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.
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 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!
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.
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.
Guiding Values
In this article, I would like to explore the concept of values by determining what they are, why they are essential, and how to find yours.
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.
“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.
Rebuilding Trust in Our Sober Self with Micro Habits.
Making the firm commitment to stop drinking was a great first step, but was just the start. The rebuilding of my shattered self-trust and my inner kingdom was the next task. It had to be done if I was to get the most out of my alcohol-free journey.
Benefits and Methods of Mindfulness
As for tangible results, I have tested my blood pressure readings numerous times. After a twenty-minute meditation session, I have recorded anywhere from a 3 to 10-point drop in the ‘before’ reading numbers. This stuff really works!
Mindfulness and the Alcohol-Free Journey
The point of mindfulness is not to completely silence our minds or enter some bliss-like, nirvana state. It’s more about sitting just to sit and being aware.
Devil on the Shoulder
Today I want to explore what it would mean to reframe our view of the “devil” from an adversary to an advisor. Let’s see if we can better understand this relationship and develop it into something beneficial to us.
Happiness vs Aliveness
Hardship, darkness, and tribulations are just as much a part of our journey as it is for the characters of our favorite stories. We do ourselves a disservice by not fully embracing them or trying to numb them or shoving them down.