378. A slow and beautiful recovery with Kate from Victoria378. A slow and beautiful recovery with Kate from Victoria
How I quit alcohol
Kate from Victoria reflects on her five and a half years alcohol-free, sharing how a slow, steady recovery, community support and yoga helped her rebuild her life. The conversation focuses on realistic expectations, daily rituals and using fear and honesty to stay committed to change.
50:28•27 Jun 2026
A Slow and Beautiful Sobriety: Kate’s Five-Year Alcohol-Free Journey
Episode Overview
- Community and accountability are crucial, especially when everyone around you still drinks.
- Simple daily rituals such as journalling, meditation and yoga can become anchors that keep sobriety steady over the long term.
- Recovery can be slow, sometimes boring, and free of constant highs – and that steadiness is a strength, not a problem.
- Fear of returning to a painful past life can be used as fuel rather than shame, helping maintain commitment to change.
- If you are stuck in a pattern of stopping and starting, the key is to keep starting instead of giving up.
“If you’re stuck in the cycle of stopping and starting, just keep starting.”
What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction? This conversation between Danni and Kate from Victoria offers a slow-burn answer, full of honesty, humour, and a hefty dose of real-life grit. Kate, one of the very first How I Quit Alcohol challenge grads, reflects on going from a daily drinker in a collapsing marriage to five and a half years alcohol-free, a rebuilt career, and a calmer home for her two boys.
She talks about ending her marriage, parenting a child with an autism diagnosis, and drinking “every day” just to get through, while antidepressants and alcohol mixed into scary blackouts. Her turning point? A new job, a quiet inner nudge, and a podcast that led her to sign up for a 12-week challenge she initially thought she “didn’t need”.
You’ll hear how community, accountability and simple rituals like journalling, morning routines and yoga helped her commit to what began as a 12‑month “experiment”. Kate’s honest about boredom, the loss of the early pink cloud and the pull to chase highs again. Instead of glamorising sobriety, she calls it “a slow fucking slog” full of consistency, flat patches and ordinary days – and why that’s actually a gift.
Yoga becomes a big part of her story: from yoga nidra to asana and finally to a retreat in Bali with Danni and teacher Mark Purser, where she says she “came back a full‑blown yoga nuffy”. She also shares how fear of going back to her old life still helps her stay on track, and why she now sees alcohol as “the biggest load of bullshit we’ve ever been fed”.
If you’re on day one, stuck in the stop–start cycle, or craving a slower, more grounded path, Kate’s gentle mantra might land: “I did that. Now I get to do this.” What kind of slow, beautiful recovery might you give yourself permission to start?
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