FACE IT. SHIFT. GROW. REPEAT.

Episode Twenty-Six

How Breathwork Can Get You Sober from Sex and Porn Addiction

For almost 30 years, I ran from every uncomfortable feeling I had. As a kid, nail-biting and video games. Then, as a teen and beyond, porn, fantasy, and sex. When I decided to get sober, I lost every one of those buffers at once, and I had to find another way to survive the fear. I needed a new coping mechanism.

In this episode, I sat down with breathwork therapist Jesse Torgerson to break down the practice that actually worked: breathing into physical sensation and releasing tension on the exhale, until my nervous system stopped treating discomfort like an emergency.

This episode isn't just about my personal journey through addiction, it is about your ability to realize that uncomfortable feelings won’t kill you.

I invite you to examine the stories keeping you stuck in anxiety and discover how present-moment breath awareness can create radical clarity.

Safety is not found outside yourself, it is cultivated with every conscious breath.

If this hits home, subscribe for more conversations on breaking addiction and building a real life on the other side of it, drop a comment with what you're working through, and share this with someone who needs to hear it.

For Ben, that moment came seven years ago. What started as smoking too much weed in high school turned into countless blackouts in college, and eventually a lifestyle fueled by cocaine, women, and escape. At a certain point, he realized his life had become unmanageable with a capital U.

But, what began as a decision to get sober turned into something much deeper: confronting not only the addictions, but the habits and patterns that had been holding him back for years. And when Ben made the decision to change, he went all in. That’s the New Yorker in him.

He went to meetings, read books, worked with mentors, and went to retreats focused on emotional release. He committed himself to rebuilding his life from the inside out.

Along the way, Ben developed a relationship with a power greater than himself, and in doing so discovered his true purpose: helping others on their own path.

Then about a year ago, a friend said something that stuck with him:

“Ben, you need to start a podcast.”

The seed was planted and from it grew The Shift — a podcast about what happens when we stop avoiding the things that hold us back and start facing them head-on. While themes like sobriety and faith will come up, The Shift isn’t a sobriety podcast or a religious one. The Shift is an open, inclusive space for anyone and everyone.

Through Ben’s shifts, and his guests who have experienced shifts of their own, the goal is simple: to help listeners who might be struggling with something realize they’re not alone, and to share insights and strategies that they can put to work in their own lives.

Sometimes life reaches a point where you realize things have gotten out of control—when ignoring it is no longer an option.