10 Ways to Build Self-Respect on Your Mindful Drinking Journey
Welcome to Journey to the Sunnyside, the podcast where we have thoughtful conversations to explore the science of habits, uncover the secrets to mindful living,
Speaker 2:and of course, your own mindful drinking journey.
Speaker 1:This podcast is brought to you by Sunnyside, the number one alcohol moderation platform. And if you could benefit from drinking a bit less, head on over to sunnyside.co to get a free fifteen day trial. I'm your host, Hardinbrook, published author, neuroscience enthusiast, and habit change expert. Hey everybody. Welcome back to Journey to
Speaker 2:the Sunnyside. I'm Mike Hardinbrook. And today I want to take a little detour from our usual episodes and talk about a book that has quietly and consistently literally changed my life. And I've read well over a hundred books, but every once in a while, something comes along unexpectedly and just kind of sticks with you forever. And for me, that was the book Power of Intention by Doctor.
Speaker 2:Wayne Dyer. And I've read this book over and over throughout the years, sometimes cover to cover. Sometimes I'll just open a random page and it always gives me exactly what I need to hear. And it's been my guidebook to tap into what Dyer calls the infinite self and to operate from a higher frequency, a place of peace, purpose, and clarity. And it's helped me in my day to day decisions.
Speaker 2:It's not like these big life moments, but it is there for me, especially how I show up in my relationships around alcohol. Because when you're operating in this place of high vibration, this is a place of love and self respect and gratitude. Honestly, starts aligning. But when you're stuck in these low vibration places, which is really easy to do places like frustration and guilt and shame, everything really does start to feel a lot harder than it has to. And so I think a lot of us can relate to that when it comes to alcohol.
Speaker 2:And that's why I'm going to do this episode veering from our normal topics. So I want to start with something powerful in the book that Wayne states, which is, these are the quotes. Self respect attracts the higher energy. Lack of self respect attracts the lower. If you've ever had a night where you drink more than you meant to, or maybe you made a promise to take a break, but you didn't follow through, you know what that sinking feeling is like.
Speaker 2:You can start to feel pretty disconnected from yourself and it chips away at your self respect, which then can make change even harder. But when we approach our drinking goals, not from guilt or shame, which I've talked about many times, but from a place of intention, it starts to reframe it. So it's not, I have to quit, but it's, I respect myself enough to explore something better. And that's the shift we need to find. That's what Wayne helps us tap into.
Speaker 2:And it's from that place that everything begins to get easier. And I'm not talking overnight, but with consistent intention. And here at Sunnyside, it's all about consistency. It's not about perfection. So in his book, Wayne outlines 10 ways to nurture self respect.
Speaker 2:And I did a little bit of tweak on these to share them through the lens of mindful drinking. So you don't need to do all of these. Maybe just pick the ones that resonate the most. So step one is look in the mirror and say, I love me. And yeah, this might sound cheesy, but I would urge you to do it anyways.
Speaker 2:Make eye contact with yourself, look in the mirror and speak it out loud. And those three words, they can actually rewire your internal dialogue. And that builds your self respect over time. Just being able to say those three little words to yourself is really gonna make an impact, even if it's hard starting out. Step two is affirm your wholeness.
Speaker 2:Tell yourself, I am whole. I am perfect as I was created. Not after you've met your goals, but seriously, right now, as you are. It's not about ego. It's about truth.
Speaker 2:Step three is extend more respect to others. And this one is one of those hidden sneaky, powerful ones. So when you stop judging others, especially those who maybe drink differently of you, maybe even those who have passed judgment or given you a side eye for your changes, allowing you to not pass judgment releases a lot of energy that maybe you're holding on to. And honestly, when you give respect, you get respect. It boomerangs back to you.
Speaker 2:So it's a great practice to have. Number four is affirm that you belong. You don't need alcohol to belong in any group. Your presence is there in the moment is proof that you are enough. So say it with me.
Speaker 2:I belong. And so does everybody else. And you don't need alcohol for that. Step five is remind yourself that you're never alone. There's always support, even if it's not visible, whether it's a higher power for some people, others, it might be for community or others.
Speaker 2:It might just be your own higher self getting connected to that, but you're never walking this path alone. Number six is respect your body. You know, your body is doing so much when you start to drink less and give yourself praise for that. You're healing your gut. You're fixing your sleep.
Speaker 2:You're replenishing nutrients. Your hormones are restoring. So just remember, treat your body with reverence and not punishment. Number seven is meditate. And I'm not going go too deep here because that could be an episode on its own.
Speaker 2:But honestly, if you've been putting it off, it can just start with something as simple as just one minute in the morning, just sit and breathe and reconnect with that deeper version of you that wants to feel good without alcohol controlling and dictating and making you feel bad. So think about a place and a time that you could just take a minute to yourself and meditate. Number eight is release the tension of regret, especially with yourself. So if things didn't go the way you planned, which they seldom we do, it's not about being perfect. It's about staying curious and kind with yourself.
Speaker 2:And the ability to let go of self blame is one of the most powerful things that you can do to keep moving forward. Next, we have don't confuse opinions with facts. Because guess what? There are 500 opinions that are about you at any given moment and not a single one of them defines you. And this is a real breakthrough and an insight that took me a while to figure out.
Speaker 2:You define you. So don't let somebody else's judgment become your identity. Don't give away that power. And then finally, stay in gratitude. You hear me say it all the time, but it is so important.
Speaker 2:Every time that you say thank you for your body, for your growth, for your chance to change, you reinforce your self respect. And the key point with this is that you have self loathing and you have gratitude, but those two things can't exist in the same space. So which one are you going to choose? And I will choose gratitude every single time. So those are the 10 practices that the inspirational Wayne Dyer has passed on to allow me to tweak a little bit for us to reconnect with our intention, to our purpose and to our self respect.
Speaker 2:And when you anchor into these changing your drinking becomes a lot less difficult and a lot less restriction. And it's more about finding your alignment. So the book of power and intention has shown me that we don't have to fight our way to better versions of ourselves. We just have to remember who we are already and start living from that place. So this week, I invite you to pick one of these that I laid out here, maybe just one, maybe some, maybe all of them, but try it out, maybe journal about it and see what changes or what shifts for you.
Speaker 2:And most of all, stay kind to yourself. And until next time, cheers to your mindful drinking journey.
Speaker 1:This podcast is brought to you by Sunnyside, the number one alcohol moderation platform. And if you could benefit from drinking a bit less, head on over to sunnyside.co to get a free fifteen day trial.
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