From Aimless Alcoholic to Uplifting Life Coach: Using CrossFit to Heal Trauma with Brittany Parsons [Podcast]

Brittany Parsons is a certified CrossFit trainer, breakthrough life coach and motivational speaker who has helped thousands of people overcome past traumas and find the passion and purpose within their soul

One day you might look up to find yourself on a path of self-destruction. Everywhere you turn, you are met with another disappointed face from a friend or family member. You don’t want to hurt them but you don’t know how to stop. The allure of the temporary escape of our traumas override any logical reasoning. It is not until we reach our darkest moment, where we are faced with the decision to either keep doing what we’ve always done until we’ve lost ourselves completely, or to open our heart, turn within, and find the strength inside to take the first step forward.

“I drove home that evening and I was a mess. I dropped down to my knees, and I started crying and praying to God to please help me. I knew if I didn’t take control in that very moment I was going to die of alcoholism.” -Brittany Parsons

From ages 23 to 25, Brittany Parsons burned through $30,000 on alcohol and drugs. Her home that she bought was on the verge of foreclosure. She started to lose healthy relationships with friends and family, including her sister.

By age 27, Brittany was told that her liver is dying. She was told she has a 60% chance of surviving if she continues down the path she is on. She went home, and picked up another bottle.

Her friends tried to have an intervention. Her family tried to convince her to go to rehab, to no avail. Brittany couldn’t see herself sitting in an AA meeting, being part of a community she didn’t believe in at the time. She didn’t believe she had a problem.

Finally, one night, she decided to go to the bar one last time. She called her dad drunk, and said, “I think this is my last drink”.

In this podcast you will hear how Brittany Parsons, certified CrossFit trainer and Breakthrough Life Coach rewrote her story. How she went from having nothing, and not believing that she deserved to have anything, to having everything her heart wanted. It took hard work, dedication, and courage. Now, she is a vision of strength for so many others trying to rewrite their own stories.

Brittany found CrossFit as a way to get and stay sober after years of battling alcoholism and drug addiction

Finding solace and recovery in CrossFit

Brittany started researching ways of how to get sober and came across CrossFit. Specifically, she read a story of a man who took a shot of heroin before competing in the CrossFit games. He was blacked out the entire time, and didn’t even place in the games. After that, for two weeks straight he locked himself in a closet to get sober, only asking people for water and bread. Brittany thought, “If this guy did that, I can do this on my own.”

Many people have turned to CrossFit as an alcoholism and drug addiction recovery tool. She began spending 3 to 5 hours at the CrossFit King of Prussia in Pennsylvania every day. She stayed so long they were shutting the lights off on her and telling her to go home!

“It was my church, my home, my family. That’s how I got sober.” -Brittany Parsons

Brittany has a daily practice where she writes a gratitude list to help her be more present and keep a positive mindset

Soon she became a certified trainer in Austin, and had 20 clients almost immediately. She began meeting wonderful people within the fitness community, who presented her with opportunities to become a better person. One such opportunity was a re-introduction to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA).

How to shift your mindset from Fear and Negativity to Love and Positivity

Brittany goes on to explain how she had to learn to practice self-compassion and gratitude every day as part of AA, and she still continues to do this today. She felt immense guilt for hurting those that she loved, and part of AA is going back and making amends.

“Every day I have this routine where I thank the Universe and thank God for being alive because I shouldn’t be here. I start with my daily gratitude list.” -Brittany Parsons

How can you support a loved one on their sobriety journey?

It may sound surprising, but the best thing you can do to support someone who is trying to get sober, is to just continue living your life and setting hard boundaries. Brittany was glad her friends and family who stuck around did not take on her problems and said “no” when they had to.

“If someone would lend a hand, I would take it selfishly and run. That’s not who I am, not how I want to be. I really thank those people for sticking it to me and setting a boundary, creating that self-love barrier that I work on with myself every day.” -Brittany Parsons

From Alcoholic to Inspiring BreakThrough Coach

Brittany walks us through her detailed process of how she helps her clients work through their traumas and move forward

Now, Brittany Parsons is a breakthrough life coach and motivational speaker who has helped thousands of people rewrite their story. She helps them get off their path of self-destruction, figure out their passion and purpose, and increase their self-esteem. Her specializations for life coaching and peer recovery coaching include: addiction and recovery, mental illness, trauma/PTSD, overeating, sexual abuse and sexual addiction, meditation, goal setting, budgeting, passion and purposes. You can take her Rewrite Your Story quiz to find out if you and Brittany would be a good match to work together.

Listen to the full podcast episode to hear more about:

The trauma Brittany experienced that put her on this self-destructive path and how she helps her clients process their traumas
Brittany’s journey through AA, CrossFit, and finding her greater purpose in life
How you can sometimes go overboard with the good thing that got you out of the bad thing
Helpful advice and resources Brittany shares to help you practice self love and compassion
Brittany’s advice for overcoming that need to reach for the bottle or that carton of ice cream in times of stress
A deeper understanding of guilt and shame
How she met her fiancé and how she knew he was the one

How to Love Intently

Part of being able to move past trauma and have thriving relationships is to be more self-aware. Take a step towards increasing your self-awareness by taking our Love Personality™ quiz, to learn how you like to receive love and what your attachment style is.