WHAT BEING ALCOHOL FREE MEANS TO ME

Last May I gave up alcohol for good and fifteen months later I wanted to share with you my top tips and advice on what being alcohol free means to me and why it’s been the best thing I’ve ever done.

Giving up alcohol last May was such a personal decision and one that I knew was right for me, I’d been thinking about it for a while but because of the dependency I had with it, I thought I’d be boring or weird and people would judge me. When I say dependency I definitely didn’t have a problem or consume it regularly it was simply I felt that it made me more interesting, it was a social thing with my friends and it was a suppressor for what was really going on within me.

This is not something I’m preaching to you to do, I’m absolutely not one of those people nor am I on the spiritual one-uppery bandwagon which seems to be present in the spiritual community where I did this to be more ‘spiritually enlightened’. As always I keep it real with you and I did this because it felt right to me, it was my own decision and I knew I had to address the underlying problem. More and more people are giving up alcohol as it just doesn’t serve them anymore and I absolutely can agree with that.

Now being over a year into my sobriety I thought I’d share with you some of the benefits I have noticed since giving up alcohol. I’m my most authentic self – it seems cheesy but I really feel with the growth I’ve gone through I’ve been able to step into my true self and unapologetically share my truth. I’m more honest with myself and others about how I feel and have firm boundaries. I’m able to admit when I’m wrong and apologise for this more with my loved ones especially. I’m sleeping better, my dreams are more vivid, my meditations are more vivid. Most of all I notice that I call out my own bullshit more and when I’d have turned to a drink before to cope with a bad day or something stressful now I’m able to sit and witness that discomfort and work through it. My friendships all feel much deeper and genuine. Overall I just feel so much better, way happier in life and ultimately more me!

Now I know a lot of the above could be down to spiritual growth and my deep inner journey this year not necessarily the lack of alcohol in my system. Yet I look at the decision to give up alcohol and how free and authentic it left me to be able to open up these doors of happiness and abundance in my life. Before when I would drink it would make me feel dizzy, really low, I would take on others energy around me and I would just act like a twat honestly. I didn’t like the person I was or how it fuelled my ego simply. I will always remember my last drink, it was in April last year when I was staying at a 5* hotel with my blogging bestie Amanda. We’d been gifted this amazing experience and of course drinks were included, I went for one of the cocktails and within minutes I felt like I’d been drugged. I felt dizzy, sick and light-headed, which was really uncommon for me I’m not that much of a lightweight! I was in the process of my Reiki qualification and had recently had my Reiki attunement where they explained that for twenty-one days afterwards you may experience your body purging or you may give up things altogether. Well, I guess my body didn’t like alcohol anymore! We went up to the hotel room as I honestly thought I’d pass out and I felt awful from just a few sips of a cocktail. Amanda was so confused and frankly so was I. The next day I had to speak at a retreat and my vibe sucked. I had to spend all morning tapping and clearing my energy and even thirty minutes before my talk at the event I was meditating and clearing my energy which I never normally have to do. The worst part is although I felt better my talk still wasn’t my best and I just felt spiritually hungover from a few sips of alcohol!

“For me alcohol was holding me back I’ve now been able to step into my true authentic self. I’m able to call out my own bullshit, sit amongst the discomfort and move through it instead of suppressing it.”

In the May I drunk a bit of prosecco at a friend’s wedding so I class this as my last ever drink really but again this was only a few sips before my body was like ‘urgh gross no thanks!’ So I guess my body disliked it fully now! From that moment onwards I knew my relationship with alcohol had changed and I didn’t want to go back and I’m so glad this happened. It was effecting my vibe, my work, my relationships and it was suppressing the work I knew I really had to do within myself. For me alcohol was holding me back I’ve now been able to step into my true authentic self. I’m able to call out my own bullshit, sit amongst the discomfort and move through it instead of suppressing it.

As I said earlier this may not be for everyone I know lots of spiritual folk who still drink and have healthy relationships with it. This really is just my personal experience and if you relate to any of this then I hope it can help you look at your relationship with alcohol and decide the best route forward. This is really about looking at whether it changes you, whether you use it for a confidence boost, you’re reliant on it or you’re using it as a suppressant. If you can resonate with any of those then I do really challenge you to look at your relationship with alcohol and whether you think it should change. At the end of the day there is no right or wrong answer here as to whether you should drink alcohol or not, yes it is a poison but if it works for you and you enjoy then everything in moderation isn’t going to harm you. Look at your vibe and the way you show up for yourself, are you able to do this authentically without alcohol? Do you like the person you are when you drink?

Going out socially has changed drastically for me over the last year, I still love going out socially and dancing but I don’t miss drinking and I don’t miss the hangovers either! I can remember all of the night and it’s really interesting to see how others interact with alcohol I guess that’s the coach in me I observe behaviour. I don’t feel left out at all which is great and frankly, there are some delicious mocktails out there which are just as good. For me being sober is the best thing I’ve done and I can see so many great things that have happened within me and in my life since giving it up. Normally your skin is meant to glow and you look younger but I’m not sure I got those benefits, all I know is I look and feel much happier. So if I look older for smiling too much then I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I hope this blog post has helped you to see the benefits that I’ve personally experienced from being alcohol free over the last year and maybe even helped you to identify any qualities you don’t like with your relationship with alcohol. At the end of the day these are your life decisions and whatever works for you is always the best decision. As always please do let me know your thoughts on this in the comments section down below. Don’t forget to download my FREE Spiritual Queen Weekly Manifesting Worksheet designed to help you successfully manifest regularly and keep you accountable. I hope you all have a great week whatever you’re up to and I’m sending you all lots of love xx