Boozeless Book Club: "Another Kind of Freedom"Boozeless Book Club: "Another Kind of Freedom"
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Dr. Sarah Michaud, Amy Liz Harrison and Beth Lacey chat about Pema Chödrön’s "Another Kind of Freedom", focusing on befriending emotions, projection and meditation. Their conversation links Buddhist ideas with sober living, highlighting how sitting with discomfort can shift the experience of suffering.
42:24•27 Oct 2026
Befriending Suffering: Boozeless Book Club on "Another Kind of Freedom"
Episode Overview
- Befriending emotions, rather than fighting them, can soften suffering and make painful moments more bearable.
- Strong reactions to others often reflect personal history and projections, not objective truth about the other person.
- Allowing feelings to move through the body without added stories or judgement helps them pass more quickly.
- Regular, even brief, meditation creates a sense of spaciousness and can feel like an act of self‑love in recovery.
- Letting go of the urge to explain, defend or seek validation from others – including on social media – supports healthier boundaries and detachment.
“"It's true for me that some of the places I've been the least happy and the most upset about and the most dug in about ended up being important turning points in my life."”
What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? Here, the Boozeless Book Club crew takes a gentle yet honest look at pain, freedom and emotional growth through Pema Chödrön’s book, "Another Kind of Freedom". Dr. Sarah Michaud, Amy Liz Harrison and Beth Lacey chat like old friends in a meeting, weaving recovery wisdom with Buddhist teaching in a way that feels down‑to‑earth and very human. The conversation centres on befriending emotions instead of running from them.
Beth shares how deeply Pema’s humanness lands for her: "There is nothing that I've done or possibly can do... that I feel she pathologises. It's all within the context of being human." That sense of acceptance is a big thread, especially for anyone who’s used alcohol to escape discomfort.
They talk about suffering as "wanting it to be different than how it is" and how simply noticing feelings, rather than piling on stories like "I shouldn’t feel this way", can shift the whole experience of pain. Amy explains how this practice has "actually changed... the way I suffer", describing how she now pauses, checks in with her body and recognises old wounds instead of reacting on autopilot. Dr.
Sarah brings in the idea of projection – that strong reactions to others often say more about our past than about the person in front of us. The trio laughs at their own habits of over‑explaining, people‑pleasing and chasing external validation (including on social media), all while tying it back to recovery patterns many people in sobriety will recognise. Meditation runs through the chat as both aspiration and struggle.
They’re honest about drifting in and out of practice, yet Amy sums up why it matters: taking time to sit in stillness feels like "an expression of love" to herself. If you’re sober or sober‑curious and ready to sit with your feelings instead of numbing them, this conversation might give you something new to "chew on" the next time life feels a bit too loud.
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