Sober Talk SA - Leah - Malvern Group.Sober Talk SA - Leah - Malvern Group.
Sober Talk SA
Leah talks about her journey from controlled drinking and denial to finding sobriety through AA, rehab and a personal spiritual practice. She reflects on resistance, fear, and how prayer, meetings and sponsorship helped her move from emptiness to a more connected, peaceful life.
28:55•25 Jun 2026
Leah’s Story: From Panic to Peace in Early Sobriety
Episode Overview
- Spirituality in recovery does not have to match formal religion; Leah describes finding a personal concept of God as an internal presence rather than an external figure.
- Regular AA meetings, even when she was still drinking, slowly shifted Leah’s thinking and reduced her resistance to the program.
- Getting a structured, consistent sponsor and agreeing to go to any lengths marked the turning point in her sobriety.
- Prayer and meditation, even when not fully understood, helped Leah stay in what she calls “recovery mode” and supported her through depression and anxiety.
- Leah emphasises that recovery is not linear; awareness of disconnection and a willingness to reconnect with her higher power keep her on a safer path.
“"I used to have an off switch and somewhere along the line that switch got broken."”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This Sober Talk SA instalment follows Leah, a member of Alcoholics Anonymous in South Australia, as she shares an honest account of moving from denial and resistance to a more grounded spiritual life in recovery.
Leah starts by admitting she panicked when asked to speak on prayer and meditation, especially as someone she describes as "so young in sobriety." She talks about growing up on the South Coast with a strict, emotionless home life, perfectionist tendencies, and early experiments with weed and controlled drinking. For years she believed she had an “off switch” with alcohol—until she didn’t.
Her story takes a serious turn through rehab, multiple detoxes, and early AA meetings where the word "God" on a "crummy, scrunch‑up, stained calico" was enough to send her back out the door. Religion never appealed to her, and she didn’t see herself as “that type of alcoholic.” Yet repeated meetings, even while still drinking, slowly chipped away at her resistance. A key moment comes when Leah hears someone describe feeling, "Is this it?
Is this all I get?"—words she’d said herself for years. That recognition leads her toward understanding what she calls a "spiritual malady" and to trying the AA suggestions properly: getting a sponsor, saying yes to going to any lengths, and learning that willingness often arrives before understanding. Leah speaks candidly about restless, irritable, discontent days, praying not to wake up, and still turning up to meetings.
Over time, daily prayers, simple meditation, and consistent AA support bring small but steady internal shifts. Her idea of God becomes "the universe... an energy and a force that is everywhere," something she prays to within rather than outside herself. Anyone wondering how spirituality, rather than formal religion, can support recovery will recognise themselves in Leah’s mix of fear, humour, stubbornness, and gradual change. Where might your own connection be closer—or further—than you think?
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