How to Relax Without Alcohol
With requirements and responsibilities in our adult lives, more and more of us share one major thing in common — we’re all stressed out! Finding healthy ways to relax without booze is important for our mental, emotional, and physical health.
It’s all too easy to use substances such as food, drugs, and alcohol to unwind after difficult days or weeks, but if you really want to grow and be your best self, let's intentionally create healthier habits.
Here is a list of 10 healthy ways you can beat stress, relax, and live happier.
1. Let's Get Physical
Exercise doesn’t have to be a full-on sweat session to have stress-relieving benefits (although that works too!) In as little as 10 minutes, walking outdoors in fresh air or getting bendy with light yoga can go a long way in loosening your body and helping you relax.
So even if it doesn’t sound like your idea of a soothing, pleasant time, challenge yourself to get moving in some way when you feel tension creeping up and your inner wine witch piping up! Moving your body has a way of clearing your thoughts and those inner voices ASAP.
2. Write Your Heart Out
Before you consider unhealthy ways of blocking out what’s stressing you out, it can be extremely helpful to lean into it, pull it out, and confront it.
Taking the easy way out by eating, drinking, or smoking to calm down may feel better in the short term, but it’s avoidant behavior that doesn’t serve you well over time.
If something is bothering you, writing your thoughts and feelings out will help you process them. What you need is to release your thoughts and face them, not attempt to smother them. What we avoid persists, and I find that writing is a less invasive medium to help me process my feelings.
I am a huge fan of workbooks with prompts to help me get to the heart of the matter. Check out these tools that have given me the awareness and clarity I need. I started using these in my early sobriety and continue to use them to this day.
3. Connect
Sometimes what we really need to relax is to vent and get things off our minds completely. Phoning or visiting a friend is a much healthier alternative.
Spending time connecting with others that you love and respect is one of the best things you can do. Feeling loved and supported goes a long way to helping you relax and destress when life hits you hard.
Get support and connection right at your fingertips in the Sober Girl Social Club. With live Support Circles to our active group chat, there is always someone to lean on when you need it.
4. Take Care Of Your Body
Engaging in physical self-care is a great way to relax. It may sound like little stuff, but taking extra time to groom yourself can be incredibly soothing.
It doesn’t have to be anything huge.
Deep conditioning your hair, painting your nails, or even flossing your teeth can all be little things that have a big impact. Being mindful of yourself and boosting your self-care is great for quieting your mind and cultivating healthy habits.
5. Create Something
Even if you swear you don’t have a single creative bone in your body, being constructive (rather than destructive) is absolutely the way to get your mind off your problems and channel that tense energy into something new.
There are so many creative ideas for you to explore. Writing poems, painting, or coloring books are a few options. Cooking a new recipe or attempting a DIY project.
6. Attitude of Gratitude
An attitude of gratitude is no joke. When you can appreciate what you have in your life, it shifts your whole perspective. Write down things you are grateful for. Making this a regular practice has helped calm my mind a lot.
Sometimes instead of writing what I am grateful for l, I sit back and read what I have written on previous pages. I instantly get all of the feels and want to really be present in that amazing moment. It WORKS.
7. Make A Fun Beverage
There is nothing more relaxing for me when I’m in a funk than making a fun mocktail or enjoying a new flavor of kombucha, and writing out all the things that are bothering me. The combination is a huge win, and it’s something that I’ve turned to for years.
If kombucha isn’t your jam, there are tons of other alternatives to try. Check out the Ultimate Guide to NA Alternatives.
Why not try a new mocktail recipe? Or make yourself a delicious cup of coffee, a healthy green smoothie, or even grab some sparkling water or lemonade.
8. Take a Long Delicious Bath
Finally, I know this sounds super basic, but it’s not.
I’m an advocate of long delicious baths. Once I gave up drinking as a means of coping with stress, I used some of the money I saved to pamper myself with higher-quality, ingredients, and treats that made me feel good and special.
The way I see it, I owe it to myself to pamper it up! I am talking bath bombs, bath oils, sheet masks, and moisturizers are major keys to my relaxation station!
9. Change your vibe with Chill Vibe Gummies
My anxiety is very physical. Meaning, I can’t focus, and get overwhelmed, which causes complete and utter paralysis. I get so overwhelmed by everything I have to do or want to do that I end up doing nothing and cue the shame spiral because I have accomplished nothing! Chill Vibe Gummies help with all of that. Ashwagandha root and a blend of calming herbs, help to regulate your nervous system and reduce stress and anxiety.
10. Take Action
Knowledge only gets you so far. This is why you have been stuck in this cycle of drinking. Applied knowledge is where real, long-lasting change occurs. Get the accountability, motivation and education you need with intimate groups of like-minded women who feel just like you. The Sober Girl Social Club creates long-lasting change. When these elements are combined this is exactly how you will ditch alcohol and enjoy the life you have always longed for. Sign up now!