How to Get and Stay Sober in 2026 (The Biohacker’s Guide) | Luke Storey

Dave Asprey

Dec 25, 2025

Episode description

The holidays are when drinking quietly ramps up for a lot of people. More parties, more stress, more excuses, and habits that feel temporary but often aren’t. This episode is for anyone reflecting on their relationship with alcohol, substances, or compulsive habits and questioning whether those patterns are actually supporting the life and health they want going forward.

This episode features host Dave Asprey joined by Luke Storey, a motivational speaker, spiritual teacher, and host of the top-rated podcast The Life Stylist, which has surpassed 10 million downloads. Luke is widely regarded as a pioneer in health and wellness, known for articulating transformative principles around spirituality, addiction recovery, and mental, emotional, and physical health optimization.

Together, Dave and Luke explore why getting sober and staying sober rarely comes down to willpower alone. They unpack how addiction often shows up as biology, trauma, nervous system dysregulation, and learned coping patterns, not just substance use. The conversation expands the definition of addiction to include socially accepted behaviors like alcohol, nicotine, work, scrolling, and distraction.

The discussion moves through long term sobriety, discernment around substances, the role of spirituality in recovery, and how people break free from compulsive loops by addressing root causes instead of chasing short term fixes. Nuanced topics like abstinence, nicotine, psychedelics, and altered states are explored with clear boundaries around safety, intention, and stability.

You’ll learn:

• Why willpower alone fails to sustain sobriety

• How addiction is driven by nervous system wiring and trauma

• Why socially accepted habits can still be addictive

• How to tell the difference between craving and intuition

• What supports long term recovery beyond abstinence

• Why identity and environment matter more than discipline

• How sobriety creates clarity, resilience, and freedom over time

Thank you to our sponsors!

-TRU KAVA | Go to https://trukava.com/ and use code DAVE10 for 10% off.

-Caldera + Lab | Go to https://calderalab.com/DAVE and use code DAVE at checkout for 20% off your first order.

-Vibrant Blue Oils | Grab a full-size bottle for over 50% off at https://vibrantblueoils.com/dave.

Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The

Episode description

You’ll learn:

• Why willpower alone fails to sustain sobriety

• How addiction is driven by nervous system wiring and trauma

• Why socially accepted habits can still be addictive

• How to tell the difference between craving and intuition

• What supports long term recovery beyond abstinence

• Why identity and environment matter more than discipline

• How sobriety creates clarity, resilience, and freedom over time

Thank you to our sponsors!

-TRU KAVA | Go to https://trukava.com/ and use code DAVE10 for 10% off.

-Caldera + Lab | Go to https://calderalab.com/DAVE and use code DAVE at checkout for 20% off your first order.

-Vibrant Blue Oils | Grab a full-size bottle for over 50% off at https://vibrantblueoils.com/dave.

Mindsip insights from this episode:

Control nicotine cravings with a timed box strategy

To control nicotine use, you can outsource the decision-making by locking your supply in a timed box, preventing your "meat operating system" from caving to cravings.

#craving

#nicotine

Engage skilled shaman for safe psychedelic experiences

Using psychedelics without a skilled shaman is dangerous because they act as a firewall, protecting you from dark forces and entities that exist in the quantum realm and can move in if you are unprotected.

#psychedelics

#spirituality

Break free from addiction to disempowering thoughts

Many people are addicted to the biochemical rush of cortisol and adrenaline from their own disempowering, ruminating thoughts, which can be as difficult to stop as a substance addiction.

#addiction

#cortisol

Avoid psychedelics to protect brain health

According to Dr. Daniel Amen's neuroimaging work, even a single dose of substances like ayahuasca is not good for the brain and can cause metabolic harm that takes a long time to recover from.

#brain

#psychedelics

Distinguish intuitive healing from addictive craving

An intuitive calling for a healing experience feels like a neutral alignment or subtle charm, whereas an addictive craving is an obsessive, visceral desire driven by the anticipation of relief.

#addiction

#intuition

Utilize nicotine as a shamanic tool for enhanced journeying

Nicotine can be used as a shamanic tool to enhance journeying work, as it can re-up the effects of other medicinal substances and connect you to the sacred spirit of the tobacco plant.

#biohacking

#nicotine

Combine ketamine microdosing with hyperbaric therapy for deep restoration

A deeply restorative experience can be achieved by combining a microdose of ketamine with a hyperbaric chamber session while listening to a guided meditation.

#hyperbaric

#ketamine

Reset cravings with ibogaine for addiction recovery

Ibogaine is considered a very potent substance for addiction because it can reset neurotransmitter receptivity back to a baseline, effectively eliminating cravings for substances like alcohol, heroin, and nicotine.

#addiction

#psychedelics

Discover belladonna's role in Alcoholics Anonymous origins

The founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson, had his foundational "white light" spiritual experience, which the 12 steps are based on, after being administered the plant medicine belladonna.