Mindful Drinking This Summer: A Strategy for Clarity and Control
Welcome to Journey to the Sunny Side, 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, Mike Hardinbrook, published author, neuroscience enthusiast, and habit change expert. Welcome back to Journey to the Sunnyside.
Speaker 1:I'm Mike Hardinbrook, and today we're gonna dive into something that might be on many of our minds or most of our minds as the weather starts heating up and in some places, the snow is melting. And that is how to approach summer as a mindful drinker. Now, like many people, summer is kind of associated with the time to kick back, work a little bit less, spend more time outdoors. And yeah, let's be honest, enjoy a couple of drinks, maybe a little more than a couple of drinks. But what if you could enjoy more of the summer without that heavy feeling or even that guilt of overdoing it?
Speaker 1:Summer is a time that we can break our old associations. This is where we can step away from this idea that every single summer moment has to involve some leisure that also includes drinks. Maybe it's time to flip that script. So for some of you, maybe it's about going on vacation without the usual emphasis on alcohol. So if you think about it, what would it feel like to go on that trip, to not even worry about what bar you're going to hit, which drinks you're going to order, and how much, and can you be in control?
Speaker 1:What if instead your focus was about exploring that destination, being more present and feeling fully engaged in that experience without worrying about that other stuff. And remember, it's not trying to be perfect on these vacations. It's about giving yourself a new experience, one that's clear, one that feels more present and really more authentic to you because you don't have that other noise going on. And maybe you can experience this summer vacation in a whole different way. This summer could be your chance to discover a new side to yourself, a new side to summer itself.
Speaker 1:And by the way, not all of us have the time, not all of us have the means to go do these big things. However, we do have the ability to plan things that we've never done before that could bring us excitement. Or maybe instead of this adventure and trip, the actual adventure you're going to do is something completely different. Maybe you've never done dry July, and that would be maybe a little bit challenging, maybe a little bit scary, maybe a little bit, I don't know how it's going to go. But this is a whole month that you can give yourself to explore new areas of yourself, a new approach to summer.
Speaker 1:It might really surprise you and I'd be willing to bet money that it would. Now I'm hyping this up a little bit, but there's kind of a couple of different approaches as the summer comes up that you can look at it. And I'm going to break those down a little bit more. Now I mentioned growth because the summers don't always have to be, you know, sit back and cruise through them. They can be periods of both fun and growth.
Speaker 1:And experimenting with something like Dry of July just might be your entry point to that. Now this isn't about just do it and then never look back kind of thing. It's more of an experiment. And experiments are kind of fun. What if you could take the thirty days off from alcohol in the summer and see how it feels?
Speaker 1:Did you notice what changed about you? And it doesn't have to be this whole summer long thing. Remember, you got three months of summer. Some people do more than three months. But just those thirty days and see if you might be surprised with what you find because you've never done it.
Speaker 1:Remember, the goal isn't just about being through this perfect summer that you envision. It's about giving yourself the space to see what's possible and step outside of your comfort zone. So here's a thought. What if you plan for the summer with mindfulness in mind? Not every barbecue, not every pool party has to involve alcohol.
Speaker 1:And instead, imagine yourself, how would you feel when that changes? What would the event be like? And how would you choose to partake and enjoy the moment in a different kind of way that maybe you've never done? And you might be surprised at how much more connected you feel and more present with those around you because you're not worrying about this one thing that you're trying to constantly control or maybe modulate or maybe regulate or whatever word you want to choose. When you just take that out of the equation, maybe in the summer you're going to have less anxiety as it comes up of sticking to your goals because you've already made the decision ahead of time.
Speaker 1:Now let's be clear. Mindful drinking doesn't mean complete abstinence. That's just one path that potentially you could take for yourself. Remember, you get to choose what your path looks like because it aligns to your goals. You get to choose that.
Speaker 1:It's about being intentional with your choices. So that might be one path that might interest you. However, maybe you're completely uninterested in that. And in fact, you're like, boy, making it even harder, quote unquote, is not what I was thinking. I'm just trying to keep it on the rails here.
Speaker 1:So what does that all look like? And it's all about planning. So you decide ahead time, for example, when you'll drink and when you won't drink. And maybe that's a little bit more than you typically do throughout the year. Maybe you're more restrictive coming January, February, March, and you're saying, you know what?
Speaker 1:I've been doing really well. I trust myself. And I think within the limits of what I think is moderate, I'm going to choose this plan. And that's totally fine. Maybe you're going to cut loose a little bit within reason at your best friend's summer wedding.
Speaker 1:But maybe you'll choose to drink nothing at the beach on the weekends when you normally would. It's all about planning. So the other trick is, of course, they call it alternating drinks or zebra striping. But this works really well because when you have a drink in hand, the studies show that it decreases the amount that you drink, but you still get the comfort of having something in your hand. You're enjoying something that tastes good, that makes you feel a part of the group.
Speaker 1:Remember that flexibility in your plan, that's not necessarily giving yourself excuses to break away. It's about staying on track in a way that feels sustainable to you. You're creating a path that works for you. You get to decide. So if you plan to have a couple drinks at a barbecue, that's okay.
Speaker 1:If maybe your plan is to have a couple drinks and you decide not to, that's okay too. It's all about choice. Now I mapped a couple different options and you can pick whatever you want, but some of you might be feeling anxiety around the summer coming up. You might think, you know, can I really do this? Or what will people think if I decide maybe to cut back in the summertime with the people that I normally drink with?
Speaker 1:What are they going to think? And it's totally normal to have those thoughts, first of all. Let me remind you of something that's important. Trust is key. It's about trusting yourself to stick to your plan, even when maybe the pressure's on.
Speaker 1:And a lot of times that pressure comes from ourselves, but just trust in yourself and know yourself. So you want to plan ahead. You want to be intentional. You want to start building trust with yourself when you do that because it's going to keep you on your plan. And when that trust grows over time, sure, it might feel uncomfortable at first, but those first couple of social events may be where you typically drink and now you're not drinking, you might feel like it's a challenge.
Speaker 1:But each time that you show up to those and reinforce that you can do this, that reinforces then the trust in yourself. And in doing so, lowers your anxiety. And you realize you got this. This is an opportunity to approach your mindful drinking journey with a clear, actionable strategy. It's all about planning, and that's going to take the pressure off.
Speaker 1:It's going to give you responses when maybe you're not prepared for them because you've already done it ahead of time. You're already going to set your goals and you're going to control your environments and track your progress all the way through it. So when you do this, you're not just sitting in the passenger seat. You are in the driver's seat and you get to choose the direction you're going. And you've got the tools to make mindful drinking a strategy and not just something like, oh, I want to do that one day.
Speaker 1:Thanks for joining me today. Of course, if you got anything out of this podcast, it would mean the world to me to leave a review on whatever podcast platform you're listening to. And until next time, cheers to your mindful drinking journey. This podcast is brought to you by Sunnyside, the number one alcohol moderation platform, having helped hundreds of thousands of people cut out more than 13,000,000 drinks since 2020. And in fact, an independent study showed that Sunnyside reduced alcohol consumption by an average of 30% in ninety days.
Speaker 1:And as one of our members shared, Sunnyside helps me stay mindful of my drinking habits. It's not super restrictive. So if I'm craving a glass of wine with dinner, I just track it and I move on with my week. If you could benefit from drinking a bit less and being more mindful of when and how much you drink, head on over to sunnyside.co to get a free fifteen day trial. You'll get access to everything that we offer, including tracking and planning tools, coaching from our experts, a vibrant community of people just like you, and the motivation and advice to stay on track with your health goals, all with no pressure to quit.
Speaker 1:That's sunnyside.co.
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