Mindful Drinking

How’s your relationship with alcohol?

Would you say that you’re a mindful drinker?

Today we’re talking all about mindful drinking.

So, what is mindful drinking? Well, it’s exactly how it sounds. Drinking mindfully.

But, of course, we want to explore this a little deeper.

So, to start off, we know a few things right off the bat about alcohol.

First, alcohol can have a place in a healthy diet and can add to the enjoyment of food and community (for some). Of course, some people can’t have alcohol and that is fine too. But, for those who do decide to drink and have alcohol be part of their life in a healthy way, it can have a place.

On the same note, we also know that alcohol isn’t necessary. It’s not necessary in your diet and it’s also not necessary to have a good life.

We’ll talk more about this in a moment, but it’s really important to always be aware of the purpose behind drinking. There are a number of reasons to drink alcohol, some good and some toxic.

And lastly, we know that alcohol can be addictive. So, knowing this, we want to treat it differently than we do food (which is not addictive… this is for another episode/post).

I’m going to walk you through a way to evaluate your relationship with alcohol and then through how to drink mindfully.

First, evaluate your current relationship with alcohol. What feels good about how you drink? What doesn’t feel good and what would you change? What purpose does alcohol play in your life? What purpose would you like for alcohol to play?

When we think about alcohol and our relationship with alcohol, I want you to remember that alcohol can be used to elevate our experiences or suppress our experiences. It can bring fun into parts of our lives, or it can be used to suppress emotions in a toxic way.

Just like with emotional eating and food, when you look to alcohol to meet a need that it can’t meet, that’s where it can become harmful and unproductive.

So, I wanted to leave you with 3 tips to help you drink more mindfully.

1. Know your purpose before you start drinking. Do you want to drink to help you relax? Do you want to enjoy the taste? Do you want to drink socially?

2. Decide how you want to experience alcohol before you even start drinking. Do you really want to drink so much that you feel crummy all day tomorrow? How do you want drinking to feel for you?

3. Use past experiences with alcohol as learning experiences for the next time you drink. If you notice that 2 glasses of wine give you have a headache, maybe you consciously decide to stop at one glass.

Alcohol can be an enjoyable part of your life when drunk mindfully. So here’s to mindful drinking :)

PS: If you want this in podcast form, come check out the Redefining Health Podcast.

Click to listen to this episode on Apple, Spotify, or Google.

And, for more support with intuitive eating, come join us inside The Nourish Lab.