The Sober Shaman

At Stanford, Andrew Keaveney was chairing the Buddhist Club and trying to meditate. He tried a dozen techniques and kept coming up short. Then he found Sky Breath Meditation and four years later he was living at the source of it, at an ashram in Bangalore, India figuring out why it worked when nothing else had.In this conversation, Andrew shares how Sky Breath Meditation works with our physiology rather than against it, using the documented relationship between breath patterns and emotional states to bring the nervous system into alignment from the inside out. We get into what the research actually shows, how it fits alongside 12-step work, psychedelic integration, and traditional clinical care, and why it doesn't ask you to believe anything different than you already do.What separates Sky Breath from other meditation techniques and why it's the most studied breathwork protocol todayHow the breath-emotion connection works, and what a scientific study revealed about running it in reverseWhy Andrew & I believe addiction is about identity and what it takes to get underneath itWhat a person in recovery said Sky Breath gave him that nothing else had: choice - in the moment before the decisionWebsite: artofliving.org | Recovery-specific: skyrecovery.org

Episode 73: Addiction to Comfort & the Loss of Meaning, Purpose & MasteryThere's nothing wrong with comfort. Rest, recovery, the exhale after a hard week, these are essential. The problem isn't comfort. It's when comfort becomes the goal.That's the line this episode draws. Because when we're working toward mastery and comfort serves the work, we come back Monday morning lit up and ready to give. But when we're just grinding until Friday, when the drink, the couch, the shortcut is what we're actually after, we've crossed into something familiar to anyone in recovery: an addiction.Using the Chinese Five Element cycle, I walk through exactly how comfort-as-goal moves through the addiction cycle the same way any substance does. The fruit looks, smells, and maybe even tastes like success, but it's hollow calories.Here's what that costs us:When comfort is the goal, meaning goes out the window. Every time.Shortcuts don't just rob you of mastery. They also sacrifice the heart, and that's where inspiration and purpose actually lives.Crisis is a gift. Rock bottom is where the belief finally cracks open enough to let something real in.Mastery holds the magic to connect you to lineages of the past, people right now, and plants seeds in the future. No shortcut does all three.Thanks for listening. Find the full Alchemist Recovery Program, 52 lessons, one year, at thesobershaman.com.

Recorded from the back porch along the banks of the Ping River here in northern Thailand, I'm joined by Tucker our Temple Cat and a cacophony of singing birds for this episode of the Sober Shaman Podcast. We get into Qi, and not by talking about it, but by having an experience of it.The focus is one simple, powerful Qigong exercise: holding the ball. In 13 years inside addiction treatment centers, this is the exercise that lit people up. I could see the light bulbs going off when someone felt the Qi between their palms for the first time.We'll explore Qi follows Yi. Energy flows where attention goes. Which means we can direct it, move it, use it. Starting with the basics, jaw, shoulders, belly, we work through three lines of relaxation, build the Qi ball between the palms, and then take that ball of love and light to wherever it's needed: a headache, a knee, gastric upset, anxiety, cravings, heartbreak. No place to put it? Bring it straight into the Heart.This is a practice that can deliver palpable relief, not a cure-all, but an absolute component of healing that puts you back in participation with your own recovery.Want to run through it step by step? Lesson 23 is waiting at thesobershaman.com.Links referenced in this episode:thesobershaman.com

“Sobriety Is Boring”Really?I’ve noticed this sentiment has been showing up on social media lately, and I’ll admit, I get it. I bumped up against it in those first couple of years and I’ve had many people tell me they’ve experienced exactly the same. It’s common to hit some pretty quick plateaus of the, “Ok, I’ve stopped. Now what?” variety.But here’s what I keep coming back to: what’s boring, exactly? Life?Yup, there’s a lot to cover here. Because, as we know, stopping the active addiction is just the beginning. Links referenced in this episode:continue reading on Substack herethesobershaman.com

Am I a shaman? It’s right there in the name but the answer might surprise you. In this episode, I dig into what the word “shaman” actually means, why I deliberately use it, and why I’m equally deliberate about saying I’m not one. From lineage, ancestors and sacred language to power loss, soul loss and spiritual intrusion, I share the path I do walk and why I’d rather teach you to be your own shaman than do the work for you.Show HighlightsWhat a shaman actually is, Unpacking the real, traditional meaning of shamanism: lineage, sacred language, ritual, and the role of intermediary between people and spirit.Why I use the word, but don’t claim the title. The intentional tension behind the name “The Sober Shaman” and why challenging preconceived notions is part of the work.The three forms of shamanic disease. A breakdown of power loss, soul loss, and spiritual intrusion, and how they show up in addiction and trauma.Teaching you to do it yourself. Why I believe the most powerful healing is the kind nobody can do for you, but it’s also the kind nobody can take away from you, either. And how I guide people to reclaim it.This one is close to my heart, so I hope it sparks something in you too. Listen in, and let me know your thoughts. Don’t forget to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and come find me on Substack and at www.thesobershaman.com.Links referenced in this episode:thesobershaman.com