{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"425 Raising the Bottom: How to Stop Drinking Before You Hit Rock Bottom","description":"You Don\u2019t Have to Lose Everything First: What Step One Really Teaches Us If you\u2019ve ever looked at the 12 steps and thought that\u2019s not for me, you\u2019re not alone. I thought the same thing for years. The God stuff felt like a barrier. The word \u201cpowerless\u201d felt insulting. And the idea that my life had to look like a wreck before I qualified? That kept me stuck longer than anything else. This week on the podcast, I sat down with Sonia Kahlon \u2014 founder of EverBlume and host of the Sisters in Sobriety podcast \u2014 to start working the 12 steps together, live, on air. Sonia has nearly nine years of sobriety and had never formally worked the steps. Sound familiar? She\u2019s doing it now, and we\u2019re bringing you along for the whole journey. What Powerlessness Actually Means Step One is this: We admitted we were powerless over alcohol \u2014 that our lives had become unmanageable. The key word most people miss is over alcohol. Not over your whole life. Not over your career or your relationships or your sense of self. Just over alcohol. When you look at the dictionary definition \u2014 powerless means without ability, influence, or resources \u2014 suddenly it clicks. Sonia said it perfectly: once I started drinking, I never knew how much I was going to drink. I told myself just one and ended up ten drinks in. Every single time. That\u2019s not a character flaw. That\u2019s powerlessness over a substance. Raising the Bottom One of the most powerful concepts we talked about is \u201craising the bottom.\u201d The 12 steps and 12 traditions describe it as sparing yourself the last 10 to 15 years of literal hell. You don\u2019t have to get a DUI, lose your marriage, or end up in a hospital before you decide to change. Sonia had what some call a \u201csilk sheet bottom\u201d \u2014 financially stable, healthy marriage, functioning career. But emotionally? She wanted to die. That\u2019s a bottom. It just didn\u2019t look like one from the outside. And that invisibility is exactly why so many high-functioning people wait too long. Sober vs. Recovered Here\u2019s something we don\u2019t talk about enough: you can be sober and still not be okay. Sonia and I talked about the difference between sobriety \u2014 not drinking \u2014 and recovery, which is the ongoing work of becoming emotionally healthy. You can have years of sobriety and still be running on old patterns, substituting one coping mechanism for another, and avoiding the deeper work. The steps are one path into that deeper work. Action Items: \u2013 Read Step One in the 12 Steps & 12 Traditions (free online) \u2013 Write down the dictionary definitions of \u201cpowerless\u201d and \u201cunmanageable\u201d \u2014 then see how they apply to your drinking, not your whole life \u2013 List specific moments where you were powerless over alcohol \u2014 not your rock bottom stories, just examples where you couldn\u2019t keep a promise to yourself about drinking \u2013 Find a women\u2019s step study meeting near you (or online) and commit to going once Books & Resources Mentioned: \u2013 The 12 Steps and 12 Traditions (AA) \u2013 Alcoholics Anonymous (The Big Book) \u2013 The 12 Step Guide for Skeptics by Arlina Allen \u2013 EverBlume \u2014 online recovery support groups founded by Sonia Kahlon: https:\/\/everblume.com \u2013 Open Recovery \u2014 free Wednesday night meetings: https:\/\/openrecovery.app Need help applying this information to your own life? Here are 3 ways to get started: Free Guide: 30 Tips for Your First 30 Days \u2013 With a printable PDF checklist Grab your copy here: https:\/\/www.soberlifeschool.com Private Coaching: Make Sobriety Stick https:\/\/www.makesobrietystick.com Subscribe So You Don\u2019t Miss New Episodes! Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music, or you can stream it from my website HERE. You can also watch the interview on YouTube. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@theonedayatatimepodcast?sub_confirmation=1       Apple: https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-one-day-at-a-time-recovery-podcast\/id1212504521 Spotify: https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4I23r7DBTpT8XwUUwHRNpBAmazon Music: https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/podcasts\/a8eb438c-5af1-493b-99c1-f218e5553aff\/the-one-day-at-a-time-recovery-podcast ","author_name":"Sobriety: The One Day At A Time Recovery Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/odaatchat.com","html":"