Episode 331 – we hear from Laura!   Community is so important.  It is so important to connect with ourselves, our source energy, or other people.  All those things get disconnected with addiction. Reconnecting with the world is an important part of recovery.   On today’s podcast we have Laura who is from Austin, TX and took her last drink on September 16, 2019.  This is her journey of living live alcohol free (AF).     Headlines   Laura’s Amazing Journey [16:04]– you will hear about Laura’s story, and she has some great insights for all of us along this journey to gaining or maintaining sobriety.   Paul Churchill is back! He is using his Kermit the frog impression.   He missed us all and is so grateful to Odette and all of us for giving him a break this past year. Listen to his insights about his key learnings during the last year [11:20]. Paul describes being sick, mentally physically and spiritually.   He is dedicated and energized to continue Recovery Elevator (RE).   Season Three! 52 episodes – Paul will do 46 intros; Odette will do 6 and welcome Chris who will do an interview every month   RESTORE 13 session alcohol free Dry July course! com/restore 75-minute sessions on Monday, Thursday and Sunday with homework sessions including: Calming the mind Building accountability Dealing with intense emotions How to have fun without alcohol Addressing unhealthy thoughts Sound Healing AF Free beverages and more! Day 1 or more and Patrick and Odette are coaching with Paul.   Odette Rocked It and she is still here! Paul gave many stats about how a podcast survives in a pandemic.  Paul also learned so much from listening to Odette take the from seat on the podcast.  His discoveries among many include:   Focus on wholeness Be honest Be vulnerable Time has its own timeline Understanding your relationship with food Expand your team (you are not in this alone) Have Fun! Sobriety is not a curse.      Laura’s Story   [16:04] Odette welcomes Laura   Laura’s last drink was September 16, 2019.   Laura feels great and has ups and downs and is present and grateful.  She lives in Austin, Texas where she owns a spa and does bodywork and energy work.  She is working with Supernatural Recovery.  She is a single mom to an 8-year-old daughter and loves meditation and yoga.    [17:40]  Tell us about your path with drinking   Laura grew up in an alcohol abusive family.  She started smoking pot and LSD at 14.  She didn’t want to drink because of her parent’s drinking.  She was raped at 16 and started drinking to overcome her panic attacks.   She was imprisoned, tortured, and sexually abused for two years.  She escaped from her abuser at 18, went to college and her PTSD symptoms became really apparent.  She was hospitalized until she could become mentally stable.  She continued drinking for 20 years.  She was often functioning and often not, it swung back and forth.  She didn’t have any rock bottom moments, she lived in rock bottom for several years.  After several false starts she was able to stop drinking in 2019.   [20:57] What was your inner dialogue when you started using alcohol?   Laura realized if she was drunk enough, she didn’t have a panic attack.  She was doing things that weren’t healthy, but it was how she survived.  She is also in recovery for an eating disorder.  As part of that journey, she realizes she developed a lot of maladaptive coping mechanism that were survival instincts to help her disassociate.   [23:27] How was sharing your abuse with the world?   Laura said she didn’t share very much.  She minimized her early trauma.  Integrating her alcohol recovery with heavy trauma therapy has helped her and as her sobriety time increases, more memories surface surfaced.  The heavy trauma therapy helped her understand why it was so difficult for her to get sober.  Her trauma and alcoholism to hand in hand.    [25:29] Have recurring memories of trauma been a trigger for you?   Laura said sobriety has been an awakening proc