If we’re confronting ourselves with the harsh truths of the way things are, it can become overwhelming. The TAHL: trauma, abuse, heartbreak & loss are painful, they’re heartbreaking, so we put them in a box, put it in the subconscious-closet, hide it away from ourselves and get on with life and remain busy.

But this doesn’t dissolve it, digest it, and release it. It doesn’t take away its power. As a matter of fact, it actually makes it stronger.

In Episode #88 of the Alchemist Recovery Podcast, we’re working with Shamanic wRites and the medicine of perspective and a perfect prompt.

“Dear the Keeper of my Secrets…”

I love that inherent within this prompt, is the way we’ve immediately established a perspective of separation. There is “the you” doing the writing, and there is this other “you” this aspect, this spirit, this part inside of you or outside of you that is the Keeper of Your Secrets. Whether you approach this spiritually, psychologically, or “just” through your imagination, we’re dismantling some old and outdated beliefs.

When you change your perception of medicine, the medicine of perception changes you.

In this episode, we change our perceptions and explore:

• Writing directly to the Keeper: “It’s time to release these secrets because…”

• Inviting that protective role to retire: “You can leave now, because I’m ready to…”

• How to integrate these lessons into your ordinary reality life.

• Writing from a merged state, with practice and your helping and compassionate spirits.

Then we put pen to paper and ride the drum! Find a quiet place, give yourself ten uninterrupted minutes, and have your prompt picked out, clean, clear, and ready to go.

Let it rip.

Till next time, blessings.

Randy

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For more details on the how-to of Shamanic wRites, check out this post & corresponding podcast episode:

I like to say that Secrets are the cement that binds the entire cycle of addiction together.

In this one, we’ll be examining exactly how this happens and what we can do about it. There’s all kinds of Family Secrets, and which infect the lives of those involved in all kinds of ways, but for this talk, we’ll be using the painful, and all too common example of what happens between a mother, a daughter and a step-father.

The first thing to understand is that it’s not as simple as, “Well, let’s just tell the truth” because in a Family Secret, there are other people involved. And each person has their own particular opinion, which are often vastly different in content and intention from yours, and who may want to keep the Secret rolling along to keep the peace.

The choice then is, “Do I tell the truth and break the family agreement?” or “Do I hold my tongue for the sake of the family and deny my truth, once again?”

There are ramifications, often severe, either way.

You know which one I recommend and I’ll be telling you why.

The power of the Family Secret is intense, complicated, and always disempowering to those choosing to keep it. Let’s reclaim what the silence stole and take that power back.

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Check out the full Lesson #43 here:

Blessings!

Dr. Randy

Well, that’s a darn good, common sense kind of question, isn’t it?

And the answer requires us to ask a few more questions. For starters, we’ve got to examine:

• The ethical, legal and moral implications

• The person vs the system

• Professional collaborations

Once we’ve got that under our belt, then we can ask about:

• Healthy vs Unhealthy emotions

• Normal

• Achieving a baseline

So, what’s the answer?

I’ll bring up the work from the Alchemist Recovery Program’s Lesson #41 and specifically making use of The Graph of Expression. I love using this to stimulate a discussion, and especially by pointing out our society’s preference for The Acceptable Range of Human Emotion. It never fails to bring out diverse opinions.

We’ll also invoke how the Medicine of truth is applied, along with the magic of Grief and it’s twin, Praise and/or Ecstasy.

I hope this episode provides some interesting new avenues of thought for you & yours, and as always, shoot me any questions you may have: Spirit@RandalLyons.com.

With Blessings from Thailand,

Randy

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From the foreword of Opening the Eyes of the Heart, 2006, 7 Dragons Press

A New Series

Welcome to this first installment of a new series designed to help Open the Eyes of the Heart. Every month, we’ll dive into one specific health-related topic using our two experiential methods: the Medicine Journey and the Shamanic wRites.

This month of October 2026, we’re taking aim at our mental mechanisms and all things related to thought and starting with a journey to Your Factory of Thoughts.

Whether you’re an experienced shamanic journeyer, a first-timer, or just curious, no worries, we’ve got you covered.

Here’s a few quick answers to some common questions, and then we’ll jump right into the work.

What is a Medicine Journey?

A Medicine Journey is a non-denominational, a-cultural, spiritual practice, in which one receives direct revelation from their own helping and compassionate spirits. It is universal in its ability to deliver information, knowledge and healing power, regardless of your religious affiliation, or whether you’re agnostic or even atheist.

For context, it’s the same method I integrated at inpatient addiction treatment centers for over thirteen years to over 10,000 participants. It’s simple, effective, and provides a reliable way to Open the Eyes of the Heart.

It’s not, or I should say, it doesn’t have to be, a shamanic journey. For my experienced journeyers out there, by all means undertake this journey as you normally would. But what makes the Medicine Journey different is that beginners do not need previous experience. This is because we do not have to go to the Upper and/or Lower Worlds and instead, we start from a place of connection within our own hearts, and therefore, we often stay within the Middle World.

What it delivers: The 4 Medicines

We undertake the Medicine Journey because it delivers all 4 Medicines. These empower a person to make the changes they are seeking in their lives. Here’s a chart of the whole person, with the aspects, their corresponding domains, and finally the Medicines that are applied.

In undertaking a Medicine Journey, you gain access to:

1. Awareness: you will be shown and introduced to all manner of information, knowledge and healing power, which remain hidden during normal consciousness.

2. Experience: You receive an experience of spirit, one in which no one can give to you - and no one can take away.

3. Connection: Your helping and compassionate spirits connect with you through direct revelation, no intermediary is necessary.

4. Practice: This is a method you can make into a regular practice, as well as integrating the information received by applying it to the rest of your life.

Ok, that’s the pregame talk, now let’s get down to work…

Medicine Journey: To Your Factory of Thoughts

Once again, this month of October 2026, we will begin this series with a Medicine Journey to Your Factory of Thoughts.

This is one that comes directly from my book, Opening the Eyes of the Heart, and because I’ve been employing it since the release in 2006, it’s stood the test of time. It has reliably provided the information necessary to reveal the next steps on your path regarding this issue.

Chinese Medicine Associations

The Medicine Journey, as well as the Shamanic wRites, are the methods we use to gather our Medicine, but the map we follow is provided by Chinese Medicine. Created from thousands of years of observing our relationship to Nature, our place in the Universe, and all of the cycles that link the intricacies of this-whole-thing together, it gives the interrelated characteristics that weave the mental, spiritual, emotional and physical aspects together.

Here’s a quick overview designed to stimulate your metaphorical-mind and prepare you to undertake this journey.

Chinese Medicine Associations for this journey:

• Element: Earth

• Main Yang Organ: Spleen

• Paired Yin Organ : Stomach

• Spiritual component: Yi (loosely translated as “focus”)

• Pathological Emotion: Rumination

• Physiological System: Digestion

• Function: Transformation & Transportation

• Alchemist Recovery Lessons: Mother & the Divine Feminine, The Perfect Home, Nurturance, Communion: To Become As One With

My quick take on all-of-this is to say that similar to the physical process of digestion, in which the Spleen and Stomach are responsible for receiving the incoming sources of nutrition, separating out the essential Qi - what we may think of as the nutrients - and then releasing the rest on down the path to elimination, the mind, Yi and this Eye of the Heart, are responsible for doing the exact same thing with our incoming thoughts and experiences.

The Factory of Thoughts can be seen as a place where this process takes place. Our journey there is to understand the quality of it’s functioning, where it’s going wrong and/or right, where improvements are necessary and how they can be made.

Who is this Medicine Journey for?

That was an overview of this journey’s Chinese Medicine associations, so to turn it into today’s language, this journey could provide insight for people who deal with:

• Anxiety

• Rumination

• Excessive worrying

• Stuck in patterns & thought-loops

• ADHD

• Racing thoughts

• How any and all of the above affect all types of physiological functioning

Basically, this Medicine Journey will provide you with another way of examining the mental aspect of your life through a spiritual practice.

I love this because…

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” - Einstein

So, we’re not thinking about what’s wrong with our thinking; we’re journeying to examine how the mechanics of our thinking works.

The Medicine Journey

Here’s the simple, basic instructions to undertake the journey:

1. Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down in, one where you will not be disturbed.

2. Have your pen and journal close by, so you can access them when the journey is done.

3. Begin. Click the play button on your drums-of-choice. If you’re already experienced, skip ahead to Step 6. If new and/or using the included audio track, continue to Step 4.

4. In the included audio track. you’ll be guided for the first three minutes in a breathing and focused relaxation exercise.

5. At about the three and one-half minute mark, you’ll be instructed to call upon your compassionate & helping spirit/Higher Power/or representative thereof, and connect from your eyes to their eyes, and your heart to their heart.

6. From this place of connection, ask to be taken to Your Factory of Thoughts.

7. The drums will begin and carry you through the journey.

8. Don’t worry, just go.

9. Read the questions from below beforehand and ask as many as you can that apply. Don’t worry, just roll with whatever comes up and always keep asking your spirits for help if and when you get stuck.

10. The drums will change beat, this is the signal for call-back. Stop what you’re doing and come back the way you’ve came, giving thanks into everything you’ve seen and done.

11. Land back into your Heart. Feel yourself fully in your body. Give your fingers & toes a little-wiggle and open your eyes.

12. Immediately write down the answers to the questions and whatever else you deem important.

Questions:

Read over these questions before the journey and remember as much as you can. Again, it’s just the general-gist of them, not the word-for-word rote memorization that matters. Follow you instincts.

Structure Questions

• What does your factory look like?

• Is it “machinery” or more “natural”?

• What are its immediate surroundings?

• Is it in a safe and productive place?

• If not, what is wrong with it?

• What goes into the Factory as “input”?

• What comes out of the factory as “output”?

• What is the quality of the output?

• What has an effect on this quality?

• What is the output used for?

• Is this good or bad? How so?

• What, if anything, is dependent upon your Factory’s output?

• How so?

Basically, take note of all of the “physical” surroundings, and the “stuff” that went into and came out of your Factory.

Just be curious.

Process Questions

• How is your Factory functioning?

• Any malfunctions?

• How can you fix this?

• What are the inner workings of this factory like?

• Who is in charge?

• Are there workers?

• If so, what do they do and what are they responsible for?

• Are there things being overlooked in the processing?

• If so, what and what are the effects?

• What is the quantity of output/input like?

• Is there too little, too much?

• Is it overwhelmed or dried up?

• How does this whole process affect your Ordinary Reality life?

• In particular, does it affect the Ordinary Reality body in any way?

• Are the produced thoughts stored anywhere?

• Can they be retrieved for any reason?

• How do you do this?

• What can you do to make the whole process run smoother and more effectively?

Basically, take note of how things worked, who was involved and your feelings around all of these.

Just be curious.

When you’re finished with the journey, write down your answers, as best you remember them, and anything else you’ve got.

After Journey

I’m always curious how one’s perception of reality is often more powerful than the objective reality itself. How you perceive, label, file away and then retrieve the events of your life are important mechanisms that can be examined in this journey to the Factory of Thoughts.

Like the Spleen’s digestive ability to receive food, separate the useful from not-useful, assimilate what’s needed, and send the discarded waste down the pipe to be released forever, that’s what the mind, the Yi, and this Eye of the Heart will do with the experiences of our life, when functioning properly.

And that’s exactly what I hope this journey can do for you.

As always, I’d love to hear your experiences with this Medicine Journey, as well as any questions you may have!

With Blessings,

Randy

Recording

Here’s a downloadable and/or playable audio file, which starts with the guided relaxation for the first three and one-half minutes, then shifts into drumming, complete with a call-back for you to undertake your Medicine Journey.

Links

Your Guide to the Shamanic Journey: step-by-step guidance through an engaging PDF, an instructional video, and an audio drumming track.

The Alchemist Recovery Program Lesson #4: providing detailed information about the 4 Medicines and how they are applied to every aspect of the whole person.

Opening the Eyes of the Heart: a digital copy of the 262 page book - free with membership

Hey Randy, “Where’s the brain in your definition of addiction? You don’t have any mention of it at all.”

I’ll often make it blunt and clear to establish some polarity by answering, “I don’t care about the brain.” Now, of course, I care about the brain. But what I absolutely do not want is to cast a spell of dependence. And one of them, one of the biggest ones we have in this society, is this idea of the broken brain.

When someone points to the brain as a problem, for whatever reason or diagnosis, I have one question, “Do I still have a choice?”

If I find myself sitting at a barstool, with a lime, salt, and three shots of tequila lined up in front of me, and because by every definition of “alcoholic” there is, I am one, the question remains, do I have a choice to indulge - or don’t I?

I believe I do. (And of course, if I find myself in that situation, it’s because I’ve already made a long series of bad choices to get there! But still, in that moment, there’s one more choice to be made, and one last opportunity to make it a healthy one.)

Because when a client says, “I can’t fill-in-the-blank because I’ve got this diagnosis. I don’t have a choice. I’ve got a broken brain,” someone has removed this client’s ability to choose. To me, that’s a powerful spell.

One that we need to call out, pull apart and examine.

That’s what we’re going to be diving into this episode, as well as looking at:

• Do I have a choice or not?

• What’s missing from Gabor Mate’s definition of addiction

• The Spell’s effect on over 100,000,000 Americans with ADHD, anxiety & depression

• Why a cyclical perception of time is one answer to fix things

One of the most important aspects of my work is to bring clarity to what your choices are, where in the cycle you can make them, and then exactly what it’s going to take for you to pull them off.

No one can do it for you. And the beauty is, once you’ve done that, no one can take it away.

Blessings,

Randy

“There is an ancient Chinese teaching that speaks of the Heart having seven magical orifices. These are not physical connections to the veins and arteries but rather metaphorical apertures that open up to reveal wonders of insight, health and understanding. They are called the Eyes of the Heart, and they are pathways of consciousness whose doors can be opened or closed depending upon one’s intention and experience. When these doors are open, one has the freedom to act with clear conscious awareness in the present moment, as opposed to when they are closed and one is chained to reaction from the repetitive programming of the past.”

From the Author’s Foreword to Opening the Eyes of the Heart (A Free Membership gets you a digital copy of this 262 page book.)

Your downloadable copy will appear here when you subscribe ; )

I learned about this ancient medical model during my first semester of Traditional Chinese Medicine college back in the fall of 1993. Since that time, I’ve been deepening my knowledge of and experience with it, while applying its healing methods to my clients and patients. It’s a powerful and unique way of gathering information, knowledge and healing power that can be applied to any personal healthcare concern. Here’s a quick overview of exactly what the Eyes of the Heart are all about.

What are they?

One explanation for The Eyes of the Heart is that they provide an ancient pathway for a person to achieve “enlightenment.” Translating all that this infers into today’s language, this means that it improves every aspect of one’s health: mental, spiritual, emotional and physical, as well as transmitting this achieved health back into the society for the good of all.

Big stuff. 

And while they are not the physical pathways of the heart, they do correspond to our anatomical openings of perception:

• 2 ears - hearing - taking in sound

• 2 nostrils - smelling, breathing - taking in Qi from breath

• 2 eyes - seeing - taking in sight

• 1 mouth - tasting, taking in Qi from food

There are seven Eyes in total and they shape how we perceive all of the world’s information as it comes in, and then how we process this information as it relates to our own lives.

How do they work?

When the Eyes are open and clear, we can take in and receive through these seven orifices honestly and accurately. When they are closed, we do not accurately perceive things as they are, which causes disharmony and disease.

They close by degree, which can happen when we are injured in some way. For this reason, we feel that we cannot be open to take in completely because that means we’re also vulnerable for more of that brand of pain to come in, so we close off to protect. 

This is all normal but if this protection goes on longer than needed and becomes a pattern, then we’ve got problems. We are not perceiving and experiencing the world as it really is but rather re-acting in cycles of our past pain. This prevents us from growing and move forward, which causes all kinds of health issues.

How do we Open them?

In order to reverse this process of closing off and instead Open the Eyes of our Hearts, we need to get honest and clear about:

• Where we’re currently at - the present situation

• Why we closed off - the past

• What we have to do - the future

While this sounds pretty straightforward, there is a paradox of conflicting intentions occurring at the same time. Inside every one of us are both messages: one voice is telling us to close off for protection and the other is reminding us we need to open up for health. Dealing with this in a healthy way is one component of that definition of “enlightenment.”

In OEH, we have a method for reconciling this paradox and moving us along the pathway of enlightenment and that’s the shamanic journey.

The shamanic journey is a simple and structured method to gather information, experience and healing power. This is exactly the Medicine that is required to Open the Eyes of our Hearts and of course, it is not the only way of obtaining this Medicine, it’s just the one that has worked most effectively for me and what I have to provide my clients.

Why is this important?

“When these doors are open, one has the freedom to act with clear conscious awareness in the present moment, as opposed to when they are closed and one is chained to reaction from the repetitive programming of the past.”

Applying this quote to that word of enlightenment, it’s simply about, “Who’s in charge?” When we are clear and present, we are the ones in charge of our thoughts, feelings and actions, as opposed to the other way around when they are the boss of us - or as the saying goes, “The tail is wagging the dog.”

What conditions does this help with?

This is an empowering method for anyone to discover information, receive healing and to participate in any personal healthcare concern.

Here is a list of the Chinese Medicine’s Elements, which provides the map we use to apply this information to our modern-day health concerns:

Water:  fears, addiction, depression, secrets, inherited patterns, limiting core beliefs, sexuality

Wood: anger, frustration, cancer, stuck-ness, all planning - no action

Fire: no passion, anxiety, scattered-ness, relationships, ADHD, diabetes

Earth: worry, rumination, digestion, nourishment, lack of a deep feeling of home, insecurity

Metal: grief, loss, surrender, forgiveness, releasing the old and outdated, inability or lack of expression

How can I find out more?

Stay connected! I so look forward to sharing my experience, as well as the experience of others, who do this work. So, here’s some ways to keep the connection:

• I will be writing more on this under “Medicine Journeys” in my Directory of Posts 

• Sign up here and get the newsletter

• Collaborate as a professional

• Shoot me an message

Share

Subscribe now

Starting with our simple four-part model from The Alchemist Recovery Program, we’ll show how the walls we build to protect ourselves end up blocking the very things we need to heal us.

In this episode:

• The TAHL model: how trauma, abuse, heartbreak, and loss come in like a meteor, leave a crater, and why our response matters more than the event itself

• The Pericardium is the wall around the heart, and how it can keep good things from getting in and keep important stuff, like grief, from getting expressed out

• You know the rule: the vampire can only enter when invited in, so we’ll look at how the lie of “I am not enough” becomes the invitation

• How shame is the cement in the wall, and how we can dissolve it to break the spell

And once the Spell is broken and we become conscious of the Void that remains, we’ll close with what fills it: a practice that generates our gift, and a place where that gift is received.

I love these different approaches! Sometimes, it’s the simplest things that become medicine, because they just make sense.

With blessings,

Randy

I hear this a lot, as this is a familiar feeling in addiction recovery. “But Randy, I got to have something to…ease the pain, fill the emptiness, make life manageable, etc…”

But what happens when the thing we reach for keeps changing while the need underneath, and that pull of the Void, stays the same?

In this episode of the Alchemist Recovery Podcast, I explore the difference between finding relief and addressing the hurts. Evaluating substitute addictions and seemingly healthy routines, we’ll look at how our sources of comfort can support growth or how they can sometimes be holding us back.

I’m going to pull a favorite quote from William Blake and contrast it to another fave from Hunter S. Thompson. I’ll revive a few memories of my own recovery to coincide with and rub against various conversations with clients. From all this, we’ll consider how moments of presence, belonging and acknowledgement of heartbreak are exactly the medicine we need to address the Pull of the Void - and without needing to escape it.

In this episode, we explore:

• Replacing one addiction with another: Recognizing substitution and questioning when it stops helping.

• Relief versus resolution: Appreciating progress while remaining open to deeper work.

• Healthy habits and avoidance: Examining our relationship with self-improvement, structure, and control.

• The practice of belonging: Finding connection through community, shared experience, and offering our gifts.

• Feeling enough: Making room for grief, gratitude, and the possibility that we already have something worth trusting.

Thanks for listening, it’s greatly appreciated!

As are all of your questions: Spirit@RandalLyons.com

With Blessings,

Randy

This will be my 5th year offering the Xperiment in support of anyone who is participating in Sober October. Taking it up a notch from just abstaining for a month, we examine one simple, specific topic through the Exercise of the Day. Nothing elaborate or complicated, just something to think about, feel, experience, and mull over for truth, throughout the normal activities of your day.

(By the way, we start before October-Day 1 with The Prep Work, which has one of my all-time faves of an exercise. It’s guaranteed to deliver a different viewpoint!)

So, if you or anyone you know, would like to join in, here’s the pitch…

And just below that, is the description for medical and mental healthcare providers to offer it to your clients & patients who’d like to give it a try, as well…

The Xperiment

What if you took one month off from alcohol, not as a punishment or a test, but as an Xperiment?

The Alchemist Xperiment is a 33-day exploration of your relationship to alcohol. Beginning with Prep Work and carrying through October, we will bring awareness, clear intention, and curiosity to what is really happening.

You do not have to decide anything forever. Just join the Xperiment, see what you notice, and find out what becomes possible.

Here is what you will receive:

• 33 daily Xercises, including Prep Work and a Wrap

• A short daily video to guide you through each day

• A downloadable PDF for every exercise

• The Big Takeaway to sit with throughout the day

You deserve the answers. You deserve the clarity.

Join us October 1 and get started right now with The Prep Work.

For Healthcare Providers…

A 33-Day Alcohol-Free Xperiment for Your Clients

Beginning October 1, The Alchemist Xperiment offers your clients a simple, structured way to explore their relationship with alcohol for one month.

This is not about labels or a lifetime decision. It is a 33-day Xperiment in awareness, clear intentions, and finding out what is really happening.

Each participant receives:

• 33 daily Xercises, including Prep Work and a Wrap

• A short daily video for each exercise

• A downloadable PDF to support the day’s reflection

• A Big Takeaway to carry into daily life

The Xperiment can complement the work you are already doing with clients by giving them a practical daily container for alcohol-free October.

As always, clients should consult their physician or treatment team before stopping alcohol use, particularly if withdrawal may be a concern.

Here’s a downloadable little PDF with a clickable link you can give to your patients:

Alchemist Recovery 2026

1.92MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

As always, send me any questions or ideas you may have. I look forward to connecting.

With Blessings,

Randy

In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to undertake a successful shamanic journey. It’s a step-by-step instructional course that'll show you how to meet your own helping and compassionate spirits, and then how to receive the knowledge, information and healing power that directly relates to your personal situation.

At The Sober Shaman, we use the shamanic journey to transform addiction and heal trauma. We’ll shed some light on how we do exactly this and provide an introduction to that topic.

To begin, all you need to do is become a free subscriber and you'll gain immediate access to the course. After signup, you’ll automatically have access to the material beyond the paywall below, which contains The Guide.

You’ll receive the 58-page colorful PDF, an accompanying page-by-page guided video, and the audio file of the drumming that leads you on the shamanic journey.

These are yours to download and keep regardless of how long you stay a member, so please utilize them whenever you’d like to receive the gifts that are waiting for you on the journey!

Here’s the Guidebook:

You can download your copy of the PDF here. It will open in a new window, so if you want to keep a copy, make sure you download it from that page.

Click here or on the video above to get instructions that lead you page-by-page through The Guide.

When you’re ready, here’s the audio file of Just Drums for you to ride while undertaking your shamanic journey.

And that’s The Guide!

If you have any questions, are curious about 1-on-1 professional guidance, or just want to connect directly and introduce yourself, please be my guest! You can reach me at:

• Spirit@RandalLyons.com

If you’re ready to break the cycle of addiction once & for all, check out my holistic, go-at-your-own-pace, online Alchemist Recovery Program:

• The Program

And see what we’re working on right now in the Lesson of the Week, which you can see in the Featured image on the Homepage.

Thank you again for subscribing. Sending huge recognition for you and your next right, healing steps.

With Blessings,

Randal Lyons

The Sober Shaman

1 Month Alcohol Free

Have you ever wondered what alcohol is doing to your body? Your mind? How it effects your moods & feelings? Take 1 month off and get your answers.

1 per Day

Investigate 1-topic per day for 33 straight days. We dive into a specific exercise guaranteed to deliver new insights, information & perspectives.

Big Takeaways

Find out for yourself exactly what the pros & cons are for alcohol in your life. You’ll be informed, experienced & empowered moving forward.

How It Works

Join us as we take the international event of Sober October a step further. We use Alchemist Recovery’s effective & proven methods to receive new insights, perspectives and understandings into why we do the things we do.

It’s simple and it’s free.

1. Subscribe

   Enter your email below.

2. Opt-in

   If you’d like to get the Exercise of the Day delivered to your email, contact me here and let me know. If not, they’re waiting for you when you’re ready on the homepage.

3. Investigate

   Check out the Exercise of the Day through the PDF, watch the video, and revisit the Big Takeaway throughout your day.

4. Results

   Informed, experienced and with a new perspective, you can consciously choose your direction moving forward.

You can engage, comment and send me questions every day, for every post, with regards to every topic and exercise.

I look forward to seeing you in the Xperiment!

Begin right now

Here’s the first exercise, The Prep Work:

Most people begin an alcohol-free month on Day One.

The Alchemist Xperiment begins before that.

Not with a promise. Not with a label. Not with a lecture about whether you should or should not drink.

With curiosity.

What if an alcohol-free October was not simply about giving something up? What if it became a 33-day exploration of your relationship to alcohol and an opportunity to find out what is really going on behind-the-scenes?

The Prep Work is the first step in The Alchemist Xperiment. It’s one of my absolute faves for disrupting our unconscious patterns. It’s a short, direct exercise designed to help you enter October awake, intentional, and ready to see something new.

Questions worth sitting with

• What if the most important part of an alcohol-free month happens before Day One?

• Do you want to stop drinking, or is it more about understanding your relationship to drinking?

• What might you discover if you stopped treating alcohol as and automatic “of course”?

• Could 31 days without alcohol change more than your drinking?

Become a free subscriber to receive The Prep Work PDF, short video, and Big Takeaway. When you do, they’ll appear below.

Day One of The Alchemist Xperiment starts with a check-in.

Are you committed?

Not forever. Not to some idea-of-should. Not to making some grand declaration about the rest of your life.

It’s just one month.

But there is a difference between being half in and going all the way. Clear intentions create clear results.

This first day is an invitation to get honest with yourself, make a bold decision, and begin this Xperiment knowing what you are here for.

You deserve the answers. You deserve the clarity. You deserve the results.

Questions worth sitting with

• What would change if I went all the way for one month?

• Am I truly committed, or am I leaving myself an escape hatch?

• Can one clear intention change my relationship with alcohol?

• What answers and clarity could I receive from 31 days without drinking?

Become a free subscriber to receive the Day 1 Clear Intentions PDF, video, and Big Takeaway.

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Feeling Stuck and Feeling Powerless

In recovery, as in life, there’s few feelings that are as frustrating as stuck-ness with seemingly no way out. Whether we’re talking a job, a marriage, a health diagnosis, or a legal battle, powerlessness stinks because it feels absolute and immovable, especially once we’ve stopped using our old coping mechanisms in the form of the go-to drug-of-choice.

In this episode, we explore what a simple but powerful shift in perception can do.

When we change our perception of medicine, the medicine of perception changes us

I propose that what we call “stuck” is often based upon an assumption, and once we see it clearly, we get to trade powerlessness for empowering conscious choice.

One of Tim Ferriss’s favorite guest quotes is, “How am I complicit in the situations I say I don’t want?” I love that. And when we reframe our stuckness into a choice, we restore our agency, we reclaim our power, even if every option still feels difficult.

This episode covers:

• The four common areas of stuckness: Job and finances, marriage and relationships, health and diagnosis, and legal struggles, along with the hidden assumption that keeps each one feeling immovable.

• Shifting from assumption to choice, and why that shift alone begins to return power to you, even before you’ve solved anything.

• Head versus heart decision-making, weighing logic against emotion, plus the deeper distinction between man-made power, which others can give or take away, and spiritual power, which no one can give you or take away from you.

If you’ve ever felt trapped by circumstances outside your control, I hope this podcast episode sheds light along the path back to clarity, choice, and empowerment.

Blessings!

Randy

• How does an addiction deliver Nurturance?

• What exactly does this look like?

• What can I do about it?

Also, we go into everybody’s favorite of The Big 3: Food, Sex, Money, with regards to substitution.

• Why does our relationship to these things change in recovery?

• What are the forms of Nurturance we get from them?

• What do we really need & how do we get it?

There’s Power in this work, and if we don’t acknowledge, receive and redirect it into our new places of recovery, then the forces, habits, and spirits of addiction will gladly accept them back into the self-perpetuating cycles of the-way-things-have-always-been.

Please like, share, subscribe, wherever you get your podcasts on, and send me any questions or comments you have.

Blessings!

Randy

In this Lesson, we revisit the concept of Communion and examine what is specifically received when we “became as one with” our drug or action of choice.

This is a form of Nurturance. And…

Nurturance is the Power received when Connection is made.

Let’s take a look at exactly what we got out of the connections made during this phase of the cycle of addiction. Let’s answer:

• What was received and what was lost during the rituals of using?

• How did this strengthen particular thoughts, beliefs, feelings and actions?

• And now, how do we take this strength back to Nurture our mind, spirit, emotions and body in recovery?

Let’s begin…

Lesson #35 Starts Here

My addiction dependably delivered…

Here’s some answers to that statement above, as well as addictive forms of Nurturance:

• The high-octane punch brought on from the high

• The feeling from the Magic Moment

• Relief from pain

• Alleviation of pressure

• Perceived elevated status

• Community by participating in your DOC with a likeminded group

• Inflated self-importance

• The security of more money

• The high of success

And many, many more…

Some items on this list like: security, success, and community, for example, may seem contradictory to what your addiction delivered, but for many, these are the exact forms of Nurturance that were received. And because they are judged as good, whether by oneself or the family or the culture, they can add just enough confusion to the mix to keep the addiction rolling along.

We explore all of these and more in the Lesson

Definition: Nurturance

Merriam-Webster:

• affectionate care and attention

Dictionary.com:

• warm and affectionate physical and emotional support and care

These definitions imply that when we nurture, it’s a good thing, as well as that the recipient of what we are nurturing, is also a good thing. But in its negative form, as it appears in the cycle of addiction, Nurturance shows up as the “empty calories” of substitution, which are the hollow attempts to fulfill your real and natural needs for Home, Mother, and Communion.

Because that’s exactly what addiction does; it takes a connection that is, or should be, good, nurturing, and sacred, and uses that power to perpetuate the cycle of destruction, pain, and addiction.

This kind of Nurturance is temporary, and, worse than that, it’s counterproductive because it creates more damage as a result of its consequences that actually leave you craving the real thing even more.

Armed with this awareness, we need to flip all of the Nurturance received during the active cycle of addiction into new connections. Ones that bring all of the archetypal powers of the Earth Element we’ve been working in the last three Lessons into daily practice.

Big stuff. And not easy - but an important and often misinterpreted part of what we received during usage. Language matters.

Curious about your Nurturance? Let’s explore it together…

Substitution’s Big 3: Food, Sex, Money

Sometimes people have a hard time understanding the concept of Power, as we use it here in the Alchemist Recovery Program.

This also can happen when we shift the language into Qi, as it relates to the non-personal aspects of our relationship to energy and/or spirituality.

But when we dive into the topic of substitution, and how we replace our drug or action of choice, things become a little clearer.

We can drill-down into specifics by introducing how one’s relationship to “The Big 3” changes when we get sober.

Food. Sex. Money.

Looking at these with clear eyes, maybe for the first time in adulthood, is a very common experience.

And it’s important, and it’s revealing, and it brings insights into how the transfer of energy and power happened during active addiction.

Everybody’s got something big, either obvious for all to see or lurking in the shadows, somewhere in the Big 3.

Do you know what your’s are?

Remember: explore with a curious and nonjudgemental mind, along with a compassionate and self-forgiving heart.

Ready to explore the Communion & the Power of Nurturance in this week’s Lesson? I’ll be your guide throughout, as well as the rest of the Program!

As always, let me know how this Lesson lands with you, send me any questions, reach out to re-connect, or hit me up with an idea or two for collaboration! I greatly enjoy hearing from you ; )

With Blessings,

Randy

PS…Continuing Education Units

The host for The Alchemist Recovery Program to receive CEUs is Net of Knowledge, and they’ve asked me to let you know there’s a 15% discount until September 5. Use Code: NEWCOURSE826 from the button below…

15% Off Here

It is not just sobriety, as I’ve known plenty of people who were sober but not at home. They remain in a wrestling match of daily struggle.

In this episode, we’ll look at the power that resides in the archetypal idea of Home and how it holds the ability to single-handedly disrupt the entire cycle of addiction.

Some points we’ll look at are:

• “New York’s home but it ain’t mine no more” - a little Neil Diamond to illustrate the tension between where we are now and where we came from

• The Story of the Identified Patient - is this yours, as well?

• The Weave of Home - the Irish joke that holds profound truth

• “Go where you’re treated best” - is that back home or somewhere new?

We all are somewhere on the continuum of deeply rooted where we’re presently at, to blowing around like a kite in the winds of circumstance, so either way and from wherever in-between you find yourself, there’s questions to ask in this one.

I’ve love to know how you answer them, so drop me a e-line, or type them in the comments below!

With Blessings,

Randy

Like Mother and Communion from the two previous Earth Element Lessons, the concept of Home holds a tremendous amount of power.

It immediately triggers all kinds of memories, feelings and assumptions, and is directly related to one’s personal beliefs - both good and bad.

The Perfect Home: what does that mean to you?

Who do you share it with? Where is it? Does geography even matter - or is it more about the feeling, the safety, of the place?

Let’s begin…

Start Lesson #34 Here

New York’s home but it ain’t mine no more

L.A.’s fine, the sun shines most the time
And the feeling is “lay back”
Palm trees grow and rents are low
But you know I keep thinkin’ about
Making my way back

Well I’m New York City born and raised
But nowadays
I’m lost between two shores
L.A.’s fine, but it ain’t home
New York’s home
But it ain’t mine no more

Neil Diamond - I Am…I Said

And as the second verse goes on to say, “Well except for the names and a few other changes, if you talk about me, the story is the same one.” Yup, exactly. Except it’s not just lost-between-two-shores, it’s gotten even bigger while living here in Thailand.

What about you?

Do you follow that instinct to explore other shores, cultures, peoples, foods, customs, rituals, beliefs and ways of thinking? Or do you embrace the instinct to settle into, go deeper, and reap the harvest from planted roots?

And what happens when both are true at the same time?

How do we navigate this tension, along with all of the responsibilities to family, career and expectations?

The opposite of addiction is…Home

There is an old joke warning about asking for directions in the Irish countryside. Basically, don’t do it unless you’re prepared to hear the history of that place and those people, living and dead, for the next half-an-hour. And you’ll leave that encounter still not having any idea of where to go ; )

The truth inside the humor is that all of these things, story, land, people, are inseparable. It creates a weave of Home that is made up of what our hearts long for, our bones remember, and where our souls can be at rest.

When we have all of this, we close the doors of invitation to, and fill the spaces of not-enough-ness for, an active and ongoing addiction.

This Home is both prevention and cure.

So, where-how-who with, do we find this here, now, in the west and what are the steps to apply it to addiction?

Join in and let’s find out together…

Go Where You’re Treated Best

What happens when…what was once our home, no longer serves?

When circumstances dictate a move?

What is the rationale for pulling up roots and starting fresh?

Andrew Henderson, known on YouTube as The Nomad Capitalist, has a saying, “Go where you’re treated best.” And while he and his company cater to the-very-well-off with a focus upon finances, wealth and taxation, the basic sentiment applies to everyone, everywhere.

He asks us to examine various aspects of our current situation, which often reveal how we may be the proverbial frog in the pot that’s slowly reaching a boil.

For many in recovery, this boiling point is the realization that home is not going to be a place where they are treated best.

That’s a difficult moment, holding a lot of personal responsibility, with the weight of a choice that must be made and waiting just in front of them.

Stay of leave? What is best, healthier and realistic? For the one in recovery? For everyone involved?

Big stuff.

Ready to explore the power of Home in this week’s Lesson? I’ll be your guide throughout, as well as the rest of the Program!

With Blessings,

Randy

Continuing Education Units

The host for The Alchemist Recovery Program to receive CEUs is Net of Knowledge, and they’ve asked me to let you know there’s a 15% discount until September 5. Use Code: NEWCOURSE826 from the button below…

15% Off Here