LIVE! Catherine Gray in conversation with Janey Lee GraceLIVE! Catherine Gray in conversation with Janey Lee Grace
Alcohol Free Life - Janey Lee Grace
Janey Lee Grace chats live with author Catherine Gray about her sobriety story, the joy she found alcohol-free, and how "little addictions" like phones, sugar and people-pleasing can persist after quitting booze. Their conversation mixes humour, practical tools and candid reflections on dopamine, boundaries and emotional regulation.
56:07•3 Apr 2026
Joyful Sobriety and Little Addictions with Catherine Gray
Episode Overview
- Moderation often becomes a full-time mental job, while alcohol-free living can bring ease, balance and genuine contentment.
- Gratitude practices and noticing small everyday pleasures help strengthen positive links with sobriety.
- Understanding dopamine and choosing more "slow" rewards can reduce reliance on quick hits from phones, sugar or other habits.
- People-pleasing is closely tied to fear of rejection; learning to tolerate the discomfort of saying no is vital for recovery.
- Emotional regulation without substances or compulsions is a learnable skill, using tools like breathing, movement and simple grounding techniques.
“It is completely unexpected to find that sobriety is joyful.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This live recording at Hello Love puts you right in the room with host Janey Lee Grace and bestselling author Catherine Gray, whose book *The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober* has become a modern quit-lit classic.
Janey kicks off by sharing how that book title stopped her "spinning" because, as she says, "It is completely unexpected to find that sobriety is joyful." Catherine then walks through her own messy beginnings: blackout arrests, waking up in a Brixton cell, and years of exhausting moderation attempts tracked in a “little golden notebook” of rules she constantly broke.
Her honesty is disarming and funny; she jokes she’s “an oversharer” who had to “take 10% off the top” of her first draft. From there, the chat widens out for anyone rethinking their relationship with alcohol. Catherine explains why moderation is so draining, how early sobriety can feel like a roller coaster, and why many people start to feel an inner “core of peace” once the booze is gone.
You’ll hear how gratitude lists evolved into her book *The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary*, and why noting tiny wins – even enjoying a crumpled bit of paper in the bin – can cement alcohol-free contentment. The conversation then shifts to Catherine’s new book *Little Addictions: Freedom from Our Tiny but Mighty Compulsions*.
She talks about the “sticky eight” (from alcohol and nicotine to phones and ultra-processed food), her surprise realisation that she was hooked on nicotine lozenges, and practical ideas like “dopamine shifting” and phone rituals that stop your device running the show. There’s a powerful section on people-pleasing and why saying no can feel physically uncomfortable, especially with family.
If you’re sober, sober curious, or just suspect your phone, sugar or people-pleasing might be calling the shots, this candid chat offers plenty to relate to and lots to laugh at. Which “little addiction” would you be ready to tackle first?
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