The Restore Dry January Course helped me get back on track, after an anxiety-filled holiday season fueled by alcohol. The support of the fellow attendees, as well as the leadership and guidance from the speakers and staff was amazing. Each session had a different theme and left me with new insights and strategies for moving forward in a positive direction. Hearing others’ stories resonate with my own was maybe the best part… we’re all in this together and actively participating in this course made that crystal clear. The RE podcast is awesome by itself, but finding the community is the key. Restore Dry January gave me that community.

I decided in late December of 2024 that I’d try doing “Dry January”, as I’d seen many mention it on social media, so I thought why not give it a try.  I wanted to reset my body and cut out the alcohol that I knew I was overindulging in during an extremely difficult time in my life.  I knew if I kept down that path, it would only make things worse, not better.  I came across Paul’s book “Alcohol is Shit” and on January 1st, 2025 and started listening to the audible version and heard about Cafe RE.  I also saw they were doing a “Dry January” Course, so I signed up right away.  I thought this would be a good way to help keep me accountable in my quest to staying AF during the month of January.  Needless to say, it was more than I could have imagined.  Not only did it provide great courses weekly via Zoom with fellow Dry January folks, but a great existing community of those wanting to and staying AF.  My attempt at Dry January was not perfect, but I learned about stacking days, giving myself grace for those Day 1’s and to not stop quitting.  The community is one of the most non-judgemental and supportive communities I’ve been apart of in general.  I’ve never been apart of a sober community, but I decided after Dry January, to continue with Cafe RE, because I feel it has kept me from giving up completely on sobriety and will help me to continue my journey of being AF.  If you are sober curious or if you are struggling and need a space to walk with others in your sober journey, I’d highly encourage you to check out this community.  

I have had Recovery Elevator on my radar for a long time. I started listening to the podcast in 2020 and read Paul’s book in 2021 as a companion to some Dry Januarys I completed on my own. I knew, however, the element I was missing during these periods was community and connection with others. I joined the REstore class this year to find a tribe and to hold myself more accountable. I am so grateful for the experience! I learned so much from the presenters and participants – from concrete mindfulness skills to understanding more deeply alcohol’s effects on our bodies and brains. Everyone was extremely welcoming, encouraging, and open. I really liked how Andrea would always start each session by acknowledging that even if you drank yesterday “who cares?” and “don’t quit quitting” (i.e., YOU BELONG HERE no matter where you are in your journey). After the class, at almost 60 days sober, I joined Café RE to keep the connection going.

“I am grateful to have stumbled across the Recovery Elevator podcast in my feed.  I started listening to Paul Churchill and his team just days after I decided to try and get sober…at age 63.  I listened with interest to Paul pitch “ditching the booze” dry January and decided to join the challenge I’d long heard about.  It had been years since I’d tried doing anything alcohol free, much less stay sober for 31 days.  The class featured a number of excellent speakers and sober-minded individuals who shared their stories of inspiration and recovery with us.  Intimacy was achieved because we frequently broke out in small break-out rooms with 4 or 5 others where we shared our experiences and dreams of sobriety.  Now that I’ve hit 90 days of sobriety, I can see how important a roll the course played in keeping me motivated and in touch with a like-minded community.  Onward to more experiences with Recovery Elevator!

“After 30 years of heavy drinking as the “norm”, I realized in 2017 that I wanted to try something else and became more curious about a life not being under the influence of anything and I quit for a period of almost 3 years, until the pandemic rolled into town, and I retreated to old coping mechanisms, unfortunately. I found out about Recovery Elevator during that time and decided I wanted my old sober life back, so I signed up for REstore in January 2023 and it was so wonderful I did it this year in 2024 as well! The community is so great, so accepting and non-judgmental, that I joined Café RE, their ongoing online community as well. Learning to live a life without the dulling, numbing of booze has been one of the greatest endeavors of my life, and I’m so grateful I found this group of people.”

“I had “successfully” white-knuckled my way to 7 months sober from alcohol when I signed up for the REstore Dry January course, and I’m so glad I did. Even though I felt good about the time under my belt, REstore showed me how significant connection and community are on my Sober Path.  It was incredibly empowering to go to the first session and see 150 other people there to accomplish the same goal I was there for. It changed my whole perspective on staying sober, giving me new tools to employ and connections with other people on their journey. ”

“January Restore is so worth the time and energy to get a jumpstart on moving towards an alcohol free life.  The support of the cohort was so helpful, and the team leaders rocked it.  I loved the commitment to be there three days per week. The showing up gave me the motivation to be successful.  So much appreciation for the class and highly encourage anyone on an alcohol-free journey to sign up.”

“I’m 36 now and since high school I was always a problematic drinker.  I white knuckled it from Nov 2021 until Dec 2021.  I knew that was not sustainable and I needed help from people who have been through this.  I am not a proponent of the AA model, so I needed something else. I went to your website and saw your January class starting in 2022.  I signed up and I was so scared.  I didn’t tell my husband what I was doing.  I just did it.  It was literally the best thing that happened to me in regards to my sobriety.  So I’ve been completely alcohol free since Nov 2021 and since your class.  I’ve learned so much and without the class I don’t think I would be here today.”

“RESTORE taught me how to begin to live a happy, honest and loving alcohol-free life and I will always be grateful for that. The classes gave me the tools I needed in the beginning of my alcohol-free journey alongside a community that I was doing everything with and that helped more than I could have imagined.”

“I joined REstore in January when I determined that alcohol wasn’t serving me well. I had previously gone through periods of alcohol reduction but I had never made a decision to live an alcohol-free life. I don’t do labels or judgment very well, and REstore was a safe place to learn and explore this new way of life with a group of like-minded and supportive people from across the globe, friends who I continue this journey with in Recovery Elevator’s online community, Cafe RE. It’s a lifestyle I intend to maintain and Recovery Elevator will continue to be my primary community, which is essential in maintaining an alcohol free life.”

“I would highly recommend the Restore class for anyone wanting to pursue an AF life.  Whether just sober curious or feel alcohol is an extreme problem in your life , this course will offer insight to your own personal situation. I gained a lot of “life tools” from the instructors and was able to connect with fellow participants in small group zoom chats .  It was nice connecting with people with similar desire for AF life.  I found it especially nice that Paul and instructor’s joined in chats with us. A nice personal touch . Thank you!”

“The RESTORE course was an excellent and thoughtful way to explore the impacts of alcohol on your life, relationships, body, mind and soul.  Truly, a thoughtful and caring leadership team, and an enlightening experience.  Thank-you to Paul, Chris, Odette, Patrick and KMac for a very well organized, immersive chorus with some Rule22 (make it fun) thrown in along the way”

If you’re on the fence, just do it. This course was exactly what I needed when I was newly sober. I was looking for added accountability and connections, both of which I received. I loved the small group breakouts. This really created a safe space for me to open up and share my journey with other like-minded individuals. I still chat with a few of my group members. I’m grateful for these real connections because it’s vital for long term sobriety.

I highly enjoyed the RESTORE course with Recovery Elevator. There were nights where I wanted to drink, but it seemed like I had a course session every night and I didn’t want to let down the others.  I am always interested in learning more ways to cope with living an alcohol-free life and we covered that and more in this course. I learned about burning the ships, connecting with other members in a small group, and getting into a routine along with so much more. The daily support and guidance from the small groups continue to this day well after the 4 weeks. I encourage anyone looking for support, guidance, and tools to live an alcohol-free lifestyle to join. Whether you are on day 1 or day 1000, this course is an amazing resource to help you on your sober journey.

I participated in the first RESTORE in January of 2021 and then the Dry July RESTORE later that year.  For me, the most valuable part was having the support of my team in the WhatsApp group (we still chat frequently to this day) and having almost nightly webinars that I could plan to attend. The ideas and information shared in the course are very valuable for one to use to help add tools to their sobriety toolbox and build a better life. Not just for sobriety, but life in general.

I was hesitant about quitting drinking in an online zoom format. Still, after countless failed attempts on my own, I decided I had to do something different. I’m glad I did because this course gave me the foundation and confidence to ditch the booze. It’s been 44 days since my last drink, and I don’t think I’d be here without Restore or the people that I met during the course. I thought I’d be the only one from Australia, but there were a few others… and I even had an in-person meet-up with another Restore member, which was a lot of fun. I look forward to living life alcohol-free, and if I ever find myself in a bind with alcohol again, I know where to go!

I joined the last RESTORE course as a way to see if I could stay sober for 30 days. I didn’t think I had a “real” drinking problem, just curious to see how it would go. I found out at about seven days in that I was craving alcohol, and drinking had a much deeper grip on me than I had thought. This was so eye-opening to me, and I never want to go that far down the addiction to alcohol road again. I did drink a couple of times during the Restore course, but everyone was so supportive that I got right back on it, and I’ve been sober since. I’d still be drinking if it weren’t for this course, and that scares the hell out of me.

I think the biggest takeaway for me from the last RESTORE course was that I’m not alone. I used to think that I was the only one who struggled with alcohol, but so many like me find it hard or impossible to control their drinking. There was even another Erik from England in my course! I like how they make it a point to insert comedy and light-heartedness into the course. Lord, knows how demoralising alcohol addiction can be. I welcomed the smiles and cheesiness.

I also firmly believe there is nothing wrong with me. Learning the science behind addiction has shown me that anyone is susceptible to alcohol addiction. This is something I can alter in my life.