Change of Air

This past year - what I’m calling my Year of Noticing - has allowed me to slow down in my daily life just enough that I have been able to notice all the really wonderful things around me and also the not wonderful things around me in a way that gives me more time to process all of it. To really integrate the beautiful things, and to really understand the not great things. I’ve also been able to no...

Hi. It's been a minute. I'm glad you're still here. So much has happened to me since our last episode -- from a health scare to the loss of a dear friend. I had to pause and really take stock of how I was living -- always in a state of "needing to heal" and never fully allowing myself to simply live, as my healed self. It's easy to make "I still need to heal" a story we get stuck in. A loop we can...

When was the first time you realized you don't know basic life things that other people seem to know? Basic life things like bills and taxes and doctor appointments and basic hygiene things like brushing your teeth? I have realized this many times over the last several years of healing. I even have an app on my phone that reminds me to do these things. Really! This week, I talk about what we didn'...

Workaholism is the perfect construct for adult children of alcoholics. We use our job and career as a crutch to get value externally from the world. So much of the patterns we experience when we were younger can manifest themselves in our work environment, when we don't even realize it. This week, I take a look at how we become workaholics in toxic workplaces. For more resources to help, visit htt...

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I get out and hike in nature nearly every single day. As I've gone through my ACoA journey, being in nature has been one of the greatest tools to help me to get quiet, hear my own thoughts, and process how I'm feeling. There's actually scientific data that backs up the power of being in nature for humans! This week, join me by the river in Yosemite as I...

Yesterday, I did a thing. That thing? Nothing. I did absolutely nothing. Often we feel pressure to always be healing. But the entire reason we want to heal is so we can live in our lives as more healed versions of ourselves. In order to live in our actual lives, we need to have days where nothing much happens so we can integrate what HAS happened. That allows us to enjoy the lives we've healed to...

We grew up in homes where our needs were not met. Where even expressing our needs might get us into trouble or create tension. It's not a surprise that many of us end up living lives where we are never actively choosing us. Never choosing, on purpose, what we want our lives to look and feel like. Getting quiet enough to listen to our own needs and starting to give ourselves what we need is life-ch...

As many of you have noticed, I took a bit of a break. After getting vaccinated, something shifted in me. After 15 months of stress, uncertainty and the kind of hypervigilance only an ACoA can muster, the idea that I might finally be able to relax showed me just how much I had not relaxed at all. It showed me just how much I had been silently carrying and I could see it was too much. I needed to ta...

Change equals loss. Even when change is good for us. Even when it's taken years to make it happen. So often after we make a major change in our life, we can feel very different than we expected to feel after making long-desired changes. We feel funky. We get sad. We might have a hard time getting anything done. Sometimes, we yearn for the past, even though we worked hard and are happy to be away f...

Have you ever had a moment where something that shouldn't be a big deal triggers you into something deeper? Into overreacting about a situation? Into thoughts and feelings from the past? Sometimes those triggers can affect the rest of your day. Most of the time, we don't even understand where they're coming from and why we're reacting so strongly. This week, I'm talking about these moments. And wh...

It took me a while to realize it. Once I was able to see it, it took my breath away. For years, I was walking around with bubble wrap. Not physically, but emotionally. Layer upon layer of bubble wrap to keep myself a safe distance from other people. I would think I was fully showing up for friends, family, a partner... but I wasn't. This week, I want to talk about what it's like once you are able...

An emerging body of research has begun to show us that regular journaling - even for just 15-20 minutes a day - can significantly help those who are struggling with past or current trauma. This practice can not only help you get your thoughts out of you and onto the page so you can begin to understand them, it can also reduce inflammation in the body, boost your immune system and can reduce doctor...

We're always told that healing takes time and that it's ok to take our time. And that's true. And I've taken great comfort in that. But when I first learned about the ACEs test and the very idea that our past experiences can affect not only our mental health but our physical health, I was stunned. It made healing seem like a far more urgent endeavor. In today's episode, I talk about the ACEs test...

Last week, I talked about tools that are available to help you process your thoughts and feelings as an adult child of an alcoholic. In addition to the meetings, there are so many other amazing tools that can be of help. They're practices that have helped millions of people for years with their own lives, not just those who are ACoAs. These tools aren't frequently talked about in ACoA circles but...

There are thousands of different types of meetings around the world to help those who suffer from alcoholism or those that have loved ones that do. Each meeting is different depending on the location and audience. Each organization is unique and different in what they offer to help. It might be easy to go to a meeting and think "Oh this isn't right. I don't feel it. Maybe it's me..." But the truth...

When you read the list, it might really hit close to home. When I was 14, I read 13 Characteristics of Adult Children of Alcoholics for the first time. I knew I came from a different family. But to read the list as a child, I wasn't able to fully process it. Now that I've read it countless times as an adult, I see it so differently. In this episode, I'm here to help you go through the list yoursel...

It's time. You no longer need to keep your secret. In this first episode of Change of Air, I share my story growing up in a family with alcoholics. From how I had to deal with family members as a kid all the way to today, where the trauma from the past can show up in little moments in life when I least expect it. I share my journey and where I'm at today. I share the healing tools that have worked...

Change of Air is a weekly resource that offers a safe community, practical tools and powerful mind+body practices for adult children of alcoholics.  Change of Air is hosted by Callie Miller, daughter of two alcoholics. She grew up in a home that was disordered, dysfunctional, unsafe for her and her brother, and deeply confusing. It took her years to unpack how growing up in an alcoholic home can a...