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Sober Yoga Girl
Alexandra McRobert, known as Sober Yoga Girl, is a former party girl turned international yoga teacher and sober lifestyle coach. Originally from Canada, Alexandra spent her twenties partying in Dubai, the land of bottomless brunch and unlimited drinks. Alex andranow supports other women in finding spirituality and sobriety through Sober Girls Yoga - which is part of The Mindful Life Practice, an international online yoga community she founded. In this podcast Alexandra will offer weekly episodes with insight into her life and journey, including stories, strategies, and sometimes with special guests. Dive into topics such as triggers around alcohol, yoga philosophy, speaking to family and friends and mental health. You’re not alone - and in being her open, authentic self, Alex helps others find and feel that.
You can find Alexandra's upcoming schedule here: https://www.soberyogagirl.com/p/upcoming-retreats-and-trainings-47b
Sober Yoga Girl
BONUS: What does 108 Mean? Sober Talks with Alex and Cathy
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What is the significance of the number 108 in yoga? In this episode Alex & Cathy record live in the Facebook Group. They share the significance behind the number 108, why they chose it for the Challenge to Recovery Program. The 108 Day Recovery is a four month program for women more than two months sober. It digs deep into emotional recovery. The next 108 Day Recovery Program begins this weekend and there are a few spots left. Here is the link to join! https://www.themindfullifepractice.com/108-day-recovery
Join the free 60 Day Sober Girls Yoga Challenge here!
And join our next Sober Women's Bali Bhakti class here.
Hi friend, this is Alex McGrobs, founder of the Mindful Life Practice, and you're listening to the Sober Yoga Girl podcast. I'm a Canadian who moved across the world to the Middle East at age 23, and I never went back. I got sober in 2019 and I now live full-time in Bali, Indonesia. I've made it my mission to help other women around the world stop drinking, start yoga, and change their lives through my online sober girls yoga community. You're not alone, and a sober life can be fun and fulfilling. Let me show you how. All right, here we are. Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to Sober Chats with Alex and Kathy. It is um Monday for those of you in North America. It is Tuesday for those of you in Asia. And um, we're super happy to be here. How are you doing today, Kathy?
SPEAKER_01I'm doing well. Today is Labor Day in the States, so I had the day off. I did not labor at all. And uh I went grocery shopping, which is laboring for me because I don't like to grocery shop, but I got my I got and I meal prep. So that was laboring, but not the typical laboring. So yeah, I'm good. I'm good. I feel organized, and that'll last for like about a couple of weeks, and then I'll be like, I need another day off to catch up. So good.
SPEAKER_00How are you? That's awesome. I'm good, I'm good. Um, you know, I had a great sleep last night. I feel rested. Um, I feel like um, yeah, I'm I'm excited to to go about my day today, going to yoga, going to visit the rice terraces in Bali, um, which is where I'm just taking my cousin who's visiting. And um yeah, I'm doing good. Another day, another day in Bali. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01That's so cool. I love that picture of you and the monkey. It looks like the monkey is taking the selfie.
SPEAKER_00Oh my goodness. Yeah. Okay. So how they did that is they had the monkey sit on our laps and then they had the camera, and then they fed peanuts to the monkey's hand, who just reached out like this. So it looked like it was taking a selfie. Like it was really cute. But then, so the funny thing is, I have not gone to that monkey forest ever because I've heard that the monkeys are aggressive. And I said that to my cousin when when she wanted to go. I was like, you know, I don't want to go there because the monkeys are aggressive, they steal things from people. And um, literally, like 20 minutes after we took that photo, the one of the monkeys climbed on her and tried to steal stuff out of her purse and then um put their mouth on her. Thank God they didn't break skin or bite, but it was pretty bad. And then she was like, Okay, I want to go. And this is like her first, yeah, this is like her first day in Bali, your first international trip. So it was like a great start.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_00But yeah, so those monkeys, if anyone watching comes to Bali, you have to be really mindful, like have all your stuff zipped up, no valuables, like nothing shiny, even like earrings, because they're just like they just like grab and they, you know, they have like human hands with opposing thumbs, and they like, yeah. So anyway, they're a bit scary.
SPEAKER_01That is so that had to be so freaky.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but at least the photo was good.
SPEAKER_01So yes, but the photo up was amazing. The story behind the story, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Story behind the story, yeah. You guys get the backstory. I did not put that on the truth on Instagram. So I looked up Sober News this week, and there were a couple of really interesting articles and a couple of really interesting quotes in like big news outlets. So there was an article in Vice magazine, which said that alcohol was undergoing a PR crisis. And there was also an article in Vogue magazine that basically said that everyone stopped drinking. Like the title is Has Everyone Stopped Drinking?
SPEAKER_01Oh, I saw that that's where Chris Marshall was in. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yes, I thought it was really interesting because it was like two major news outlets that were both giving the same message, which is like everyone is going sober, which I thought was kind of cool.
SPEAKER_01That is so cool, which is interesting because the the one thing I saw was was this. I'm reading it from my phone. The non-alcoholic beverages market has grown by over 508 percent since 2015. Wow. Alcohol lost its cool at vice stop advice.com. So I thought that that goes hand in hand with that. So interesting.
SPEAKER_00That's so cool. Yeah, it it feels like to me, I remember when I was first getting sober and first going on the sober journey. I remember saying, like, oh, maybe in 10 or 15 years, alcohol is not going to be cool anymore. And I feel like it's happened like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, you know?
SPEAKER_01Well, and I wonder how much of it played in with the pandemic. I mean, you and I were both sober by the time the pandemic hit, but it seems like so many people, that's when they ramped up their drinking and there was like no threshold and all that, and now people are coming out of that like fog, and it's like, oh my gosh, and going back into the world. And you know, maybe there's I don't know. I'm just it's just a thought, but like a push towards that is totally, yeah. Yeah, I and it's interesting because when I first I mean, it took me almost two years before I had a non-alcoholic drink. Like I I was too afraid, like a like a like a actual like Heineken Zero type of a thing, yeah. Um, because I really buy it, I was buying into, and I don't know if buying into is the right word, but I I really was afraid to have any triggers, you know, that I would want something. I have not had not alcohol-free wine, which wine was my thing, so I don't know for sure. I feel like the ones that I've seen, I feel like they would, I think there's really quality ones out now, but at the top of my thing, I think it was still like it's the one time I actually did try it once, and it tasted like grape juice. And I'm like, why bother?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the alcohol-free wine market in Canada that I've seen is not great. There were some good ones that were imported into um Dubai and Abu Dhabi towards the end of my time there, which I really enjoyed. And I was like a Heineken Zero fan, but um I can totally get the fear around it. I think for each person it's different because for some people it can be triggering for them. But for me, it's been a really, it's like a really great resource.
SPEAKER_01Yes. And I really believe that I like I really bought into this. You don't do that, da-da-da. And now, you know, I encourage when I'm coaching, like, have you tried this or put things in a wine glass? Things that I was afraid to do that I think would have helped that all or nothing mentality um towards it, you know, like the ramping down or you know, the cutback and things of that nature. So I actually find myself encouraging, you know, so that it you get used to it in a in a different way now. But I I was so afraid, so afraid when I first started.
SPEAKER_00I love that share because it shows how you can like grow and transform over time, you know.
SPEAKER_01So true. You know, like the beliefs. I think I, you know, and it's interesting because I I rearranged my my guest today. So like all my journals are back, like right there is like some of my beginning journals and the paranoia. Like it was interesting to read some of the like I have like one, like there's a whole series of something I did about limiting beliefs, and I don't know, like I I was just so scared, so scared that I was gonna mess up. So, and I think that's I think that's where the the growth for me, but I also think like the sober world has come too, you know, and getting away from labels and all that kind of stuff, too.
SPEAKER_00Someone, okay, someone Trina's commenting who's watching, she would never touch um uh I I think she's meaning to say alcohol-free product, maybe says never touch an alcohol product for me. Most important thing is to be safe and truly not get myself into the safe of state of what brought me to the place I am. And that's great, you know. If that's for you, um, you know, what works for you to just not have any alcohol-free drinks, then that's amazing. Because that means that you know, she says, yeah, that means you know yourself really well and you know what's gonna be triggering and harmful for you, and you're like setting that boundary around your alcohol-free journey. I think that's amazing.
SPEAKER_01I agree. And I feel like, you know, for me, like not doing it for two years and then like then I tried the different beers. Like um, when I was the alcohol rep for non-alcohol rep, I should say, for better roads, they sent me one that tasted like Blue Moon, like the orange beer. It was so good, you know. Like I really liked that. Um, but I haven't really like, you know, like I didn't really like the liquors, like tequila and stuff like that. My son, did I tell you the tequila story? How I had tequila and my son came home and he was like, Mom, why do you have tequila? Um, you know, out and I'm like, Oh, it's non-alcoholic tequila. And he was like, So it's dirt in a bottle. I'm like, ah, but I couldn't like for me, like a lot of people have made margaritas with those and all that. I can't tell the difference, but I was more of a wine drinker, so I don't think I'm like a good, you know, person to say, but yeah, it'll be interesting to go to Austin because Chris will be making different drinks, and I really want to try like different things because I'm ready now, you know. So, and to be around all sober people who will be trying it too, I think will be really cool. That's so there's only 11 tickets left for sober in the city.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh, that's amazing! Yeah, by the way, everyone, Sober in the City. Um, Kathy is gonna be going to Sober in the City in Austin and Texas in November, and she's gonna be representing the mindful life practice there. And um yeah, wearing a sweater, being on some panels. So, um, do you want to chat, talk about Sober in the City briefly and just let people know?
SPEAKER_01I'm so, so excited. Um, so Sober in the City started with Susie, who does who has zero proof. Uh Susie, I'm sorry, um, because she just changed her. I love her logo. I will find it while I'm talking. Um, but it's the concept is there'll be a guest speaker on Saturday night of um Jen Couch, who is with, I'm gonna think of the name of this is terrible. Um, she is the guest speaker of the program that she runs. But um Susie has done this in Sacramento with Peggy, with um this side of alcohol, and she has done it in Long Beach as well, um, with with another author. So she mixes it up with with different things. But Austin has been a big hit because a lot of people have always wanted to go to Austin, but the Susie's whole um a zero-proof, she's with zero-proof experience, uh, which I think is cool. Um, and uh so the the concept behind it is twofold that you learn that you can go and have a good time, you know, with your friends and learn how to do different things because we're gonna have all sorts of activities. The last two that Susie did, it was just a not just, but it was a dinner, like a happy hour, a dinner, and the speaker. This is gonna turn into a full-blown weekend because everybody is so excited about Austin. So, like, we're gonna be providing yoga, there's gonna be all sorts of things, all like for like two or three days, um, people taking tours, doing hikes, all that kind of stuff. And then you'll also have the um the Chris, um, who will be doing the I cannot talk today. Chris will be doing the mixologist stuff and um at the bar, and then we'll have the dinner, and then um we will go from there. So um the dinner, but uh yeah, and so the whole purpose. So the twofold is you learn that you can go have a good time and have a getaway weekend. The other thing is the city gets trained in how do you provide this for people, like a zero-proof um weekend, you know, and training restaurants and bars and coffee shops and things of that nature to make people feel more comfortable.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's amazing. That's so incredible, super exciting.
SPEAKER_01I hope I I did okay with that. I I will I'm like linking on names, like I I'm so zen. Like it's been like I think I've been zen since yesterday morning with your um your your yoga class, you know, with with Khaled. I I feel like that just put me into the zen for the rest of the weekend. It's been amazing.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god, that meditation. Anyone who's watching, that was incredible.
SPEAKER_01It was really seriously like I had a massive headache last night and like this morning, and I like I practiced what he was saying this afternoon. I'm like, why didn't I do this sooner sooner? It was amazing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, he was incredible.
SPEAKER_01I really all your classes, but that one, what what is that called?
SPEAKER_00The the uh mindful, um, I think it's mindful manifestation, yen and meditation.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that was that's a good way to kick off a Sunday for sure. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Um all right, what else? So Trina's asking, do you have any events in Vancouver, BC, Canada? Um, we would love to. We've talked about doing these types of things, and it almost kicked off this summer, and then it just was like too much going on at the time, but it's something that we've thought a lot about is like doing those live events. I think that would be amazing. So if we have a big enough crowd in Vancouver, we could definitely do um like a sober. I think I like Susie's model, I think that's great. Like getting a hotel in the city and doing like an event. I think that would be really fun.
SPEAKER_01I know that would be a kind of like a cool, different kind of retreat, like weekend. You could have like a different type of yoga retreat weekend. Maybe we could work with Susie on that. I've always wanted to go to Vancouver, so I'm in. Yeah. And there's a huge like Vancouver and Seattle. I feel like there's a huge sober like communities there. So I think there would be a big draw for sure. Totally be interesting. Yeah. I love that you asked that. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00All right. So let's talk about the um two upcoming things, which the registration ends this weekend for the 108-day recovery program and then also the deep dive into sober yoga. So let's talk a little bit about those.
SPEAKER_01Yes. All right. So what do we want to when you say this weekend, like in my mind, this upcoming weekend? Is that what you mean?
SPEAKER_00Yep, yeah. So September 11th is when the next 108-day recovery program starts, and it's when the next deep dive into yoga starts.
unknownYay!
SPEAKER_01Because in my mind, it's still the weekend. So I just want to make sure because I think people in the states might think that way too. So true.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes, yes, true. See, I'm already midweek. I'm on Tuesday.
SPEAKER_01I know, I know. You're already like, you're like, yes, this weekend, Kathy. Your face was like, and I'm like, well, in my mind. Um, so the 108, Alex, you explained it to me once. The whole reason we chose 108 is because there's a meaning behind. Um, two things I want to say, or one thing I want to say about the 108, is the question has come up whether, because you have the 30-day challenge, you have the 60-day challenge, and then the 108. The 108 is literally 108 days. It's not the another 30 days added on to the 30 and 60. So I just want to address that first. And the reason we chose a 108-day um recovery, you explained it so well during um yoga teacher training. And I was wondering if you would explain the meaning behind 108.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. So the number 108, it's a sacred number in yoga. Um, so it's also a sacred number in the traditions of uh Hinduism and Buddhism. And basically the malas, so I wear a lot of mala bead necklaces, and those include 108 beads, and they're used for devotional meditation, for mantra. And so what you're doing is you're repeating something a number of 108 times, and then there's a bead at the bottom, um, which just marks the beginning and the end. And there's also a lot of practices of 108 salutations um to celebrate a season transition, so the the winter solstice or the summer solstice. And so this is a time to flow and breathe and just kind of connect to this ritual. And there's also a bunch of other different relevant um reasons for the number 108. So the Sanskrit alphabet, which is the language that um was traditionally spoken and written in India at the time that yoga originated. Sanskrit has 54 letters, and each letter has um a masculine Shiva and a feminine Shakti, which makes 108, um, which makes number 108. Um, in astrology, there's 12 constellations, nine arc segments, um, 12 houses and nine planets. So 12 times nine is 108. And the diameter of the sun is 108 times the earth. So there's all of these really beautiful and cool meanings for the relevance of the number 108. And so when we were discussing, like, you know, what should we do with our programs, that was where we got that idea of the 108-day recovery.
SPEAKER_01And it's so funny because I'm not a numbers person. I joke with my students that I'm allergic to numbers. But what I hear, I mean, I was raised Catholic and I love the Beads concept for for, you know, all the different different religions, you know, and spiritual beliefs. Um, but what I really hear is the transformation of a person, you know, by by journeying for 108 days, the spiritual um you're letting go of yourself and like what you're trying to control and you're trying to give, give a higher power of meaning to to your purpose in life. And I that's what I took away, really, when when I thought of the 108 days, which I thought was pretty powerful.
SPEAKER_00I love that. And I think it's so cool and it's so unique and it's so different than any other um offerings out there.
SPEAKER_01I agree. I feel like 108 kind of stands out, and you know, the the interesting thing about the month coming up with September and October is we'll really be hitting the hot, you'll be so well practiced with being alcohol free or you know, journeying towards self-love that when the holidays hit, that you'll have more of a groove and you know, not saying things can will go perfectly, but you'll have more of a support, you'll have more of a practice, and you'll have more of a toolkit that you might not have had if you if you don't start practicing now is my my thing with the 108 days, which I think is is really important to think about boundaries and triggers and all those kind of things, but then also having the support and the and the tools. You know, this weekend I was really just I had come off a hard long time of work, but I didn't think about drinking, but my emotional state was so uh, but I knew I had to keep digging and I had to keep coming into community and I had to keep doing like yoga different things. Those were the two things that I know in journaling. I I had to use my tools a lot this weekend, even three plus years into sobriety, and not because I wanted to drink, but the emotional sobriety, the mental health with it was was really lacking because I wasn't I wasn't filling my vase. Uh I was filling other people's faces and not mine.
SPEAKER_00And so the 108 recovery, it's for anyone that is a little bit further along on their sober journey. So the way we have it structured is you would start with the 30-day challenge, the 60-day challenge, and then move into the 108-day recovery. And the 30-day challenge is for people that are more in initial sobriety, and the 108 program is more for people that are a little bit further along in their sobriety. So if you're watching this and you're like over two months alcohol-free, this is the program for you. It starts on September 11th. It's going to be running on Sunday.
SPEAKER_01Sunday 11 Eastern Standard Time and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And Kathy's going to be leading the meetings on the weekend, and Lee is going to be offering that yoga practice. So um it's going to be incredible. I'm so excited.
SPEAKER_01The other thing I would say is if you have if you're not alcohol free, but yet like you've been practicing for two months or more, it's still a good program. Not a good, it's a great program. I we had people who, you know, women that it it's all women for the other part of that. But the other part is um, but we had women who were still cutting back, but they have been practicing a while, and it just it went deeper for them in in their practice.
SPEAKER_00And I love that idea practicing sobriety. I think it's a beautiful way to phrase it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, softer.
SPEAKER_00So the last thing is the deep dive into sober yoga. And this is coming up this weekend. We're starting on September 11th. This is a program that is actually a yoga teacher training. It's a 100-hour yoga teacher training. It's going to give you the coaching qualifications from the sober curious yoga teacher training. And it's going to give you module one and two of the yoga teacher training. Plus, if you do the deep dive into sober yoga, you get a chance to be an assistant facilitator in one of these programs that we're talking about. So you could assist and facilitate in the 30-day challenge, the 60-day challenge, or the 108-day recovery. So if you're listening in and you're someone who wants to like take a leadership role in the sober world, but you don't know how and you don't know what. We're starting again on the 11th. And basically, as being part of that, you get to be a leader in one of these sober programs. So I think it's going to be really fantastic and really exciting. And we have a few women already signed up. Few women signed up for the 108. So yeah, jump in and join us.
SPEAKER_01That's awesome. And you know, it's so incredible because I I had two years when I joined your training and you know, I had been leading some things, but I gained so much. Like I didn't know I wanted to serve, but I didn't know how I wanted to serve. And with with the program, I it was so empowering because I learned what my strengths were and what I that's how this 108 came along, you know, and I feel like you find yourself and what maybe you want to give back, but you're also given tools in a very structured way that I just really felt confident leading others and you know, because we were we were being trained on how to do that. And I think, you know, that to me, now that I've been in this and you've been in this, I think to me, having people who are trained is a really important aspect of the alcohol-free or sobriety world. It's my two sense.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01All right.
SPEAKER_00All right, here we go.
SPEAKER_01How does that happen?
SPEAKER_00I know it's seven in the morning now for me. So for anyone um that's tuning in, if you have any questions for us, shoot us a message. We're always here. And we will be back every week. We're doing it now at 6:30, not six. It's gonna give me a chance to sleep in a little bit. It's gonna give Kathy a little bit of transition time after work. So we'll see you at 6:30 every Monday um in the Facebook group.
SPEAKER_01Awesome. Have a great week, everyone.
SPEAKER_00Bye, everyone. See you soon. Hi, friend. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Sober Yoga Girl Podcast. This community wouldn't exist without you here. So thank you. It would be massively helpful if you could subscribe, leave a review, and share this podcast so it can reach more people. If we haven't met yet in real life, please come get your one week free trial of the Sober Girls Yoga membership and see what we're all about. Sending you love and light wherever you are in the world.