Dry January to sober curious??
Reducing alcohol consumption can lead to several immediate benefits:
If you dabbled in Dry January and you noticed some benefits like better quality of sleep, energy levels and overall mood. It might be time to dabble in the trend of sober curiosity. Being sober curious involves questioning your relationship with alcohol and exploring the possibility of reducing or eliminating its consumption overall. The thought of eliminating consumption completely might send some of you reading this into an instant reactionary reflex. Sober curious may or may not be for you but if your immediate gut reaction is “Hell no! January was enough, you might want to go through these next thoughts.
1. Reflect on Your Reasons
Spend some time considering why you want to don’t want to stop consuming alcohol. It might be socially-related, a bit of FOMO, or simply a desire for a relax at the end of a long day with a beer or cocktail in your hand. Understanding your motivations behind your desire will bring a bit more focus to the overall picture of alcohol’s role in your life.
2. Start a Journal
Document your feelings, experiences, and observations every time you drink. Did you enjoy yourself? How did you sleep? What was your energy like the next day? This can help you track body metrics (with and without alcohol consumption) and reflect on the effect of alcohol in relationship to your mood, energy levels, and social interactions.
3. Explore Alternatives
Look for opportunities to try non-alcoholic drink options to enjoy in social settings. Many breweries and brands are now offering non-alcoholic beers, mocktails, and other creative concoctions that can satisfy your social cravings without the alcohol. For as many social engagements where you consume alcohol, try a few where you don’t and notice any differences.
4. Be Mindful of Triggers
Identify situations or emotions that prompt your desire to drink. Being aware of these triggers will help you determine whether you are using alcohol as a crutch for emotional or physical triggers. From there you can make decisions on whether these are beneficial or harmful to your. If harmful, you can start to develop strategies to handle these triggers with more beneficial actions.
8. Focus on the healthy benefits of alcohol reduction/elimination
Invest time in understanding how less alcohol might lead to healthier lifestyle habits. Could you be more regularly engaging in physical activity because you aren’t sleeping in after late nights at the bar, practicing mindfulness as a response to stress instead of going for the mind numbing effect of alcohol, or nourishing your body with healthier foods instead of late night post-bar binging?
