The Big Drink Rethink

What if your relationship with alcohol was more about nourishment than willpower? In this eye-opening toolkit episode of The Big Drink Rethink, Anna shares one of her most powerful tools yet, a framework to help you discover what truly fuels and sustains you, making it easier to outgrow alcohol for good. 

Drawing on personal experience and Tara Mohr’s Core Nutrients Framework, Anna Donaghey guides you to uncover what you’re genuinely “thirsty for,” and how meeting these deeper needs naturally eases your reliance on booze. Whether you’re navigating the pressures of the holiday season or simply wanting to rethink your drinking habits, this episode is packed with practical exercises and gentle wisdom to help you feel more alive, grounded, and connected - no willpower required!

Here are the Highlights:

00:00 Habits stick not through willpower, but by feeling nourished 

03:10 Christmas amplifies everything, joy, loneliness, and chaos 

09:12 Alcohol offers temporary comfort and connection

10:08 Reflect on your true cravings and emotional needs

13:48 Creativity, belonging, and connection energise your inner life

25:13 Prioritise self-nourishment, download the reflection sheet at thebigdrinkrethink.com/tools

26:57 Identifying core needs brings clarity, immediate well-being, and builds lasting habits.

Have you ever questioned whether alcohol might be quietly dimming the best parts of your life? In this episode of The Big Drink Rethink, Anna Donaghey chats to Dan D'Souza, co-founder of MUUSH to explore how quitting alcohol made room for more meaning, creativity, and connection. From high-flying networking in boozy city jobs to finding real nourishment in purpose and daily joy, Dan shares his journey through the “grey area” of drinking and the practical, inspiring steps he took to rethink his relationship with alcohol. 

Here are the Highlights:

00:00 Intro: Dan D'Souza, co-founder of MUUSH, quit alcohol to prioritise purpose, and connection

04:00 Missed grades led to studying marketing at Sussex

09:54 Alcohol remains a social expectation and facilitator in business

15:54 Drinking can still be a problem if it depletes or distracts you

17:33 A turning point in 2023, after losing a bag with a phone and laptop

21:08 Focus on what feels good and kind

23:57 Removing alcohol creates space for reflection, opens new chapters, and fosters clarity for life's next steps

27:44 Spending less on alcohol allows for more purposeful spending 

35:24 Focus on identifying priorities

37:07 Bridging taste and function in non-alcoholic drinks

43:00 Balance values and small pleasures while maintaining clarity and energy

46:02 Seeking professional help and finding inspiration from others

49:14 Friendships can evolve to provide emotional support

Letting go, relaxing, and releasing especially without alcohol can feel out of reach for many. In this insightful, toolbox-packed Q&A episode, Anna Donaghey tackles questions from listeners and coaching clients about why it can be so hard to relax or "let go," even after quitting drinking. 

This episode explores how patterns of control, nervous system wiring, shame, and old beliefs shape our inability to relax, and offers practical, compassionate tools for beginning to unlearn these habits and find true safety and release.

Here are the Highlights:

00:00 Introduction: Listener questions about “letting go”

01:57 Listener feels unable to soften and release

03:18 The nervous system doesn’t know how to release on its own

04:24 It's not that you're broken, the body has learned holding on is safe

05:33 Why we grip so tightly, and the link to safety and self-protection

06:42 Fear of falling apart, feeling emotions, and losing control

07:38 What does your tightness think it’s protecting?

08:05 Why “trying hard” to release is counterproductive

09:18 Create conditions where release can happen naturally

12:05 The importance of permission in self-care and self-worth

12:48 Seeking support, therapy, and accepting oneself

14:06 Start with possibility

17:19 Replace drinking rituals with calming alternatives

18:04 Healing is slow, small acts accumulate and become safety signals

19:09 Layers of trust: trust in self, trust in others, and (even) trust in life

22:31 “I don’t have to carry this anymore”; letting go doesn’t mean giving up

22:50 Release isn’t a destination, it’s a returning rhythm like breathing

25:03 Micro-moments of softening as daily healing gestures

26:16 Please submit your questions for future episodes.

How deep do the patterns that drive our drinking really go? In this transformative episode, Anna talks to Dr. Evette Rose, internationally renowned holistic counselor, trauma recovery expert, and author of Metaphysical Anatomy to reveal how trauma, inherited stress, and family conditioning can hardwire us for coping mechanisms like alcohol, long before we ever pick up a drink. 

You’ll discover addiction is not just about willpower or habits. It’s about healing the imprints left by childhood, family history, and even foetal development. This episode is a must-listen for anyone seeking not just sobriety, but true freedom from old emotional wiring.

​Here are the Highlights:

00:00 Introduction: Exploring trauma, nervous system wiring, and alcohol

03:25 Growing up: alcoholism, violence, and longing for connection

07:36 How childhood patterns of stress shape identity

09:18 Repeating family patterns in relationships

12:09 Intergenerational trauma and addiction predisposition

15:10 The impact of maternal stress on addiction risk

17:01 The placenta as a “memory bank” for trauma

18:36 Not just nurture, trauma transfer at a cellular and biological level

22:01 How generational trauma can be “programmed” into you

28:38 Coping mechanisms beyond alcohol

33:00 Why focusing only on “fixing” yourself keeps you stuck 

35:37 Rapid regulation exercises for triggers and cravings 

41:22 Practical body-based tools for rewiring safety

48:00 What if you don’t know your family history? 

51:05 Healing not as correcting flaws, but updating old survival patterns.

Is quitting alcohol just about the drink itself, or is there something deeper at play? Anna Donaghey sits down with trauma-informed healer Emma Lyons, founder of The Trauma Matrix, to explore how shame hides beneath so many of our habits, including drinking, and keeps us stuck in self-judgment, perfectionism, and people-pleasing. If you’ve ever felt that gnawing ‘not enough’ feeling, or wondered why cutting back on booze feels so hard, this episode will help you see what’s really fueling the urge and give you powerful new tools for release.

Here are the Highlights:

00:00 Introduction: Why releasing alcohol requires releasing shame

02:08 Meet Emma Lyons

04:49 Family scapegoat, inherited shame & the roots of addiction

07:54 Why therapy doesn’t work until you address shame

09:00 Shame vs. guilt: The toxic cocktail that attacks our sense of self

12:40 Manipulation, compliance, and the gaslighting of “for your own good”

13:39 How shame hijacks the body and drives coping strategies

17:16 Shame shuts down empathy

19:37 Narcissists, repression, and the Velcro effect of internalised shame

22:01 Scapegoats, golden children, and not being yourself

25:54 Imposter syndrome, perfectionism and anxiety are all just shame with better PR

28:43 Numbing shame with alcohol

30:51 How not-enoughness fuels drinking

32:01 Why shame is always toxic and why society says otherwise

35:41 How children can pick up parental shame, accidentally and unconsciously

38:39 Drinking to numb, feeling flawed, and repeating the pattern

39:31 You can’t bully shame into submission

48:17 What happens when shame is released

48:42 Why alcohol loses its job when shame no longer needs numbing

49:28 Where to find Emma Lyons (+free gift for listeners)