08/01/2026
On December 23rd, I celebrated 50 years of sobriety—182,000 days—alcohol and drug free.
My gratitude for AA is profoundly real. And yet… in all honesty, it was meditation that truly changed me and changed my life.
AA gave me a bottom line for success. It was simple: If I didn’t have a drink today, I was a success. And that bottom line worked.
No matter how awful I felt—or how hard life got—and there were many years when it was really, really hard—I could lie in bed at night, tears leaking from the corners of my tightly closed eyes, and know this:
Even though my house was a mess… I’d yelled at the kids… Fought with my husband… Stuffed my feelings with Oreos… Felt inferior to all the moms with nicer clothes, newer cars, bigger houses…
I hadn’t had a drink. I was a success.
It was a bottom line I clung to for many years but, although it was keeping me sober, it wasn’t helping me get past what I now know was the biggest obstacle to my low self-worth, stress, shame, fear, anger, depression, and unhappiness.
And that obstacle was this:
I believed the problem was out there—my job, kids, husband, other people, the world. I honestly believed: If the outside world changed, then I would finally be happy.
Meditation gently showed me how mistaken I was!
I have no control over people, or the world, out there.
The only thing I can control is my attitude, my thoughts, my emotions.
Before I started meditating I didn’t know how to work with my thoughts or emotions—the very things driving my anger, shame, and unhappiness. I believed my thoughts and emotions were me.
Then meditation showed me something radical:
I’m not my thoughts.
I’m not my emotions.
I am what’s aware of my thoughts and emotions.
😳 WTF 🤯
Meditation is what taught me how to:
~ Move beyond the relentless stream of thoughts
~ Ride an emotion and not become it
~ Stop judging, blaming, shaming, myself (and others)
~ Cultivate compassion and kindness
~ Accept life as it is
~ Face fear and not be ruled by it
~ Love myself
Sobriety changed my life. But meditation taught me how to live it.
That’s why I teach.
Not to make people calmer for ten minutes—but to help them change their inner world. Because when your inner world changes, everything else begins to respond.
If you are curious to explore this radical approach to living, especially during times like these when the world can feel upside down and unrecognizable, I’d love to have you join us >> meditationmomma.com/classes-and-events
Because trying to change the outside without changing the inside… well, I've learned how that goes!
For the first part of the year, our group meditations will focus on cultivating peace, equanimity, and calm in your inner world. We’ll also take time to work with your intention for 2026—changing your inner vibration first—so outer change will unfold naturally.
