Take A Break From Drinking: Feel Confident, Fun, And Relaxed Without A Glass In Your Hand

Today, we're going to do something a little different here on the podcast: I'm doing my very first Listener Q&A! I receive so many questions from you all, I want to start answering them on the podcast so everyone who listens can benefit from my answers. To start us off, I'm answering a question about surrender. Is surrendering the answer to walking away from alcohol?  Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/115

I'm talking all about relationship manuals and how we use them as a way to avoid taking responsibility for our own thoughts, feelings, and actions. I'll tell you how your brain will always find something new to complain about, even if people in your life do change in the way you want them to. And I'll share how this tactic is ultimately pointless because you are the key to changing your drinking - nobody else.  Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/114

I discuss boredom, what's "wrong" with it, and what it has to offer us. Boredom provides a window into our minds, which is precisely why it's so beneficial yet so terrifying. I'll ask you to examine why you think it's such a problem to be bored and whether you like to be alone with your own mind. And I'll also share some of the benefits of boredom that come along once you get through the initial discomfort of being left alone with your own thoughts. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/113

Listen to this episode as I describe catastrophizing, why the brain does it, how it connects to overdrinking, and what you can do to start changing this pattern. I walk through the process of catastrophizing and discuss the effects it can have on your brain and your body. I also share some helpful tips for raising awareness of this behavior and gently guiding yourself to stop jumping to the worst case scenario anytime things don't go according to plan. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/112

On this week's episode, I talk about how worrying what other people will think is hardwired into our brain as a survival tool. I also cover why it feels like everyone drinks and why it seems like drinking is "normal." Once you realize that your brain is just trying to help you, you can begin to talk back to your mind and create new evidence that will support your new habit of not drinking. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/111

Join me on this week's episode as I talk about why shame is never a productive or useful approach to changing our habits. "I should know better" is a lie that prevents us from practicing new behaviors and changing our brains. You need to leave the judgment behind, put on your scientist hat, and observe your brain and emotions if you want to create lasting change. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/110

Listen in to this week's episode as I talk about how people often use learning as a way to avoid uncomfortable emotions. I talk about how learning often feels like a great excuse for why we're not taking action - e.g. "I don't know enough yet to change" - and how you can shift this mindset. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/109

This is a quick episode but a really important exercise. Join me as I talk about how I changed the narrative around my drinking and realized that I didn't actually love to drink. I'll also share several questions I want you to ask yourself, and we'll challenge the belief that often underlies this pattern: that your life won't be as good if you stop drinking. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/108

Listen in as I talk about how you can shift your perspective on the lower brain and interact with your inner toddler in a new way. I talk about how the lower brain evolved to maximize our chances of survival, but can't really differentiate between good and bad habits. I'll also share how you can start to talk to your inner toddler in a calm and constructive voice that will help you move past all the negative emotions that can come up when you have to resist an urge. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/107

Join me today to discover how understanding the facts around the shift in your drinking habit can help you understand how the think-feel-act cycle fits in your brain’s search for an outlet for the negative emotions you were invariably feeling at the time. You can learn new ways to cope with negative emotions that do not create negative consequences and taking a break is a powerful tool to start with. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/106

I teach clients a four-step response to desire that creates space between feeling the urge and acting upon it. These steps are: pause, listen & watch, neutralize, and travel into the future. Listen in as I walk through these steps, and share how to implement them and how they work with the think-feel-act cycle to help you move past your urge to drink. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/105

Join me today as I talk about authenticity and drinking. Learn why so many of us are so afraid to be who we really are and the rewards you will reap by being your authentic self - doing this work, wrestling with this part of your brain - if you are brave enough and courageous enough to do it. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/104

In reality, emotions only last in the body for about 90 seconds. You can do anything for 90 seconds, right? But each time we cut off the experience of our emotions, we teach ourselves we're not capable of handling them. Listen today as I share my experiences with emotional tunnel vision and how you can escape the tunnel and take a wider perspective. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/103

Today, I want to talk to you about why it’s so hard to dream, why it can be so difficult to create a vision, and why the habit of drinking will make it even harder. Listen in to hear how you can choose a different course for the new year to help you stop playing small! Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/102

You have to know how to manage your brain if you want to get off the treadmill of chasing happiness and never reaching full satisfaction. Drinking is one way we keep ourselves in this cycle; we turn to drinks to feel better in the moment, but become more dependent on drinking as a consequence. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/101

In celebration of our 100th episode of the Take a Break podcast, I’m combing through the archives of the past 99 episodes and pulling out some of the most important concepts and lessons from each episode. This is an excellent review for you to look at what your next layer of work is and if you’re a new listener, you’re getting the best overview you could possibly get to help you figure out which episodes you need/want to dig deeper into first. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/100

Struggling with something like overdrinking - or overeating, excessive spending, any other habit that's out of control - often goes hand-in-hand with feeling powerless. The fact is, you are anything but powerless in this process. That's the beauty of the think-feel-act cycle: it allows you to identify the thoughts and feelings that are creating undesirable actions, and you can then choose to start changing these thoughts and feelings. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/99

Listen in as I describe the crucial differences between wanting something to change and committing to making it change. Tons of my clients have been able to change not only their relationship with alcohol, but how they approach all of their goals and dreams. Committing to change may not feel easy in the short run, but it's much easier (and rewarding) in the long run than it is to be trapped in the passive limbo of wanting change. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/98

I used to be really committed to a lot of my beliefs about drinking, like "not drinking is boring" and "everybody drinks," and they held me back. On this episode, I share a technique called "The Turnaround" that helped me challenge these beliefs and finally change my thoughts, and eventually, my desire. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/97

Join me to find out how to identify the stories that you have around alcohol – what it does for you, how it hurts you, what it does for other people – in order to get the full idea of the cause and effect of these thoughts. Get full show notes and more information here: https://www.rachelhart.com/96