Journey to the Sunnyside

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, and of course, your own mindful drinking journey. 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. Welcome back to Journey to the Sunnyside.

I'm Mike Hardinbrook, And if your Monday is feeling a little foggy or you've got that weight on your chest that you can't quite name, then this episode is for you. It's a simple exercise that I call the burn list, And it's one of the fastest ways I know to clear mental clutter, take back control and reset your nervous system, especially if you're working on changing your relationship with alcohol, which if you're tuning into this podcast, that's what we're talking about. You won't need anything fancy for this one. Just grab a piece of paper and something to write with, and let's do this together. It's 10, start to finish.

First, I want you to take a breath. Like, actually, you might as well take three, but let's do one together. In through your nose, then out. Then go ahead and repeat that as many times as you want. You know, you can hit pause.

During that time, let your shoulders drop. Let your jaw relax and just kinda land in this moment because you're gonna let everything go. Now grab that piece of paper, and I want you to write, what's weighing on me? Now it could be something else. You could write, what's driving me crazy?

Or what has me super stressed this Monday? Whatever it is, write it at the top of the piece of paper because that is your prompt. You're not gonna judge yourself. You're not gonna edit what you put down. You're just gonna put everything on your mind on this piece of paper.

I want you to go for it. Write down everything that is swimming around in that brain. You got stress at work. You have shame around the weekend. You're annoyed with your partner.

You're frustrated maybe that alcohol still feels a little bit loud in your mind on this Monday. It doesn't matter how big or how small this is, this is the space for all of that. And here's the thing. Doctor. James Pennebaker, his research shows that writing about emotions, even for just a few minutes, can lower cortisol levels, reduce anxiety, and help you process in a way that leads to real change.

This is especially powerful if you've been using alcohol to avoid emotions. You're doing the opposite now. You're meeting them head on. So you can keep writing as much as you want. And don't worry, if it's not a lot but your head feels empty, that's the perfect amount.

Okay, now that you have your list, you've let everything from your head flow through your mind, into your arm, into your hand, into the pen, onto the paper. Okay? That could be a lot, but that's why you're maybe feeling heavy right now on this Monday. But here's the shift. Circle just one thing on your list that you can influence today.

Not solve, not fix, just influence. So a good example in regard to this podcast is, let's say you wrote, I regret how much I drank this weekend. First of all, you're not alone. That Monday regret hits hard. It can hit physically, emotionally, even spiritually.

But now ask yourself, what is one small thing that I can do today to move in a different direction? And I don't want you to think in terms of making up for anything. Just remind your brain and your body that you're still here and in charge. So maybe it's choosing a non alcoholic drink tonight instead of defaulting to wine, even if it's a day that you marked for drinking, getting outside for a short walk to boost your mood, or maybe it's just texting a friend at the time that you know that maybe you might be struggling later. You just need one choice that breaks the cycle of this regret that you can influence to make yourself feel better.

And that's how the shift from shame loops into forward motion happen. And in neuroscience terms, that's how you start rewiring your brain. Now comes the good part. Take out your paper, fold it up, and if you have a fireplace, if you have a fire safe dish or a sink, use that. But don't use it if you don't have anything where you can safely do this because the alternative is we're gonna tear it up into tiny little pieces, satisfying pieces.

And so get ready to do that, whether you're going to light it up or you're gonna tear it up. And when you're ready, as you do that, say to yourself, I'm not carrying all of this into my week. I choose clarity and I choose progress. This is symbolic, but science also backs it up too. A study in psychological science found that when people wrote down negative thoughts and physically threw them away, they were less affected by them afterwards.

So you're telling your brain, we're done giving this stuff power. Okay. Now that we've gotten rid of that and let it go, I want you to grab a blank piece of paper, and at the top, I want you to write, one thing that I'm already proud of myself for is, and then finish the sentence. Even if it's simple things like I showed up and did this instead of ignoring how I feel. I didn't let the regret from the weekend set the tone for my whole week.

Or I'm choosing clarity this morning instead of numbing out. Doing these things matters. It's a step towards healing, and it's definitely a step towards progress. And most people never stop to do this. They wake up, they feel regret, and they just, they push it down, or they go through their whole day feeling bad.

And then by the end of the night, they pour a drink later, they tell themselves they're gonna deal with it, and maybe they'll start over next Monday. But you, you're facing it. You're releasing it, and you're starting your week in alignment, not avoidance. Okay. Thanks for hanging out with me on this Monday.

I hope you released everything that was weighing you down. I hope you found this helpful. And as always, I appreciate all the great feedback that I get from you. And if there's anything that I can do or talk about on the show, please send me your feedback. Mike sunnyside dot co.

I'd love to hear from you. And as always, have a beautiful week and cheers to your mindful drinking journey. 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.