An All Night Place - Secular AA

An All Night Place
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Personal Journals

An All Night Place is a recovery group based in the US, dedicated to and operated by persons in recovery, with active members from countries all over the world. Meetings take place 7 days a week. Every Wednesday we have a speaker meeting where members are asked to speak for however long they would like to, about their experience, strength and hope in recovery. Our Podcasts were created to allow members to hear them from wherever they may be, as well as to make them available to anyone who may benefit from their content. For meeting information please visit https://www.allnightplace.com/

  1. 1d ago

    "Pink Cloud, or Lavender Blanket?" | Episode 145 -Natalie

    Why sit on a pink cloud, when you can wrap yourself in a lavender blanket?" If AANP speaks to you, ⁠⁠⁠follow the show⁠⁠⁠ and never miss an episode. Natalie’s journey to sobriety is a story of family patterns, heartbreak, denial, and the hard-won freedom of learning to live differently. Growing up with an alcoholic father and a volatile home environment, Natalie was determined never to follow the same path. Yet when she eventually began drinking, alcohol became a way to cope with emotional pain. A devastating breakup marked a turning point, and over the years her drinking progressed despite outpatient treatment, inpatient rehab, and repeated attempts to stop. Her rock bottom came through a combination of a domestic violence relationship, being caught drinking at work, and a hospitalisation for pancreatitis. Faced with the consequences of her drinking, Natalie finally became willing to work the Twelve Steps, even though she had long struggled with the spiritual side of AA. Now sober since 14 May 2024, Natalie speaks candidly about the peace, clarity, and strength she has found in recovery. She shares how sobriety helped her rebuild her health, establish boundaries, leave an abusive relationship, protect her career, and discover the value of a supportive recovery community. From her idea of a “lavender blanket” of lasting inner peace to learning to make decisions aligned with her values, Natalie’s experience is a reminder that recovery is not about becoming perfect. It is about becoming willing, staying connected, and taking life one day at a time. Listen to Natalie’s honest and heartfelt share on the **An All Night Place (AANP) Podcast**.

    "Pink Cloud, or Lavender Blanket?" | Episode 145 -Natalie

  2. Sep 26

    "Finally Fitting In" | EPISODE 144 - Lauren

    She spent years trying to fit in. Alcohol made her feel like she finally did. If AANP speaks to you, ⁠⁠follow the show⁠⁠ and never miss an episode. In this episode of the AANP Podcast, Lauren talks openly about alcoholism, identity, belonging and what it took to build a life without alcohol. Adopted at birth and raised in an environment where achievement and competition mattered, Lauren learned early to measure herself against the expectations around her. At university, alcohol and drugs seemed to offer something she had been searching for: freedom from anxiety, self-consciousness and the pressure to be someone she wasn't. But the freedom didn't last. Lauren takes us through her drinking, relationships, attempts at sobriety and the consequences that eventually forced her to look at what was really happening. She talks about the difference between simply stopping drinking and actually changing the way she lived. Her recovery has brought unexpected changes: stronger relationships, a deeper connection with her children, greater acceptance of herself and a willingness to embrace the parts of herself she once tried to hide. This is a conversation about addiction, but also identity, belonging, perfectionism and vulnerability. Ultimately, Lauren's story is about discovering that freedom doesn't come from becoming someone else. It comes from learning to be yourself.

    "Finally Fitting In" | EPISODE 144 - Lauren

  3. Sep 17

    "The other shoe." | Episode 143 - Lexi

    “If all you can do today is breathe and stay sober, then that's totally okay.” If AANP speaks to you, ⁠follow the show⁠ and never miss an episode. Celebrating 18 months of sobriety, Lexi shares an extraordinarily candid journey through alcoholism, trauma, domestic violence, family struggles and the challenges of raising six children, including two with special needs. She talks about the years when drinking seemed like the only way to cope, and the gradual transformation she has experienced through Alcoholics Anonymous. For Lexi, recovery has meant learning that serenity doesn’t mean everything is perfect. Sometimes it means simply being okay with being okay, giving yourself grace, staying sober and accepting that you don’t need to have all the answers. She speaks about the role of service, sponsorship, accountability, rigorous honesty and connection, and how changing her perspective has changed the way she lives. Her 500-plus consecutive days of service have taught her as much about recovery as sobriety itself. Above all, Lexi's message is one of hope: no matter how badly we want to drink, we don’t have to. There is always another option, another day, another alcoholic to help, and a hand reaching back into the room.

    "The other shoe." | Episode 143 - Lexi

  4. Sep 10

    "Be where my feet are" | Episode 142 - Ralph

    If AANP speaks to you, follow the show and never miss an episode. Ralph shares a powerful and refreshingly candid perspective on long-term sobriety, beginning with his journey into treatment in 2003 and the “gift of desperation” that gave him the willingness to try something different. His recovery story explores what it can mean to find a path through the Twelve Steps without a traditional belief in God, and how philosophy, meditation, Stoicism and personal intention have helped him develop a practical way of living sober. He reflects on learning to pause rather than react, becoming more present, recognising what he can and cannot control, and continually working towards becoming a better version of himself. Ralph also speaks openly about profound loss, including the death of his sister through addiction, and the devastating consequences of a fatal road accident in which he was involved. Rather than searching for a predetermined “plan,” he describes finding meaning by using painful experiences to help others. With more than two decades of sobriety, Ralph discusses the continuing value of meetings, therapy, step work, humility and remaining open to learning beyond AA. A thoughtful, challenging and deeply human conversation about recovery, responsibility, acceptance and the ongoing work of becoming.

    "Be where my feet are" | Episode 142 - Ralph

  5. Sep 3

    “Humility: Seeing Clearly, Becoming More” | Episode 141 - Jon

    In this one-year-sober share, Jon reflects on humility, identity, recovery and the question that has shaped his first year: what could I become? If AANP speaks to you, ⁠follow the show⁠ and never miss an episode. He talks about learning to see himself more clearly, not only through the mistakes of the past, but through the life he is building now. Recovery, for him, has become less about what he had to give up and more about what he gets to participate in: fatherhood, friendship, service, community, music, curiosity and joy. Jon also shares how sobriety has changed his understanding of accountability, shame and what it means to show up for the people he loves. He reflects on the importance of action, the value of being useful to others, and the possibility that a meaningful life is built one small decision at a time. At the center of the share is a simple definition of humility: seeing clearly who we are, then making a sincere attempt to become what we could be. One year sober, Jon doesn’t claim to have everything figured out. He is simply grateful to be present for his life and curious about what comes next.

    “Humility: Seeing Clearly, Becoming More” | Episode 141 - Jon

  6. Aug 29

    "What We Believe When Nobody's Looking" | Episode 140 - Kael

    What can we actually know, and what are we simply choosing to believe? If AANP speaks to you, ⁠follow the show⁠ and never miss an episode. Kael explores what happens when we stop accepting claims on faith and start asking the uncomfortable question: “What evidence do we have?” Because without evidence, how do we distinguish truth from assumption, conviction from certainty, and reality from make-believe? A thoughtful conversation about belief, evidence, doubt, and the responsibility to examine the things we trust before we build our lives around them. Because believing something doesn't make it true. And certainty isn't evidence.

    "What We Believe When Nobody's Looking" | Episode 140 - Kael

  7. Aug 27

    "All Ceilings Suck..." | Episode 139 - Andrew

    Andrew has been part of AANP for more than a year, attending almost every day, often twice a day. In this deeply honest share, he talks about relapse, recovery, chronic pain and what happened when sheer determination was no longer enough. If AANP speaks to you, ⁠⁠⁠follow the show⁠⁠⁠ and never miss an episode. After putting together 394 days of sobriety, Andrew found himself overwhelmed by the pain of ankylosing spondylitis, a degenerative condition that became increasingly debilitating during a journey through Europe. Despite extraordinary physical pain, he remained sober throughout much of that experience, leaning on the recovery community that had become such an important part of his life. Eventually, though, he reached a point where he couldn't keep going. A friend gave him some advice that changed his perspective: “You need a tactical retreat.” Andrew returned, reconnected with the rooms and began seeking better medical care and physiotherapy. But the pain, isolation and frustration ultimately led to an eight-day relapse. After three trips to the emergency room and a frightening deterioration in his physical and mental health, Andrew finally found doctors who listened and began treating him properly. Slowly, little pieces of hope began to return. His sobriety date is now July 4, 2026. A powerful share about relapse, chronic pain, radical acceptance, community, and discovering that sometimes moving forward means knowing when to retreat. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew previously shared at AANP in November of 2025. You can hear that share here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2EUMq4b5TGuBhuqU9EhFB7?si=yZ9MVzvsTFOn_j3CKcwXkw

    "All Ceilings Suck..." | Episode 139 - Andrew

  8. Aug 21

    Time Sober, Recovery | Episode 138 - Dan

    Dan has four years of sobriety, but he is quick to point out that four years isn't necessarily a lot of time. If AANP speaks to you, ⁠⁠⁠follow the show⁠⁠⁠ and never miss an episode. What matters, he says, is what you do with that time. Sobriety only has value if he continues to do the work, follows the Steps as outlined in the Big Book with a sponsor, and allows a higher power to guide his life. In this short, candid share, Dan talks about drinking, isolation, loss, a suicide attempt and eventually finding his way into AA. He describes initially going through the motions without a sponsor or real commitment to the Steps, before reaching a point of surrender and becoming willing to do the work. Dan talks honestly about learning to get honest with himself, confronting his character defects and discovering that AA is a program of action, not simply a program of thinking. He also shares what he has learned about listening, humility, sponsorship and the importance of finding a home group where people won't let him get away with his b******t. His message to newcomers is refreshingly simple: find meetings you like, find a group where you feel comfortable, get a sponsor and listen. And the word that perhaps best sums up Dan's recovery today is willingness.

    Time Sober, Recovery | Episode 138 - Dan
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

An All Night Place is a recovery group based in the US, dedicated to and operated by persons in recovery, with active members from countries all over the world. Meetings take place 7 days a week. Every Wednesday we have a speaker meeting where members are asked to speak for however long they would like to, about their experience, strength and hope in recovery. Our Podcasts were created to allow members to hear them from wherever they may be, as well as to make them available to anyone who may benefit from their content. For meeting information please visit https://www.allnightplace.com/

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