#BingingSober: A Blueprint For Living Well

I don't know about you, but my social media has been FILLED with programs and products promoting sobriety from drinking.

Fresh off of Dry January, sobriety and the sober curious movement have been in the mainstream for months now, encouraging people to abstain from, or at least re-evaluate their relationships with alcohol.

That idea is at the heart of our guest's mission.  #BingingSober was started by Colleen Ryan-Hensley, a 10-year Navy Veteran. advocate for mental health and expert in mental toughness.

Colleen struggled with depression since she was a teenager and instead of expressing her feelings and getting help, she was taught to "rub some dirt on it and get back in the game". To cope with depression, she started drinking and going on long runs to escape the things that hurt.
 
When she joined the Navy, she brought this mental and physical toughness with her. Sure, it was the perfect combo for being a great sailor, but not so great for relationships, health and overall well-being. It wasn't until well after her Navy days that she started focusing more on the feelings she kept bottled up and peeling away the decades of toughness she had built up around her.

Today, Colleen shows others how to avoid making these costly decisions and live a balanced life where escape and reality can live in harmony. 

#BingingSober: A Blueprint For Living Well
Featuring:
Colleen Ryan Hensley

Colleen Ryan Hensley is a 10-year Navy veteran, candidate for Certified Mental Performance Coach with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (appliedsportpsych.org), and founder of Grace C. Ryan Performance (armoredgrace.com). She holds an advanced degree in performance psychology and spent 5-years with the team of cutting-edge researchers and clinicians at the University of Texas at Dallas’ Center for BrainHealth teaching High-Performance Cognitive Training to military veterans and their spouses and caregivers, active duty military, and first responders around the country. As an advocate for veteran wellness, she received a fellowship with The Mission Continues (themissioncontinues.org) and lobbied for veteran rights on Capitol Hill alongside her team at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (iava.org). She’s been featured on Fox and Friends, PBS, and various local Dallas media including WFAA. Colleen struggled with depression, alcohol abuse, and intermittent suicidal thoughts for over 20 years before she tamed her brain and turned her fight into her greatest asset. She champions for proactive mental health, and optimal wellness from a place of knowing the ways in which living with depression can be an extraordinarily rich experience when you know how.