Namaste Beautiful Souls, A year that have felt like 10 years. A year filled with new people I now don’t know how I could have lived without. My first year with starting everyday with Meditation. My year of over 100hours personal Yoga practise and 300hour Yoga Teacher Training. My first year without watching TV. My first year of not following the news or the media. My first year without Alcohol. My first year with my own business and being self-employed. My first year as my true self.
I had thought about stop drinking alcohol for so long so I'm actually surprised how long it took before I finally stopped drinking. The reasons why I wanted to stop are many and when they finally became more than the reasons why to drink, it was easy to stop.
The Reasons Why I Wanted to Stop Drinking
I couldn't sleep when I drank, I could sleep maybe 4-5 hours so the day after for me was like a terrible hangover and the feeling of 4 hours sleep. If I drank on the Friday night, my whole weekend was ruined. You can read more about Alcohol & Sleep here.
The money I spent on Alcohol vs. the money I spend on my dreams in life. Alcohol is so expensive and we all know how much a night out can cost, I realised that I had no problem spending thousands of money a month on Alcohol but when I came to my dream travels or dream Yoga retreats/education, I was hesitating spending half of what I could spend on a night out.
The time spent on drinking and recovering from drinking. I realised how much time I spent going out and all the time spent on the sofa the day after to recover. I began to think, what if I spent all that time on a business, practising a new skill or studying something. I love writing for example but I never found the time, when I'm writing this it's Sunday morning and I've been writing for 2 hours, this would never have happened unless I stopped drinking.
My health and my body. Alcohol is completely free from nutrition and highly toxifying, which almost makes me laugh when I think back to how healthy I've been and how much I've been working out while I was drinking the most. When I started practising Yoga seriously and decided to become a Teacher, the decision was easy for me. We practise Yoga to detoxify the body, mind and soul. Why would I spend 300h and more practising Yoga and then ruin it by drinking alcohol?
How To Stop Drinking Alcohol - The Easy Way
You don't set a time line for it or say I'm never drinking again. The mind can only handle things we promise ourselves for 7 days, maximum. So if you want to change a habit, start by saying, I won't do this for 7 days straight, then add another 7 days, then keep doing that until it's been 40 days, then you've created a habit. However, I recommend to not set any time for it, don't say I'm never drinking again - it will only make it harder.
You don't explain yourself in the beginning. It's hard enough trying to attend dinners, parties or seeing you friends without drinking. Just bring some non alcoholic wine or say no thank you - I'm driving, I have to get up early, I am on some medications... Find easy excuses in the beginning unless you feel comfortable saying the real reason - that's very strong of you!
Find out what motivates you, is it the money? Write down exactly how much you're saving. Is it the hours sleep you're getting? Write them down. Is it the health benefits? Track them down.
Give yourself rewards, treat yourself on the way and celebrate your progress. It will keep you motivated and help you see how far you've got.
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✨Sometimes we need to hit our lowest point so that we open up to our greatest change.✨
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Namaste 🙏🏼