Season of Reasons to Drink(less)

The invites are coming in for all the holiday parties - how exciting one may think. For some however, the holidays may be more the season of reasons to drink. I’m not talking about addiction/alcoholism, but if you are trying to cut back, have you taken the time to question your reasons? Do you drink to feel better about losing loved ones during this time of year, or perhaps you think over drinking makes every party more fun? The answer my friend is - you over drink because you have learned to desire alcohol. Fantastic news if you ask me - you have learned how to do this, and you can also unlearn it if you want.

The reason some people believe desire is innate is because we seem to do it involuntarily. But really, the way the brain works is, we learn something, repeat it many times, and it is moved from the pre frontal cortex (managing part of the brain) to the low brain, which turns it to a habit. Think about driving, brushing your teeth, picking up a glass - all automatic for most of us now, but to begin with these actions took a lot of energy. We learned how to do them, repeated and now they are habit. Desire works the same way.

You see a glass of wine and you desire it. You have practiced so many times to desire the wine, reward with the wine, and repeat, that it now has become habitual. As an example - you may have the thought - I want a drink, you feel desire, and you act with reward with the drink, and repeat. So now you have developed a repeating program in the brain, and these are the types of thoughts that keep you drinking. It is important to recognize this process - understand you have created this neural pathway, and you can also uncreate it.

If you have struggled to find a way to drink less, and find yourself recognizing this happening to you, choose to start being curious and compassionate with yourself. Look with childlike wonder at how you are thinking about drinking. When you go into the party, take a pause before you grab that glass of wine and notice how your brain is working. Are you trying to escape a feeling? Do you think you want to take the edge off? The pause will begin to interrupt the neural pathway, which will begin the process of unlearning the desire.

You are never out of control - you are always deciding to pick up the drink, and you do it because the desire is so strong. I encourage you to start thinking deliberately before you get to the party. Have a plan in place - you will only drink 3 glasses of wine for example. Stick to the plan. You may desire more, and by not fulfilling the loop it may be uncomfortable to begin, but I know you have felt uncomfortable before, and thats ok. Once you start you will be amazed -you totally got this girlfriend!

If you want more information on how to drink less contact me at mindfulweighs@gmail.com.