87: Natural Health & Sobriety with Janey Lee Grace - Episode 8787: Natural Health & Sobriety with Janey Lee Grace - Episode 87
UK Health Radio Podcast
Janey Lee Grace talks with author Catherine Gray about her journey from blackouts and failed moderation attempts to a joyful, content sober life. They also discuss gratitude, “little addictions” like phones and people-pleasing, and how neuroscience and boundaries can support lasting change.
44:30•16 Apr 2026
Natural Health, Joyful Sobriety & "Little Addictions" with Catherine Gray
Episode Overview
- Trying to moderate drinking with rules and unit-counting can become draining and usually fails if alcohol is already a “thing” for you.
- Sobriety can bring surprising joy, calm and contentment, even in ordinary situations, after the initial rocky adjustment period.
- Daily gratitude or “blessings” lists help train the brain away from its bias towards negative events and support a more balanced mindset in recovery.
- So-called “little addictions” like phones, TV, sugar, people-pleasing and gossip can still strongly affect wellbeing and benefit from intentional limits.
- Learning about dopamine, the brain’s reward systems and the role of the amygdala can make it easier to build boundaries, tolerate discomfort and choose healthier habits.
“"Moderation is so exhausting… ridiculous, because it doesn’t work, and why would you want it to work anyway when you realise how joyful it is to be sober?"”
Curious about how others manage their sobriety journey and all the "little" habits that come with it? This live edition of the Natural Health & Sobriety Show on UK Health Radio brings together Janey Lee Grace and writer Catherine Gray for a funny, very honest chat about alcohol, anxiety and the surprising upsides of quitting.
Catherine shares how her drinking shifted from "like my friends" to blackout arrests and shame-filled mornings, including waking up in a Brixton cell and piecing the night together from texts and a mysterious child’s hairbrush. Instead of stopping, she spent years in exhausting moderation attempts, tracking units in a “golden notebook” and writing endless rules she couldn’t keep. As she says, moderation was "exhausting" and rarely works the way people imagine.
Once she finally stopped, Catherine expected a "death sentence" for her social life. Instead, she felt unexpected joy, calm and even euphoria in ordinary moments – sometimes while just sitting in the dentist’s chair. Janey and Catherine talk about this new sense of contentment, that quiet core of peace that replaces the constant inner storm of drinking.
From there, they chat through Catherine’s books, including *The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober* and *The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary*, born from a daily gratitude practice that shifted her naturally pessimistic mindset. They touch on her novel *Versions of Her*, themes of nature versus nurture, and her latest project on “little addictions” – those sticky habits like phones, social media, ultra-processed food, people-pleasing and judgment.
You’ll hear how neuroscience, dopamine “shifting”, and braver boundaries can help with everything from nicotine lozenges to doomscrolling, all wrapped in humour and openness. If you’ve ever wondered whether sobriety could actually feel joyful – or why saying no to a drink feels so hard – this conversation might get you thinking about what real freedom could look like for you.
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