you've been a member of the mindful life practice for a long time um done some of the ygts we can definitely let you into like this cohort of the save as if you want to the next group of 108 day recovery with Kathy I believe is starting at the end of September and the reason why we have it set up that way is so that this 30 and 60 day group um Can can jump into the 108 days so if you're in the 30-day challenge right now um I can send a link to to carry on with the um 60 day and then the 108 and then all the way through into the Seva phenomenal yeah I don't remember if we said beginning of September or end of September but we'll figure we'll let you all know
um yeah but we want to keep the momentum going because I I mean and I I don't know if anybody from the original group um for the we're calling it The kosher group the original group um you know they they just felt strongly like let's keep it going and um they're growing and what they want you so and I also really encourage anybody who has been part of the community in the past we need you
Because um we need you to come back and and use the tools that you have because you know this is going to help grow I feel like what we are doing right now is really groundbreaking you know things that have not happened in this world of emotional sobriety for women and bringing us home to ourselves in a simplistic way you know it what we might have rolled out to you today might have sounded complicated but really all you have to do is just show up and we'll lead you through it you know like we have titles for it we have whatever but you just gotta show up
and we need more lead leaders and we know that there's tons of leaders in this community and you know this is our time to like rise up together as women and say what we need and not put labels on things you know just to say I'm leading a holistic Life coming home to myself as a woman and finding out who we are it's a time especially in the states right now with what's going on we need women coming together so you know and helping each other no more barriers let's break that down and let's have you
know Bobby so yeah yeah oh you're so inspiring Gabby I just have Shivers this is amazing this is so fun like isn't it amazing to me like like we are 20 years apart but you're my mentor like I you know like I was like if anybody asked me like you know what's your secret to keep going I would tell them find somebody who's 20 years younger than you need to be your Mentor that would be my secret at the age find a 30 year old to be your Mentor everyone oh you're amazing Kathy oh and you know what this is one of the things that I love about this community so much is like even though it is sober girls yoga we have women of all ages um and it's so incredible like leave people from as early as like our 20s to we have people in their 60s and so it really is for anyone and we also have people like from all over the world all different races um we have people with different sexual
orientations like it's just a really tremendously diverse Community which is really cool and we need you know we we need you we need women of all of that and you know and it's funny because what I heard the word word girl I was kind of like ah but you know how I look at it now it's if anybody is questioning like why sober yoga girl is because we're doing inner child work here and we're coming back to the little girl that we are and that we wanted to be and that the world tried to change us so how I look at is we uh you know like girl is the really you know I I know a lot of us want to say women and blah blah but girl is the appropriate appropriate title for this for that reason oh my god oh that just gave me shivers you're amazing Oreo oh my gosh this is the best way can I just read something really quick one of my friends gave me so he won't be on here because it's so uh sober yoga girls but he sent me for my third my third celebration and I didn't open until this morning and it says one day it just clicks you realize what's important and what
isn't you learn to care less about what other people think of you and more about what you think of yourself you realize how far you have come and you remember when you thought things were such a mess that they never and that you'd never recover and then you smile you smile because you're truly proud of yourself and the person you fought to become thank you Mark oh my gosh so beautiful oh so sign up for DMS or whatever you know however many questions you have willing you know I'm willing to have meetings with people who um or if you know I know people in the original group would be glad I think to talk you know a lot of them will be glad to talk to other people because they're ready to roll like to keep to do the Seva program so let's get this rolling everyone I've got it going yeah so I'm gonna be posting about like the links to everything in this group I'm going to be sending an email as well today so look out for that um the groups are gonna be a cap so there's going to be maximum 15 in every single cohort um just so we can provide that safe little container um so I'll send all the info about that and then we'll get started thank you so much Alex I'm gonna go to a coffee shop now and meet another sober friend because I haven't had enough copy and that one they actually their password is not Starbucks hashtag that's Starbucks is there whatever kind of coffee that's amazing thank you everyone thank you for watching everyone really appreciate you my friend thank you so much for listening to this episode of sober yoga girl podcast this community
wouldn't exist without you here so thank you it would be massively helpful if you could subscribe leave a review and share this podcast so it can reach more people if we haven't met yet in real life please come get your one week free trial of the sober girls yoga membership and see what we're all about sending you love and light wherever you are in the
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