Tribe Sober - inspiring an alcohol free life!

🎙️ What Are You Thirsty For?
What If Your Drinking Problem Is Also an Under-Feeling Problem?
Host: Lynette le Roux | Life & Recovery CoachPodcast: Tribe SoberMusic: “Remember” by Sutherland 🎵 (Intro & Outro)
🦋 Episode Summary
What are you really thirsty for when you reach for a drink?
Relief? Connection? Celebration? Permission to rest? Or simply a few minutes of peace from your own thinking?
In this episode, Lynette challenges us to look beyond alcohol and explore something deeper: our relationship with our emotions.
We don’t only drink when we’re unhappy. Sometimes we drink when we’re celebrating, excited or feeling wonderful.
What if we’ve become so accustomed to changing our emotional state that we’ve forgotten how to simply experience it?
Drawing on real conversations from the Tribe Sober community and neuroscience, Lynette explores why the urge to drink is often less about alcohol and more about what we’ve learned to do with our feelings.
💡 Key Insights & Nuggets
🌴 The Beautiful Palm Tree That Became Dangerous
How an innocent moment beside a swimming pool became a potential catastrophe—and what this reveals about our unsupervised minds.
How many beautiful palm trees have you turned into dangerous trees today?
🧠 Your Brain Is Always Looking for Danger
Our minds can turn ordinary circumstances into perceived threats, creating physical sensations of anxiety, tension and urgency.
By the end of the day, we’re exhausted—not necessarily by what happened, but by everything we’ve imagined might happen.
🍷 The Brain Learns What to Want
Alcohol can become associated with relief from stress, but also with pleasure, excitement and celebration.
The brain learns through repetition, and wanting something doesn’t necessarily mean it will give us what we need.
❤️ We Are Overthinking and Under-Feeling
We’ve become skilled at analysing our emotions but less practised at experiencing them.
Recovery invites us to move beyond the story in our heads and become curious about the sensations in our bodies.
✨ An Urge Is Not an Instruction
Real stories from the Tribe Sober community remind us that we don’t have to eliminate discomfort before making a different choice.
We can feel nervous and still participate in life.
We can experience an urge without acting on it.
We can celebrate without alcohol.
✍️ Reflection Questions
The next time you notice the desire to drink, pause and ask yourself:
What am I actually thirsty for? Relief, rest, connection, celebration or something else?
What am I feeling in my body? Notice the sensations before getting caught up in the story.
What is my mind telling me about this feeling? Is there a genuine problem to solve, or another dangerous palm tree?
🌱 The Takeaway
An urge is not an instruction.A feeling is not an emergency.
And you don’t have to escape your life to experience relief.
Perhaps the real work of recovery isn’t simply learning how to live without alcohol.
Perhaps it’s learning how to live with ourselves.
💌 Work With Lynette
If you’re ready to move beyond simply not drinking and begin understanding your emotional patterns, I’d love to support you.
Through one-to-one coaching and my Path to Purpose membership, I help people develop emotional awareness, build resilience and create meaningful, fulfilling lives beyond alcohol.
📧 Email: lynette@llrcoaching.com🌐 Website: https://www.tribesober.com/
🎵 Music Credits
Intro & Outro: “Remember” by Sutherland
Thank you for listening to the Tribe Sober podcast. If this episode resonated with you, please share it with someone who might need to hear it.
Stay curious. Stay connected. And keep discovering what you’re really thirsty for. ❤️

The Loneliest Cell: When the Shortcut Becomes More Compelling Than Life
Tribe Sober Podcast with Lynette Magrid le Roux
🎵 Intro & Outro Music: “Remember” by Sutherland
Episode Summary
What happens when the shortcut becomes more compelling than life itself?
In this episode, Lynette explores ideas sparked by Dr Zach Bush’s conversation with Joe Rogan — beginning with his provocative description of cancer as “the loneliest cell in the human body.”
From there, we travel to the Ecuadorian Amazon and the story Bush tells of the Achuar people: a community that lived for thousands of years in deep relationship with the forest, with little concept of scarcity or poverty — until the arrival of the modern world and, surprisingly, a box of apple juice.
That story opens up a much bigger conversation about addiction.
What happens when something manufactured begins to compete with what once naturally nourished us?
Alcohol offers exactly that kind of shortcut.
Confidence without building confidence.
Relaxation without learning to regulate ourselves.
Connection without vulnerability.
Relief without having to move through discomfort.
And alcohol isn’t the only “apple juice” available to us. Our modern world offers endless ways to change our state immediately — scrolling, shopping, food, work, gambling, entertainment and constant stimulation.
The question becomes not simply “How do I stop?”
But:
What is this substituting for?
Key Insights & Nuggets
Dr Zach Bush’s provocative image of “the loneliest cell.”
The Achuar people and what their relationship with the Amazon can teach us about enough.
The extraordinary story of the boxed apple juice — and the power of concentrated, immediate reward.
Why the danger may lie not only in the substance, but in the substitution.
How modern life has dramatically shortened the distance between wanting and gratification.
Immediate state change: “I don’t like how I feel. Change it.”
The difference between stimulation and nourishment.
How communication has become increasingly abstract — and what may be lost when human experience is reduced to screens, text and emojis.
Dr Julia DiGangi’s powerful reminder: We are always feeling our lives.
The addiction cycle: isolation feeds consumption; consumption feeds isolation.
Why removing alcohol may not be enough if we haven’t rediscovered what genuinely nourishes us.
Recovery as recovering our appetite for the real thing.
Two Questions to Take With You
What is your apple juice?
Where has a shortcut, substitute or quick state-change quietly become more compelling than the real experience underneath it?
And then:
What is your forest?
What genuinely nourishes you?
Not what stimulates you.Not what distracts you.Not what impresses anyone else.
What brings you back into relationship with yourself, other people, your body, nature and the experience of being alive?
Perhaps recovery isn’t only about removing the substitute.
Perhaps it’s about rediscovering the forest.
Work With Lynette
If this episode resonated with you and you’re beginning to question your relationship with alcohol — or you’ve stopped drinking but want to create a life that feels richer, more connected and genuinely yours — I work with people privately through LLR Coaching.
My coaching goes beyond simply “not drinking.” Together, we explore the patterns underneath the behaviour, build your capacity to navigate discomfort without escaping it, and create the emotional tools, self-trust and connection that support lasting change.
Email: lynette@llrcoaching.com
I’d love to hear from you.
🎵 Intro & Outro Music: “Remember” — Sutherland
 

On last weeks podcast I talked you through the Breaking Free course in detail so do have a listen if you missed it
I recently hosted a discussion on Zoom with four Breaking Free graduates which will give you a real insight into the results that people are getting…
On the podcast you'll hear the soundtrack from that discussion
So if you want to be sure of a place on the next BF program which kicks off soon then please sign up today as places are filling up fast
You can sign up for Breaking Free here
More Info
Tribe Sober membership – you can join up HERE.
To access our website, click HERE.
If you would like a free copy of our “Annual Tracker” or our e-book 66 Days to Sobriety, please email janet@tribesober.com.
If you would like to come to our Saturday afternoon Zoom Cafe as a guest and meet our community, just email janet@tribesober.com.
 
Episode Sponsor
This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program.  If you want to change your relationship with alcohol then sign up todayRead more about our program and subscribe HERE
Help us to Spread the Word!
We made this podcast so that we can reach more people who need our help.  Please subscribe and share.
If you enjoyed the podcast, then please leave us a 5-star review on Apple podcasts.
Take a screenshot of your review, and DM it to Tribe Sober’s Instagram page – see PS below for instructions. We’ll send you something special to say thank you!
We release a podcast episode every Saturday morning.
You can follow Tribe Sober on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.
 
PS: How to Leave a Rating/Review in Apple Podcasts (on an iOS Device)
Open the Podcasts app. EASY.
Choose “Search” from the bottom row of icons and enter the name of the show (e.g. Recover Like a Mother) into the search field.
Select the show under Shows (not under Episodes).
Scroll down past the first few episodes until you see Ratings & Reviews.
Click Write a Review underneath the displayed reviews from other listeners. You’ll then have the option to rate the show on a 5-star scale and write a review (you can rate without writing too but it’s always good to read your experience).
 

On this weeks solo episode I talk about our 6 week Breaking Free program which we run just three times a year. 
Registration for the current program is open   - more info on tribesober.com
We limit each Breaking Free group to 20 so you’ll always get personal attention
In this episode:-
I talk about the warning signs of alcohol dependence as well as the benefits of an alcohol free lifestyle
The Breaking Free program has four components…
Four pieces of a puzzle that come together to create a transformation…
The first piece of the puzzle is Community Support so we connect you with the other people on the Breaking Free program
 We put you in a chatgroup with where you’ll also find some TS team members to answer any questions you may have
You'll also be invited to several Zoom meetings every week
The second piece is our online course which includes videos, podcasts, articles and book recommendations so you’ll be able to throw the book at your sobriety – you’ll be able to treat it as a 6 week project that will take a deep dive into psychology, biology and neuroscience - a project that will change the trajectory of your future.
The third part of the puzzle is the personal support. 
You’ll have a 1.2.1 Zoom call with Monica who will explain how everything work and help you with any tech issues
Mid-way through the 3 month program you'll have a session with Coach Lynette to review learnings so far
A final session with our Coach Darren who will discuss how you are applying the theory of the Breaking Free program to your daily life
So that’s the four pieces of our Breaking Free puzzle, four pieces that will come together to create an alcohol free lifestyle that you love..
The fourth part of the puzzle is our brand new AI tool JanetGPT - Tribe Sober in your pocket, available 24/7
Apart from creating a program that will get results we’ve created a program that is flexible and will fit in with your busy lives…. 
All of the 1.2.1’s can be scheduled to suit your convenience, the online course can be worked through at your own pace 
While we’re on the subject of time that’s one of the unexpected benefits of sobriety….. when we no longer spend time drinking and recovering from the drinking we find ourselves with extra time on our hands….
As well as the energy to do something constructive with that time!
Registration for the current Breaking Free program is open - more info on tribesober.com
More Info
Tribe Sober membership – you can join up HERE.
To access our website, click HERE.
If you would like a free copy of our “Annual Tracker” or our e-book 66 Days to Sobriety, please email janet@tribesober.com.
If you would like to come to our Saturday afternoon Zoom Cafe as a guest and meet our community, just email janet@tribesober.com.
 
Episode Sponsor
This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program.  If you want to change your relationship with alcohol then sign up todayRead more about our program and subscribe HERE
Help us to Spread the Word!
We made this podcast so that we can reach more people who need our help.  Please subscribe and share.
If you enjoyed the podcast, then please leave us a 5-star review on Apple podcasts.
Take a screenshot of your review, and DM it to Tribe Sober’s Instagram page – see PS below for instructions. We’ll send you something special to say thank you!
We release a podcast episode every Saturday morning.
You can follow Tribe Sober on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.
You can join our private Facebook group HERE.
PS: How to Leave a Rating/Review in Apple Podcasts (on an iOS Device)
Open the Podcasts app. EASY.
Choose “Search” from the bottom row of icons and enter the name of the show (e.g. Recover Like a Mother) into the search field.
Select the show under Shows (not under Episodes).
Scroll down past the first few episodes until you see Ratings & Reviews.
Click Write a Review underneath the displayed reviews from other listeners. You’ll then have the option to rate the show on a 5-star scale and write a review (you can rate without writing too but it’s always good to read your experience).
 

This weeks guest is… Tribe Sober Coach Darren
Darren came to our Masterclass a few years ago…and hasn’t had a drink since!
In this episode:-
Darren started drinking at the age of 13
His drinking escalated during university years, influenced by the heavy drinking culture which is prevalent in Northern Ireland
Darrens drinking began to impact his life:-  Struggled to maintain some of his responsibilities like paying rent.  He experienced severe blackouts and embarrassing incidents at social events.  He damaged relationships as a result of his drinking
Darren’s Turning Point was a wedding which led to a realization about the damage he was doing to his relationships
His Partner’s comment about him having an issue with alcohol made him realise he had to make a choice
So he decided to quit
Even though he’d been a heavy drinker for a couple of decades he was able to quit by attending a 3-hour Tribe Sober Masterclass
He also listened to podcasts, read the quitlit and connected with our community via the whatsapp groups and Zoom meetings
Darren got curious about underlying reasons for his drinking and began addressing his self-esteem issues.
He realised that alcohol was adding nothing but trouble to his life…and that without it he was experiencing many benefits He gained clarity, self-compassion, and a renewed sense of identity.  His relationships improved, especially with his partner, who expressed pride and renewed love.  Darren felt empowered and inspired to help others on their sobriety journey so he trained as a Coach
He gave us a nice analogy about recovery being similar to an athlete healing from an injury: a temporary phase followed by ongoing management.
His website is called "www.pauserecovery.com" and his email address is darren@pauserecovery.com
Darrens Advice for Others wanting to quit drinking:    start small,  listen to podcasts and explore the QuitLit.get curious and reframe sobriety as freedom, not deprivationjoin Tribe Sober!More Info
Tribe Sober membership – you can join up HERE.
To access our website, click HERE.
If you would like a free copy of our “Annual Tracker” or our e-book 66 Days to Sobriety, please email janet@tribesober.com.
If you would like to come to our Saturday afternoon Zoom Cafe as a guest and meet our community, just email janet@tribesober.com.
 
Episode Sponsor
This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program.  If you want to change your relationship with alcohol then sign up todayRead more about our program and subscribe here
Bootcamp on Demand
         To kickstart your alcohol free life check out our Bootcamp on Demand here
 
Help us to Spread the Word!
We made this podcast so that we can reach more people who need our help.  Please subscribe and share.
If you enjoyed the podcast, then please leave us a 5-star review on Apple podcasts.
Take a screenshot of your review, and DM it to Tribe Sober’s Instagram page – see PS below for instructions. We’ll send you something special to say thank you!
We release a podcast episode every Saturday morning.
You can follow Tribe Sober on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram.
You can join our private Facebook group HERE.
PS: How to Leave a Rating/Review in Apple Podcasts (on an iOS Device)
Open the Podcasts app. EASY.
Choose “Search” from the bottom row of icons and enter the name of the show (e.g. Tribe Sober) into the search field.
Select the show under Shows (not under Episodes).
Scroll down past the first few episodes until you see Ratings & Reviews.
Click Write a Review underneath the displayed reviews from other listeners. You’ll then have the option to rate the show on a 5-star scale and write a review (you can rate without writing too but it’s always good to read your experience).

Show Notes
Why You Keep Going Back (Even When You Desperately Want Sobriety)
Why is it that we can desperately want sobriety… and still find ourselves reaching for the very thing we promised we’d leave behind?
In this episode, Lynette le Roux explores one of the most misunderstood aspects of recovery. Drawing on neuroscience, Positive Intelligence, and years of coaching experience, she explains why relapse is rarely about a lack of willpower—and much more often about a nervous system that has learned alcohol is its fastest route to relief.
This episode explores:
Why knowing isn’t enough to create lasting change.
The difference between the brain’s wanting system and getting system.
How “threshold addiction” keeps us feeling as though we’re changing before we’ve taken action.
Why repeated behaviours become deeply wired through myelin.
How GABA and glutamate influence stress, cravings, and emotional regulation.
Why so many people binge after days of “being good.”
The hidden “alarm” beneath drinking—and why understanding it changes everything.
How small, repeated actions begin rewiring the brain and creating lasting freedom.
Reflection Questions
What alarm might your nervous system be trying to silence?
Where have you been standing in the doorway of change rather than walking through it?
What is one small physical action you can take today that teaches your body there is another way?
Connect with Lynette
If this episode resonated with you and you’d like to explore what’s driving the drinking beneath the drinking, Lynette would love to support you.
🌿 Email: lynette@llrcoaching.com
Music
“Remember” by Sutherland 🎵
Thank you for listening to the Tribe Sober Podcast. If you found this episode helpful, please follow the podcast, leave a review, and share it with someone who may need to hear this message today.

In this inspiring episode of the Tribe Sober podcast, Janet talks to Tribe member and Ambassador Beth as she celebrates her first full year alcohol-free.
Beth had known for many years that alcohol was holding her back. She tried AA, medication, self-help books and numerous attempts at moderation, but nothing lasted. Then she discovered Tribe Sober and realised that it wasn’t too late to change -and that she didn’t have to do it alone.
Beth speaks honestly about the difficult early months of sobriety, when her body and brain were recovering and her emotions felt overwhelming. She explains how trusting the process, connecting with the community and listening to others who had walked the same path helped her keep going.
Gradually, the benefits began to emerge: peaceful mornings, mental clarity, renewed confidence, more energy and an almost childlike excitement about life.
Beth’s decision also had a remarkable ripple effect. Her husband chose to stop drinking a month later and subsequently lost three and a half stone. His previously high blood pressure returned to a healthy level, allowing his doctor to take him off medication.
Now a Tribe Sober Ambassador, Beth is passionate about helping others discover the freedom she has found. She also shares a moving story about a caged eagle that had forgotten it was born to fly - a powerful metaphor for the way alcohol confines us and sobriety sets us free.
In this episode, we discuss:
Why Beth’s previous attempts to stop drinking didn’t last
The importance of getting off the fence and making a commitment
Why the first six months can feel so challenging
Trusting the recovery process through the difficult days
How connection and community support lasting change
The return of peace, clarity, energy and self-belief
The positive effect Beth’s sobriety had on her husband
Why helping others strengthens our own sobriety
Beth’s hopes and creative ambitions for her second alcohol-free year
Why we must “choose the hard that leads to freedom”
Beth’s message to anyone who is still sitting on the fence is simple:
“Seize the moment. Decide that this is your time for recovery and sobriety. You were created to be free.”
If you’re ready to change your relationship with alcohol, visit www.tribesober.com to learn more about our community, programmes and support.

Show Notes – Thinking Is Best Used as a Power Tool
🎙️ Tribe Sober Podcast
🎵 Intro and Outro Song: Remember – Sutherland
🦋 Episode Summary
What if one of the greatest sources of our suffering isn’t our circumstances—but our relationship with our thinking?
Inspired by a powerful insight from neuropsychologist Dr Julia DiGangi, Lynette explores why thinking is best used as a power tool: something to be picked up intentionally, used wisely, and then put down.
Drawing on neuroscience, recovery, and lived experience, this episode explains why our brains are prediction machines, why familiar thoughts can feel like facts, and how emotional freedom begins when we stop treating every thought as an instruction.
Recovery isn’t about controlling every thought.
It’s about changing our relationship with thinking itself.
✨ In This Episode
Why thinking is a powerful tool—but a poor master.
How the brain creates predictions from familiar patterns.
The difference between a thought and a fact.
Why cravings often arise from well-rehearsed neural pathways rather than genuine need.
How becoming a “detective” of your thinking creates freedom.
Why awareness gives us choice.
The difference between surviving on autopilot and living intentionally.
How emotional sobriety extends far beyond alcohol.
💡 Memorable Quotes
“Thinking is best used as a power tool.” – Dr Julia DiGangi
“A thought is an invitation, not an instruction.”
“Our brains don’t predict what is true. They predict what is familiar.”
“Recovery isn’t about never thinking about alcohol again. Recovery is about changing our relationship with thinking itself.”
“The most powerful tool in the workshop isn’t the drill. It’s the person holding it.”
🌱 Reflection
Take a few quiet moments this week to reflect on these questions:
Where in my life is my thinking running on autopilot?
Which thoughts do I repeatedly mistake for facts?
What old prediction keeps showing up in my life?
Which thoughts deserve my attention… and which can I simply notice and let pass?
What would change if I remembered that I am the operator—not the tool?
💛 Remember…
Your brain is doing exactly what brains are designed to do.
It generates thoughts.
You don’t need to believe every one of them.
You always have the power to choose which thoughts you nourish, which you question, and which you simply allow to pass by.
That is where freedom begins.
🤝 Let’s Connect
I’d love to hear your thoughts on today’s episode or learn more about your own recovery journey.
📧 Email: lynette@llrcoaching.com
If this episode resonated with you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may be carrying their “power tool” with the switch permanently on.
Until next time…
Stay curious. Stay compassionate. And remember… you are always more powerful than your thoughts.
🎵 Closing Song: Remember – Sutherland

This week I'm talking to Cape Town-based CBT practitioner Emily about the practical ways Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can support behaviour change and an alcohol-free life.
Emily explains how our thoughts, feelings and behaviours become connected over time, and why drinking can become an automatic response to anxiety, stress, celebration or discomfort. Rather than judging these patterns, CBT encourages us to become curious about them — and then start interrupting them.
Emily introduces the simple STOP technique for dealing with an urge:
S — Stop: pause rather than reacting automatically.T — Take a breath: interrupt the urge and calm the nervous system.O — Observe: notice the thought or feeling without treating it as a command.P — Proceed: choose what you want to do next with intention rather than running on autopilot.
We also discussed urge surfing, journalling and thought records, as well as how to challenge limiting beliefs such as “I deserve a drink” or “I can’t relax without alcohol.” Instead of simply replacing these thoughts with positive ones, Emily suggests looking at the whole truth: What is alcohol really giving you — and what happens afterwards?
The conversation also explores why people can become trapped in repeated attempts at moderation, the importance of building alternative coping strategies, and why an alcohol-free life needs to contain things that genuinely provide relaxation, pleasure, connection and purpose.
There’s even a fascinating discussion about dogs and emotional regulation — including Emily’s six-month-old Staffy, Vizoo — and the role that movement, routine, connection and unconditional companionship can play in our wellbeing.
Emily leaves us with a beautifully simple message: you don't have to change everything at once.
If you're feeling stuck in your drinking, becoming curious is already a beginning. Take one small step — write down a thought, speak to someone, try a tool or experiment with a few alcohol-free days. Change doesn't require perfection; it begins with awareness, curiosity and action.
You can find Emily on Instagram - @cbtincpt
You can find Tribe Sober here 

Eclipse the Story: Remembering Your Light
🎵 Intro and Outro Song: Remember – Sutherland
🦋 Episode Summary
This week, Lynette reflects on the symbolism of the recent total solar eclipse and asks a powerful question:
What if it isn’t life that’s eclipsing your light… but the thoughts you’ve been practising?
Drawing on neuroscience, coaching, and her own journey as she approaches nine years alcohol-free, Lynette explores how our brains become prediction machines. Repeated thoughts, when linked with feelings and behaviours, become familiar neural pathways that shape our beliefs, our identity, and ultimately the life we create.
Using a simple coaching model—Circumstance → Thought → Feeling → Action → Result—this episode explores how we can become detectives of our own thinking, understand why we keep repeating old patterns, and intentionally create new ones.
Recovery isn’t just about stopping drinking.
It’s about remembering who you’ve always been.
✨ In This Episode
Why the eclipse is a powerful metaphor for recovery.
The difference between circumstances and the thoughts we have about them.
How the brain becomes a prediction machine.
Why familiar thoughts often feel like facts.
How repeated thoughts become beliefs.
The coaching model that transformed Lynette’s life.
A real-life example of how one thought can lead to completely different outcomes.
How to stop reacting to life and begin creating it intentionally.
Why recovery is about changing identity, not just behaviour.
🌱 Reflection Questions
Take a few quiet moments this week to reflect on these questions:
What thoughts have been eclipsing my light?
Which thought do I keep rehearsing that no longer serves me?
What result do I want to create in my life?
Who am I becoming?
What new thought could I begin practising today?
💛 Remember…
An eclipse never destroys the sun.
It simply hides it for a while.
Your light has never gone out.
Old stories, old beliefs, and old predictions may have hidden it—but they don’t define who you are.
As Sutherland’s beautiful closing song reminds us:
Remember.
Remember your strength.
Remember your light.
Remember who you’ve always been beneath the stories.
🤝 Let’s Connect
I’d love to hear what resonated with you from this episode.
You can email me at:
📧 lynette@llrcoaching.com
Or come and join us inside the Tribe Sober community, where together we’re learning not only how to live alcohol-free, but how to create lives we genuinely love.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who may need this message today.
Until next time…
Keep noticing your thoughts. Keep protecting your light. And remember… your light has been there all along.