SHAIR 201: Purified by Fire with Jeannine WiseSHAIR 201: Purified by Fire with Jeannine Wise
The SHAIR Recovery Podcast
Chef Jeannine Wise shares how addiction, grief and depression pushed her towards a Buddhist-inspired recovery path, Refuge Recovery. She talks openly with host Omar Pinto about meditation, self-compassion and finding a recovery approach that finally made sense to her.
1:38:22•18 Dec 2018
Purified by Fire: Jeannine Wise on Refuge Recovery and Rethinking Sobriety
Episode Overview
- Alcohol can start as medicine for trauma and grief but quickly becomes its own source of suffering.
- Meditation and forgiveness practice can help challenge intrusive thoughts and create space between feelings and actions.
- Recovery pathways like Refuge Recovery offer a non-theistic option for those who struggle with traditional higher power concepts.
- Treating early sobriety like recovering from a long illness—rest, food, water, comfy clothes, and saying no—can be life-saving.
- Letting go of shame and speaking openly about addiction can support others, especially in high-risk cultures like the restaurant industry.
“I was told that the pain I was going through in detox and early sobriety, that I was like a sequoia seed that was being purified by fire.”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? For chef and Chicago local Jeannine Wise, it was the terrifying realisation that her "interior landscape was scorched earth" while the outside still looked functional. In this candid conversation with host Omar Pinto, Jeannine traces her drinking from "life of the party" restaurant culture to using alcohol as grief medicine after a traumatic ectopic pregnancy.
She’s painfully clear that booze once felt like survival: "I got addicted to an addictive substance, big look. I just needed help." The heart of the episode is Jeannine’s shift into Refuge Recovery, a Buddhist-inspired path that doesn’t rely on a traditional higher power.
Instead, she talks about taking refuge in meditation, teachings and community (the sangha), and the shock of learning she wasn’t her thoughts: "I thought I was my thoughts… I had no idea that my mind has tried to kill me a lot of times." You’ll hear how daily meditation, forgiveness practice and a very human approach to suffering help her live sober while managing depression, a high-pressure kitchen career and a busy city life.
She jokes that her empathy is now a "superpower", letting her sense when someone is struggling and offer real connection rather than judgement. The episode also looks at multiple recovery pathways, from AA to Refuge Recovery and Hip Sobriety School, and why inclusive language matters. Jeannine is open about rejecting shame and anonymity: she refuses to be quiet about something that "saved my own life" and might save others in her industry.
Her mantra from early recovery sums it up: "I was like a sequoia seed that was being purified by fire." If you’ve ever felt burned to the ground by addiction, could this be the perspective shift you’ve been waiting for?
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