Alex is now frequently going live with members of the Sober Girls Yoga Facebook group to chat about their journey! If you want to interact with Alex more and hear these episodes live, join the group at this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sobergirlsyoga.
In this live call, Raquel who is a yoga teacher and member of the Mindful Life Practice shares her journey with sobriety!
After being in the MLPC for over a year, she began getting more and more curious about sobriety (because everyone was doing it!) so she decided to give the 30 Day Challenge a try in February.
She is now four months sober!
In this live video she talks about some of her challenges with sobriety shares some exciting news!
There's now 3 spots left in the challenge starting this weekend - here's the link to join! https://www.themindfullifepractice.com/30daychallenge
And if anyone is interested in Raquel's workshop this weekend that she mentions on the call, here is the link!
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.
[Music]
Alex: Okay so I am sitting here now. I'm here in Abu Dhabi and I'm sitting here with Raquel and Raquel's in Costa Rica. It is 7 a.m where Raquel is. It is 5 p.m where I am, which is pretty wild and wherever you're watching you can let us know in the comments what time it is where you are but thank you so much for coming on today Raquel how are you?
Raquel: Thank you I'm super happy to be here. I always love talking with you about these conversations.
Alex: And Raquel did a podcast interview with me ages ago before she even wasn't part of the sobriety stuff and anything like that and so it's super cool to be connecting now like so far along on your journey and just kind of touching base with all that.
Raquel: Yeah it's really really exciting.
Alex: So tell us a bit about when you quit drinking and kind of like what was the lead up to that and um yeah?
Raquel: Okay so I feel like I was always curious because a lot of people in the MLPC um are sober so a lot of teachers and I know it is um before you bring back the Sober Girls Yoga, I was already like curious because I remember for example Leigh was sharing a lot of um her story. I remember Cathy also um so I was like I started to get like interested on it and then I noticed that you have like this challenge on the website that it's like a 30-day challenge and I feel like that will be perfect and I decided to do it just before my birthday so it was I feel like the last week of February of this year yes so it was actually the week of my anniversary my wedding anniversary I remember that so it's pretty easy to spot on um but yeah it's been like up but it was it was up and down at the beginning but then um when I noticed where I was like struggling with and I remember I joined a few calls um like the check-ins and I speak with um with Leigh about it we have like one-on-ones meetings and that's what I was able just to achieve it completely so it was really nice it's a nice supergroup I love that.
Alex: And so when you, you said it was the week of your anniversary did you end up spending your anniversary sober.
Raquel: Yeah, yeah I was drinking a lot of teas and because it was like a mountain resort um the only time that I dreamed like a sip of wine was because my husband has like this surprise with chocolates and stuff and he was like are you really not drinking and I was like more like pressured those were the kind of things that I struggled at the beginning like peer pressure like like I could not just stand up and say like no I remember that. that happened to me twice that time and then at a party that I was really sure that I didn't want to do it but I was like oh it's not gonna nothing's gonna happen like it's just one time but then I felt like that I kind of betrayed myself because I knew that I didn't want to do that so it was like a learning experience those couple of times
Alex: Yeah the peer pressure is the hardest. But that's amazing that you made it. through like in the first week having a big event like that like an anniversary that's like a challenging thing so well done that's huge
Raquel: Thank you!
Alex: And how how long now has it been that you're alcohol free
Raquel: Like since March like.
Alex: Three four months.
Raquel: Yeah yeah but it feels like so long like so much longer than that I don't know it feels like um I really feel like a deeper connection with my body and i don't know like I enjoy things differently um but yeah part of that journey um was just exploring it. I was not actually when I had like meetings with Leigh. I was saying like I don't think this is for me. I'm not gonna stay here. I'm too young like I don't know this is too extreme and then I was like no it's that extreme it's just it's the same.
Alex: Yeah that's so funny how old are you by the way?
Raquel: I'm 32.
Alex: 32 Okay yeah so you're not too young. I'm 30.
Raquel: Yeah. yeah but um what I noticed was like I didn't have the support on like anyone none of my friends are not drinking all of them drink they don't drink too much but they do drink um so I mentioned that because Leigh was like my my coach how do you what's the name of like my remembered?
Alex: Mentor.
Raquel: Like my mentor and I remember I explained to her like um I just don't feel like i have anyone here that I could talk to and and then um that's when I started joining the calls a little bit more at that time and that helped me a lot.
Alex: Yeah and what for you have been some of the like I know you mentioned the peer pressure being a challenge but what else has been challenging?
Raquel: I feel like that was like my hardest thing to do. um the second time that peer pressure happened it was not even one of my friends it was like literally my neighbor's daughter um and she offered me like a drink um like a wine glass and I was like i actually mentioned to her like i'm not drinking and she kind of like um joked about it and I felt bad and then that's why I did it and I end up feeling like I'm 32 I'm supposed to know better than this why did I why did I sit up for myself um but after that what worked for me is just being open about it just like from the start I said like no I'm not drinking even before the events for example at work they did like this lunch and they asked like what do you want for a drink like do you want beers or wine and I said like no I'm not drinking even from the start so I was not even asked so that helped me a lot.
Alex: Did you find in the case of like I remember when I first was getting sober the first four days I remember saying I wasn't gonna drink at um a work event and people were like really pressuring me did you find that there was any pressure at the work event or was everyone just.
Raquel: Everyone was just nice about it.
Alex: That's amazing.
Raquel: Super nice super nice because they're really they're like in their 60s. um so they don't really like getting
Alex: Yeah.
Raquel: They don't even ask um yeah no they don't even ask and then um yeah no I don't remember anyone like making a comment or anything like that. Um but yeah it was funny because this morning um russian was mentioning that the warm weather it's usually like it reminds you more of that like in Costa rica it's really um usual that when it's sunny you drink beers um and actually this weekend I went to the beach with my husband and some neighbors and they were drinking beers and I was like okay at this moment i was like my brain was saying like that looks so good but then I was like no i don't know and then I got a kombucha which is the same kombucha.
Alex: I love kombucha.
Raquel: yeah it's that same like bubbly feeling.
Alex: And that's the key I think having an alternative that like you're excited about that tastes good but isn't um the drink itself so whether it's do you guys have by the way so in Abu Dhabi and in the UK and in Toronto we have we have like a really good alcohol-free marketplace with really good like
Raquel: No.
Alex: Alcohol-free wine and beer we don't. We don't have it in Bali either which is why I asked. nothing at all?
Raquel: Nothing. The only thing that I found was like one beer um that is like the only one that I have seen um yeah it's really good it's very good um and my husband keeps pointing out that uh to be careful because kombucha sometimes have some level of alcohol so yeah that's like the the ability to um an I have one um I don't remember how it's pronounced it's like lacro.
Alex: lacroix.
Raquel: It's like those I really like those.
Alex: And you have it in Costa Rica.
Raquel: Oh yeah you're lucky because we don't have it in Bali. I don't even think we have it in Abu Dhabi but all the sober influencers have like have pictures of them drinking it on instagram.
Raquel: It's really good.
Alex: Well when I got to toronto I went I popped into a grocery store and I looked at the fridge and was like oh my god there's liquid so I picked I picked one up and brought it home and then I think I said to my mom like all the sober influencers have this and so she started picking getting like crates of it and all summer we just had it in the fridge and she loved it too so.
Raquel: Yeah yeah and they have like two different like types they have like the basic one that it's my favorite that they have one that it's more like it's more like a cocktail like with a bunch of different fruits so it fruits so it gets like that um. it's like a different experience you really feel like you're drinking something more elaborate um so that's cool um and people don't even ask because it looks like a little um it doesn't look like us so it is so that's good also when you're not like with your closest friends if you're like in a bigger party you're not gonna like it stand out not nobody's gonna ask I feel like in the first days um that make things easier you have this for me.
Alex: Yeah yeah um okay someone just commented Cathy says I love toppo chico do you know what toppo chico is alcohol-free drink.
Raquel: No.
Alex: Yeah I don't know what that is but.
Raquel: Yeah and one of the first things that really it's weird like I since I was like ashamed of going public let's say like at the beginning um like I experienced that I usually have that like fear of something new I remember when I decided to be a yoga teacher I was like super scared to tell my coworkers that I want to take the training um and I had that same experience with being sober so um I remember that I used these cues which was true but I couldn't I didn't have to like explain it I just I could simply just say I'm not drinking but I was saying like I'm not drinking because I want to get pregnant and the doctor told me not to drink and I was trying to to give an explanation why um but later on i have realized um that I want to continue this after so it's not something that it's just during this um like experience is something that I want to to continue to do after you know that's really exciting.
Alex: It's so interesting when you say um like I had no idea that drinking alcohol affected um the ability to get pregnant it was something I learned through the woman who started the drink dry store here in Abu Dhabi when I had her on the podcast and I asked her like you know why are you what led you to become alcohol-free it was the same thing she said we were struggling getting pregnant and uh the doctor said to stop drinking and I was like wow I had no idea that that had such an impact for women but it does.
Raquel: Yeah because people think that women are not supposed to drink when they have heard that but it's even before like I remember I went to the doctor like maybe like a year ago to remove my DUI it's the name do the uh
[Laughter]
Raquel: Yeah it's like it's the same that the the thing with yeah with the driving uh and drinking um yeah but that was the first thing he told me like no drinking no drugs uh try to it's super healthy you have to take some pills like um like vitamins and stuff um but i really feel like if it helps a lot because you're like cleansing your body um yeah.
Alex: Yeah so you said that you want to continue afterwards um this is like an unexpected like did you ever anticipate that you would be choosing sobriety for such a long time?
Raquel: No. No I didn't not at the beginning. I remember that I really enjoyed like all of them we I printed like the pdf with the prompts and I journal and I remember I loved the meditations um but in my like in my mind I was not ready until I had those couple of experiences and then I realized like like this is not what I want anymore.
Alex: Yeah and you even said you mentioned that you were at the beach last week and people were like all your friends were drinking.
Raquel: Yeah yeah yeah um they were asking we were at my mother-in-law hotel so there was like um like two per one uh drinks in the afternoon so I was having mojitos but without the alcohol so it was really fun because I tried everything without the alcohol yeah that's awesome yeah and it was a lot of fun and yeah they were not drinking to the extreme that I it was uncomfortable they were just drinking like a couple a day so it was nice because you didn't get to see right when you see someone drunk and you're like yeah I'm not there yeah um it was just like um they were doing their thing and I was there without feeling weird that was really nice.
Alex: Oh that's awesome. So what would you if you if one of your friends was like sober curious and they were curious about taking a break from drinking? What would you say to them? What would you recommend?
Raquel: The meetings. That you have I feel like that's really nice for me the nicest part is that you can be really vulnerable you don't really get to do that with your friends because if they're not in the same process probably they're not gonna understand or they're not gonna give you like a good advice so I feel like when you get to join people that have experienced something similar and even you can hear like different stories that doesn't resonate with you but that's not the point the point is that they're there for you to support you in your experience so that's really nice um. Because at the beginning I was like comparing and that's not the point, the point is that you get to share and that they're going to listen and they're going to support you and if you can be like super open with everything.
Alex: That's a really good point I've had people join the group at times before who have felt like oh you know I don't fit in with the um like there was one point in time where someone joined and felt a bit like oh these people sound like they have you know more serious drinking problems than me and I can't relate to that or I can't fit in and the reality is that everyone is gonna have a completely different journey there's actually someone joining the challenge this month who doesn't even drink at all she just wants to be part of the community so you're gonna get from that all the way to someone with bigger challenges and and the point is that exactly I love what you said there it's not about comparing it's like connecting and supporting no matter where or what we're showing up with.
Raquel: Yeah because I did have like bad experiences when I was younger like in my early 20s like really really like the typical college student like drink I drink every weekend. I was like wasted every weekend um but then when I met my husband he was getting out of rehab so that's when I started like being more conscious with um I actually kind of stopped without doing it for myself it was because I wanted to support him um but yeah like then I started like drinking socially which always get out of control because it was like once a year in a wedding or something like that so I realized like even though I didn't drink every day or every week when I'm in my 30s I didn't control it so that was something that I had to understand um that even my husband has mentioned that earlier like before like like I didn't have a limit so that's what also was like nice to understand that I did have an issue with it just a different.
Alex: Is your husband sober still now?
Raquel: Yo he has like periods in which he goes.
um
Raquel: You I don't know how to say in english when you substitute some sometimes um yeah he used to to smoke weeds now he's like with veep and then he'd use the beep it's just different kind of things that if you change it but it's the same yeah you just change the elements but I feel like when you target the back of that you can you don't need anything of that yeah but he has a lot of experience on it and um I feel like when I started saying it um that I wanted to get sober at the beginning he was like oh but you don't need to do that but then when I opened and I started like to be vulnerable and I'm telling him like no I really feel like I'm not even though I don't usually do it I don't feel like I control it he was like well yeah that's true and he was like more supportive and now he is like the one who says like be careful with the kombucha that has like.
Alex: Oh that's amazing that he's such a great support now.
Raquel: yeah yeah it's nice.
Raquel: So awesome. Well thank you so much for sharing. I really appreciate it. Is there anything else that you want to share?
Raquel: No i feel like um that's about it I'm super happy um that I take that challenge um I really recommend it to anyone who's thinking about it who is curious about it um I feel like when you practice yoga it it's like a process in which you take the lifestyle from the math to your daily life and like getting rid of substances like that it's really nice because you really get to experience yourself fully because when you numb like that pain or that the feelings or the emotions with things you're not really like healing so I feel like it's really nice to be able to experience all of the different things um and yeah and well i mentioned to you earlier that i found out that I was pregnant yesterday and it.
Alex: Congratulations!
Raquel: Thank you! and it makes me think like what do you want to teach by like the kids when they're older and I don't want to be like that mom or person in the family that it's always like drunk right like maybe like try to do it differently um so yeah it's exciting it's new but we will see how that goes.
Alex: It's so exciting I'm so happy for you and I remember I remember this distinctly when we started the challenge the very first meeting I always ask everyone you know what's your reason for doing this and I remember you saying because I'm trying to get pregnant and and that's amazing that it's like four months later and and here you are so it's really amazing.
Raquel: Yeah, thank you so much.
Alex: Well this is awesome I really appreciate you coming on the live and Raquel is in the um oh Cathy says congratulations so nice and thank you so much um Cathy for watching along and Raquel is in the group Raquel teaches classes and actually Raquel has um you have a workshop coming up…. workshop tell us about sunday
Raquel: Yeah well it's basically my experience with fertility um so when I started practicing practicing yoga I was really interested in yin yoga which is about connecting with nature and then about when I finished that I started to trying to get in connection with myself and through that I learned about um mindful menstruation which is basically understanding the the different phases of your cycle throughout the month and it was really funny that Gretchen was talking about it this morning in the class yeah about the connection um with the cycle with the moons um because sometimes in the month we feel like we're tired what kind of practice you can do in those days um to understand what is happening in your body while you feel more tired then you have like that rush of energy you can do like more vinyasas and I feel like it's so interested because with the MLPC classes you really have the chance to select what you want to do depending on your faces if you pay like a gym you're not going to be able to do that but with the MLPC you have like the whole options of classes that if you'll feel like right like more tired you can book like um mindful let go and then if you're feeling like um super pumped up you can do like vinyasa so I was trying like to teach other people what i just learned throughout this journey with fertility to understand my cycle my body and how to take care of it how to journal do different things and tensions throughout the cycle.
Alex: That's amazing and that could be for like people who menstruate of all ages right exactly would it be good for someone who's had experienced menopause or is that something that's like before menopause.
Raquel: They can have the connection with the moons yeah with the moon's phases so they can have different experience in the month um or experience their practice with the moon faces yeah they could like do the same because my cycle for example it's connected with the moon but not necessarily like that um so it it you can make it if you're not menstruated you can do the same um but with the moon spaces.
Alex: yep so cool you know I just got interested in the moon phases just randomly um well it's always been kind of like in the peripheral of like what's going on in the yoga world you know people are interested in the moon cycles but so on my so my yoga retreats are planned with the chakras the seven chakras and on my may retreat in bali the solar plexus yin class happened to be on the I think it was the new moon and so I did a whole class on that and then the funny thing was that on the ball on the Mexico retreat which was a month later I hadn't planned this at all I leanne was subbing requests for me and she said can you send me a picture of like what you had planned and i was like oh I planned this class for the new moon i wonder if it's the new moon today and I googled it and it happened to be the new moon on the new moon on the day of this look and I was like wow there's like something to this something symbolic about that lineup that like wasn't even intentional and so I've actually been looking into like learning about it more because I don't even I can't even track my own cycle I'm so bad like I'm just like oh I have my period it's happening you know and so I'm really intrigued so I'm definitely gonna see if I can make your your workshop.
Raquel: Yeah that sounds amazing, that will be amazing and I will love it.
Alex: Awesome well thank you so much Raquel I'll let you uh get going with the rest of your day but I so appreciate you being here and um we'll see you soon.
Raquel: See you bye.
Alex: Hi 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 world.
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