The Alcohol Myth Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Day drinking can look fun, classy, relaxing, and spontaneous from the outside. Bottomless mimosas. Holiday weekends. Brunch with friends. Golf outings. Pool parties. Vacation drinks on a sunny patio. It can feel like the perfect way to make a day feel special. But what happens after? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, Jonathan Ball and Ellen Beggs unpack the myth of day...

Send us Fan Mail Staring down your first sober wedding, birthday, holiday, or night out and thinking, “There’s no way I can do this without alcohol”? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan Ball and Ellen Biggs break down “Freaking First Times” (FFTs): the first time you do something alcohol free that has always been paired with drinking. We talk about why these moments feel...

Send us Fan Mail Do you reach for a drink to avoid discomfort? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan Ball and Ellen Biggs unpack a sneaky belief: “Alcohol helps me handle discomfort.” We talk about why that feels true in the moment, how alcohol creates its own discomfort loop (the 5 PM itch, the anxiety before the first sip, the hangover shame), and what changes when you st...

Send us Fan Mail What happens after you stop drinking… and suddenly have all this empty space in your life? In this episode of the Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan and Ellen explore one of the most overlooked parts of changing your relationship with alcohol: figuring out what comes next. They introduce the powerful idea of “seeds and switches”: Switches help you get through difficult moments...

Send us Fan Mail When an alcohol craving hits, it can feel like your brain is screaming, “I need a drink.” But what if that craving is not really a command? What if it is discomfort in the body, a nervous system response, or an old autopilot pattern asking for relief? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan and Ellen unpack why alcohol so often becomes the go-to “switch” for...

Send us Fan Mail Does alcohol really help us open up, or does it quietly build a wall between us and the connection we’re looking for? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, we unpack one of alcohol’s most convincing stories: the belief that we need a drink to be vulnerable, have deep conversations, and feel close to other people. Ellen and Jonathan talk about heartfelt wine-fueled conversat...

Send us Fan Mail If you’ve been using alcohol to cope… you’re not broken. You’re human. In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan Ball and Ellen Biggs talk about alcohol as a coping strategy: why it feels like a multi-purpose tool for stress, boredom, anxiety, celebration, and hard emotions, and why it eventually starts to create the very problems it promised to solve. We unpac...

Send us Fan Mail Ever notice how alcohol can make even the most beautiful place feel weirdly… the same? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan Ball and Ellen Biggs talk about alcohol and travel, and the big lie most of us believed: that drinking makes trips more fun, more romantic, and more special. In reality, alcohol has a superpower, it turns your vacation into the same l...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever thought of alcohol as your “most reliable friend”? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan Ball and Ellen Biggs unpack a surprisingly common belief: alcohol as the dependable, always-there friend. We talk about why that story feels true, what it is masking underneath (needs, loneliness, celebration, comfort), and how alcohol becomes a predictabl...

Send us Fan Mail What if the hardest part is not quitting alcohol… it’s telling the truth about how much you’re struggling? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, Jonathan interviews co-host Ellen Biggs and she shares her full story: the “good girl” beginnings, the slow escalation, the secret rules and hiding, the loneliness of feeling like the only one, and the moment she finally found a pa...

Send us Fan Mail Worried that summer will not feel “right” without an icy cold drink? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan Ball and Ellen Biggs tackle one of the biggest seasonal fear stories: “My perfect summer won’t be perfect if I don’t drink.” From grilling and lake days to golf, weddings, vacations, and patio happy hours, we break down why it feels so daunting, and ho...

Send us Fan Mail How many times did you think, “This isn’t great for me”… and then decide it was “not a big deal”? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, Ellen interviews Jonathan to unpack his full story: the early moments where alcohol became tied to belonging and vulnerability, the decade of warning signs and near misses, the exhausting “alcohol math,” and what finally helped him change w...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever realized you were using alcohol to make parts of your life more tolerable? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan Ball and Ellen Biggs unpack one of alcohol’s most insidious lies: “This will make it easier.” Not tolerance as in how much you can drink, but tolerance as in using alcohol to endure people, events, relationships, your own resentment...

Send us Fan Mail "Is it even a celebration if there’s no alcohol?" 🥂 In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, hosts Jonathan and Ellen tackle one of the most deep-seated beliefs in our culture: that alcohol is a requirement for joy, weddings, birthdays, and milestones. We explore the "subconscious programming" that makes us feel like we’re ruining the party if we aren&apos...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever tried to “outwork” your drinking… only to feel like you were stuck in the same loop? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan Ball and Ellen Biggs talk about alcohol and fitness, and the part nobody wants to admit: for a lot of us, health routines were fueled by shame, people pleasing, and a quiet war with our own bodies. We unpack why alcohol wr...

Send us Fan Mail Do you miss the 5 o’clock drink… or do you miss what it represented? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan Ball and Ellen Biggs talk about alcohol and ritual, and why so many of us confuse the ritual with the booze. The real point is usually transition, connection, celebration, and permission to slow down. Alcohol just hijacks the moment and takes the credi...

Send us Fan Mail What does alcohol really cost you… and what opens up when you step away from it? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan Ball and Ellen Biggs talk about what becomes possible when alcohol stops being the center of your evenings, your planning, and your mental energy. We unpack the hidden costs of “alcohol math,” the hamster wheel of shame, and the surprising...

Send us Fan Mail Can you actually have a good time at a party without a drink in your hand? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, we pull back the curtain on one of the biggest lies we’ve been told: that alcohol is a requirement for social connection. We explore the "Social" element of the Three S’s of Alcohol (Substance, Social, and Self) and share personal stories about transiti...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever used alcohol to feel carefree, relaxed, and finally “off duty”… only to realize that feeling is fleeting and you end up chasing it? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan Ball and Ellen Biggs unpack the myth of being carefree: why alcohol seems to unlock it, why it never lasts, and how to build real relaxation and freedom without needing a drin...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan and Ellen pull back the curtain on one of the most insidious phrases in the beverage industry: "Drink Responsibly." We explore how this simple two-word catchphrase shifts the entire burden of a highly addictive substance onto the consumer while absolving the alcohol industry of responsibility. We dive into the...

Send us Fan Mail Why do we reach our big milestones—hitting a goal weight, finishing a financial quarter, or finally taking that vacation—only to find we don't feel the "joy" we were promised? In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan and Ellen dive deep into the concept of Emotion as Energy. They explore why traditional "willpower" often fails and how...

Send us Fan Mail One of the biggest fears people have when they stop drinking is this: "Is life without alcohol boring?" If you’re worried that an alcohol-free life means the end of your social life or fun, this video is for you. In this episode of The Alcohol Myth, Ellen Biggs and Jonathan Ball tackle the misconception that sobriety is dull and explains why alcohol actually steals your...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever woken up at 3:00 a.m. with a racing heart, feeling a sense of regret and frustration, only to look around and see everyone else drinking just like you? You might be a gray area drinker. In this episode of The Alcohol Myth Podcast, coaches Jonathan and Ellen dive into the "messy middle"—that space where you’re drinking more than you want to, but you don&apos...

Send us Fan Mail Looking for community?  Support?  Reach out!  We want to connect with you and support your journey to alcohol freedom. Send us an email at thealcoholmyth@gmail.com Or check out our websites  https://alcoholmyth.com/home Find Jonathan at https://livecreativeaf.com/ Find Ellen at https://ellenbiggscoaching.com/

Send us Fan Mail If you have ever felt like a failure because you had to reset your "sober counter" to zero, this episode is for you. We have all been there. You get a few days or weeks under your belt, things feel good, and then a "slip" happens. Suddenly, all that progress feels like it was deleted. But what if we stopped looking at those moments as failures and started looki...