Holiday Loneliness
“The loneliness you feel is actually an opportunity to reconnect with others and yourself.” — Maxime Lagace
Connecting with Our Inner Parts
Accept your parts with grace and love so they can be heard and expressed more easily. Write out your questions and have compassion for the reply they give you. Get curious about what you’re feeling and where it is coming from.
My Inner Child Riding Shotgun
We have the ability to call forth and connect with parts of ourselves. We can connect to whatever age is calling to us. One of our superpowers as humans is to put ourselves back in their shoes, see the circumstance from their eyes, and connect with the emotions that arose in those instances.
Sober October: That’s a Wrap!
The point is to see the effectiveness awareness can have on our urges and habits and how empowering it is to take responsibility for them. The point is that creating a gap in your drinking habits, no matter how seemingly small, can cause an exponential shift over time.
Sober October: My Last Attempt.
Am I saying that going 30 days AF will equip you with all the knowledge and tools you need to navigate life’s challenges without feeling a desire for booze? No. That takes time and experience. That takes curiosity and a willingness to feel all the feelings, all the joy, all the pain, all the boredom, and all the uneasiness that every human has had to deal with.
Sober October: Halfway There!
If we have been drinking habitually for years, we think our constantly cruddy feeling state is normal. Hopefully, this Sober October is letting you remember how great you can feel emotionally and physically.
Sober October: Week 2!
Our limbic brain- the older part of our minds- is the master at seeking comfort and avoiding pain. When we get into a place of comfort and familiarity, even if it harms us, our subconscious will pull out all the tricks to keep us in that comfortable state.
Sober October: Ready. Set. Go!
Sober October isn’t about white-knuckling it from the First to the Thirty-first. Instead, it is an opportunity to learn about yourself and to reassess your relationship with alcohol.
Countdown to Sober October 2022!
Taking a break from booze allows you to focus the light of awareness on your previously unexamined thoughts, feelings, and resulting actions. You start to notice what triggers and thoughts lead you to pour a drink. Or how you feel before you even open the bottle. Or which cultural norms influenced your decision to drink. This simple act of awareness, even of the smallest thoughts, gives you your power back and begins to shift your subconscious.
Sober October 2022!
If you are committing to taking a month-long break from alcohol, recognize how rebellious an act that is, especially in a country where 85% of its population drinks. You are a rebel and a badass. Own it!
Climbing the Ladder of Our Beliefs
Let’s look at our beliefs like a ladder. If we start with a thought like ‘we will always be a drinker,’ immediately trying to believe the opposite of this statement will seem absurd.
Wherever You Are in Your Sober Journey Is Okay.
The journey to freedom from alcohol can be, at times, one of immense difficulty. We quickly discover that it is not a straight path of progression but a meandering adventure through unfamiliar territory.
A Sober Look at 40.
Forty marks a psychological and spiritual hinge point. Throughout world religions, forty represents and foretells transition, transformation, and becoming.
Is It Worth It To Quit Drinking?
I could tell you: Yes, absolutely! But I won’t. Instead, I have some questions for you to consider. Ready?
Reframing Boredom
Let’s define briefly what boredom is, address some stigma around it, then offer a more positive and productive reframe from which to view it.
Goodbye, Hello.
Even when I was at my lowest point with alcohol, lost in that dark inner forest, I knew there was a clearing somewhere and that it was up to me to reach it.
Sobriety and Shifting Values
This week I would like to expand on and explore what happens when our values change because of a significant life event like ceasing to use a harmful substance.
Will I Be Bored When I Quit Drinking?
Alcohol dulls the edges of life and dilutes our adventure. Alcohol can distract and numb, but those effects aren’t specific in their focus. It numbs us to everything. I’d say alcohol plays a very big role in us being bored.
Drinking Self, Sober Self, and Summer Vacation
Alcohol will be present at most summer gatherings. If you are trying to be alcohol-free, questions like the ones above will pop into your head, and desires to partake in boozy bacchanalias will arise. We would be fooling ourselves into thinking otherwise.
“Do You Mind if I Have a Drink?”
Contrary to the media portrayal, many sober people are not constantly teetering between sobriety and utter debauchery. Many of us are liberated from the grip of alcohol, and it no longer has a hold on our minds.