The Inner Shift That Ends the Need to Escape with Jay Stinnett | The Hopeaholics Podcast

The Inner Shift That Ends the Need to Escape with Jay Stinnett | The Hopeaholics Podcast


In this powerful and deeply reflective episode, longtime sober member, historian, spiritual teacher, and filmmaker Jay Stinnett shares an extraordinary journey that spans addiction, surrender, awakening, and a lifetime of conscious spiritual practice. With more than four decades of continuous sobriety, Jay recounts hitting bottom at a young age, walking into his first recovery meeting broken and desperate, and experiencing a profound inner shift that changed him on a cellular level. He explores addiction as a spiritual malady, the illusion that something outside ourselves can make us whole, and how true healing comes through rigorous honesty, amends, service, prayer, and meditation. The conversation weaves through raw personal stories of early recovery, sponsorship, marriage, grief, and loss, while also diving into the deeper spiritual roots of the recovery movement and the importance of conscious contact with a higher power. Jay also shares the remarkable story behind producing the award-winning documentary Bill W: Conscious Contact, including risking everything to tell a story he felt spiritually called to share. This episode is a moving testament to faith, resilience, creativity, and the idea that a fully lived life—no matter how painful or beautiful—is the greatest spiritual adventure of all.


#thehopeaholics #redemption #recovery #AlcoholAddiction #AddictionRecovery #wedorecover #SobrietyJourney #MyStory #Hope #wedorecover #treatmentcenter #natalieevamarie


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Timestamps:
00:01:31 - Sober Since May 2nd, 1979
00:04:43 - Alcoholism as a Spiritual Malady
00:05:20 - The First Drink and the Unitive Experience
00:08:22 - Addiction as the Illusion Something Outside Makes Us Whole
00:13:47 - Arrests, Living in a Pinto, and Knowing the Jig Was Up
00:15:53 - Told to Choose AA or Die Trying
00:17:34 - Walking Into His First AA Meeting
00:19:28 - “You Don’t Ever Have to Feel This Way Again”
00:20:28 - Changed on a Cellular Level and Never Picking Up Again
00:26:37 - Listening to the Inner Voice for the First Time
00:28:35 - First Prayer and Spiritual Surrender
00:32:09 - Sponsoring Someone at 28 Days Sober
00:36:48 - Choosing Not to Act in Pain During Marriage Crisis
01:02:05 - Betting His Home to Tell the Story