By Amy C. Willis, Holistic Sober Coach
April 2024
With the vast expansion of the sober curious movement, the explosive growth of the alcohol-free beverage space and the inception of mindful drinking, now is an incredible time to explore mindful drinking and how it could serve as the ultimate wellness hack in your life.
Mindful drinking is the invitation to bring awareness and mindfulness-based practices into your relationship with alcohol. While the goal of mindful drinking isn’t necessarily sobriety (though many find their way to this), what it allows us to do is engage differently and curiously when it comes to the role alcohol plays in our lives, what motivates us to drink, how it genuinely makes us feel and the impacts it has on our bodies, minds and lives.
Alongside wellness trends and predictions, many adults occupy the space of wanting to cut back on their alcohol consumption in an effort to stave off the negative consequences that can accompany heavy drinking including hangovers, increases in anxiety, regret and the numerous long term health impacts alcohol has.
According to the World Health Organization, alcohol is:
- causally linked to at least 200 different disease and injury conditions
- causally linked to at least 7 different types of cancer, including breast cancer
- globally responsible for 3 million deaths annually (or 5.3% of deaths worldwide)
In addition to these statistics, we also know that alcohol negatively impacts mental and emotional health, sleep, digestion, energy, mood and so much more, which is why more and more people are approaching alcohol and their engagement with it differently.
We also know that when it comes to the impact of alcohol on your life, body and wellness, every drink counts so reducing or eliminating alcohol is a great step to support your overall wellness. If you are interested in mindfully exploring your relationship with alcohol, here are some questions to get you started:
- Why do I drink?
- How often and how much am I drinking?
- What am I looking to shift or change by adding alcohol to the mix?
- Does alcohol actually deliver on the outcome?
- How do I feel when I drink (before, during and after)?
- Do I experience cravings or urges to drink? If yes, what are the circumstances around that?
- How does alcohol benefit my life?
- How does alcohol hold me back?
- What would my ideal relationship with alcohol be?
- Is there anything stopping me from achieving this?
Beyond reflecting on your relationship with alcohol, there are some activities you can do to further propel your curiosity forward. These include:
- Reflecting on your health and wellness goals. Why are you working on them? Does alcohol support or deter these goals? If alcohol isn’t helping with those goals, do you feel comfortable sacrificing those goals to keep alcohol around?
- Participate in a month-long alcohol-free challenge such as Dry January or Sober October (or any month you choose); this process will inevitably teach you something about yourself and your relationship with alcohol
- Tune your awareness into when you typically reach for alcohol – is it for social purposes? Do you drink when you’re alone? Are you looking to water down uncomfortable feelings or amplify positive feelings? Is your alcohol use tied to self-care or stress management?
Despite finding its way into wellness spaces and various brands sneakily marketing their alcoholic products as ‘healthy’ because they are low sugar/calorie, counter to this messaging, alcohol is not a healthy option. Many aspects of our wellness are beyond our control but our relationship to alcohol is a highly impactful area that we have the capacity to change. Taking a curious look at your relationship with alcohol and adjusting in accordance with your health goals is one of the best ways you can support your betterment and wellness.
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Amy C. Willis is the Holistic Sober Coach and founder of HOL + WELL. She has been working professionally in the addiction recovery space since 2019 and has been sober since 2016. In addition to being a dual-certified coach, Amy is also a yoga & meditation teacher, EFT practitioner, writer and speaker. In addition to supporting women and queer folks who wish to build better, booze-free lives, her work also includes challenging normative alcohol culture and telling the truth about alcohol so that people can make informed decisions and mitigate risk. Interested in kick starting your sober journey? Grab Amy’s free workbook here. If you’re a sober or sober curious woman looking for community, join us here.
