How to Build a Sobriety Toolbox

This post by Holly Whitaker is full of useful tips on how to build a sobriety toolbox.

I have been on a journey of cutting down on alcohol for a good year now and Kava tea has really helped me substitute that glass of wine at night.

I also started tracking days where I didn’t drink any alcohol at all to have a visual reminder of how I am shifting my habits. I use an app called DONE for that. Besides ‘not drinking’ I track when I meditate, do something physical, dance, didn’t eat sugar.

My goal is not to cut drinking alcohol all together but to be more aware why I am drinking. When I am with friends and I am having a good time, I totally want to enjoy a glass of wine. When I am home alone and want to “numb” with alcohol, I now stop myself. I replace that glass of wine with tea, meditation, a bath, etc. Small steps.

4 Comments leave a comment below

  1. Tina, I’ve been doing something similar to you regarding drinking at home, but I hadn’t articulated it in my head nearly as well as you and the link to the sobriety toolbox. Both posts give me much to think about explore. Thank you so much!

    Roberta
    Dec 3rd, 2019 / 5:23 pm

  2. Same here! The numbing desire is strong but ultimately makes everything worse. I really enjoy Lagunitas hopped seltzer & lapsang souchong tea with honey.

    Loving your site. :)

    Alicia
    Dec 3rd, 2019 / 9:35 pm

  3. I quit drinking in January to see if I could do it for one year and to see what the results would be physically, emotionally and in my life in general. I was a near daily couple-glasses-of-wine or more drinker and had been FOR YEARS.

    Now I see no compelling reason (yet) to really start again. A trip to Italy, yes. A milestone birthday, yes. But just a dinner out? No longer need it – but also know I could fall back into my old “life as happy hour” ways oh so easily.

    My toolbox started with kombucha mocktails and CBD
    4 months in, my CBD started gathering dust. Don’t need it.

    jules
    Dec 4th, 2019 / 12:23 am

  4. Good for you, lady! It’s so hard to recognize the line between use and abuse. When drinking leans to the overuse side, it gets proportionately harder to have a realistic perspective. I’m so glad you caught your habit early and are being careful. Living with someone in recovery, I’m so much more aware of my own and friends’ alcohol use now. I’m SO glad to see more and more NA beer and mocktails showing up on drinks menus. It’s important to have alternatives for people who don’t drink or just want to switch to a non-alcoholic drink that isn’t water or a sugary soda. Not drinking should be fun, too. :)

    bb
    Dec 4th, 2019 / 9:29 am