Do you feel like your life is one big to-do list that you never get to the end of?
If your to-do list is anything like mine, every time I tick something off, another thing takes its place.
And trying to keep track of it all leads to a whirring mind that’s constantly figuring out what needs to be done.
I call it my monkey mind because it skitters from one thing to the next, never easing up.
Where does alcohol come into this?
One of the main reasons that I drank was to slow down my monkey mind.
At the end of a busy day or stressful week, pouring a glass of wine helped me to relax and switch off … just for a while.
It’s a common theme with the women I coach who just want to take a break from life for a little bit and chill the f**k out!
And the reason we turn to alcohol is because it is effective, at least in the short term.
It acts as a depressant, slowing down everything and giving us that ‘ahhhh’ moment of feeling relaxed.
If we then continue to drink – which I’m assuming you do if you’re reading this (no judgement!) – you’ll continue to feel that way … up to a point.
“Great,” you might say. “No wonder I drink.”
When drinking is not so relaxing
The problem is, our bodies are always making sure things are in balance so they will counter the effects of alcohol by releasing stimulants, such as adrenaline and cortisol.
Have any of these things happened after you’ve been drinking?
- You’ve become more argumentative?
- Over-reacted and/or become overly emotional?
- Woken up in the early hours of the morning worrying about things?
- Had increased anxiety the day after drinking?
All of these are the result of higher levels of stress hormones in your body and, ironically, they are there because you were drinking to relieve your stress!
Worst of all, if you’re worrying about your drinking then that’s one more thing to add to your list of what you need to sort out.
Need support?
It was when I realised that drinking was adding to my stress rather than alleviating it that I knew I had to make a change.
I started to get curious about why I was drinking and how I could manage the stresses of life without reaching for a wine to turn down the volume on my racing mind.
If you can relate to this and would like help to take back control of your drinking feel free book in a free discussion call where we can talk about the support I provide.