On this week’s episode of the Wellness As A Way of Life Podcast I am chatting with Heather Lowe from Ditched the Drink on Why Alcohol is Not the Glue You Need to Hold it All Together This Holiday Season – we are experts because we both used to firmly believe this to be the case.
We were both raised in families and communities that taught us that alcohol had superpowers to make you feel confident, extroverted (even when you didn’t want to be), great at conversation and able to overcome awkward social situations with the blink of another round.
We were both taught that it helped you connect more deeply with people and have meaningful conversations while creating new memories together with friends and family. It did of course have quite the opposite effect for both of us growing up as teenagers and as we became adults.
Heather is 6 years sober and I am 5.5+ years sober.
We wanted to come together to bring you some tangible coping strategies, but mostly to help you realize that you can ditch the ‘coping’ mentality and step into a new ‘living my best life’ mentality, especially around the holidays!!
Honestly, the holidays are the best time to celebrate your sobriety and having all of your feel-good hormones working optimally!
We chatted about:
- Debunking the social norms that teach us that alcohol is liquid courage and helps us ‘connect’ with others as young women.
- How alcohol silences our inner voice, our intuition and our ability to connect with ourselves and others.
- How alcohol makes the holidays more exhausting because our system is constantly recovering, sleep is hindered and we are exhausted trying to keep up the endless ‘party’.
- How alcohol starts to interfere with your natural ability to create your own feel-good hormones!
- How being Sober is so much more enjoyable over the holidays!
- How to navigate corporate gifting and work events in a sober-inclusive way!
- Tips on how to not get overwhelmed with social engagements – hint: pets and children are joy-fail-safe.
- Living in the full emotional spectrum is a good thing!
- Other ways to enjoy the holidays that actually allow you to feel well rested, connected and present?! YES!
- Not dumbing down the joy! Not numbing out!
- Alcohol consumption as self-abandonment. BOOM – lightbulb moment – especially for all those ‘woke’ wellness gurus!
Do you need extra support during the holidays if you are ditching the drink: her online community: INSIDER of which I am a part!
Heather is amazing, I am honored to be her friend. You can check out a previous interview we did here.
About Heather Lowe, Founder of Ditched the Drink
Heather Lowe is the Founder of Ditched the Drink, a wellness company dedicated to helping professionals move away from alcohol and towards their highest selves. Heather is a Certified Professional Life and Recovery Coach, Certified Addiction Awareness Facilitator, and the Director of Marketing Consumer Products for the International Center of Addiction Recovery Education (ICARE).
Heather is passionate about coaching, connecting people with alcohol free resources, and creating a positive sober community. Heather shares the bright side of sobriety as an influencer in the social media sober space @ditchedthedrink.
Heather’s writing has been published in Thrive Global, Monument- Tempest, The Fix, Mashable, Corporate Wellness Magazine, Employee Benefit News, and more. She has been featured on many podcasts including Recovery Happy Hour, Redesigning Wellness, Alcohol Tipping Point, Energetically You, Sun and Moon Sober Living, Hello Someday, Sober Motivation, Decidedly Dry and more.
Heather, in partnership with the Association of Professional Recovery Coaches also recruits, mentors, and trains new coaches.
Heather lives in Chicago’s western suburbs as a proud girl mom to two teenage daughters, Lily and Charlotte, her husband Darin of 20+ years, and their adorable black and white cocker spaniel, Rocky. Heather is a voracious reader, a new-ish hiker, and a seasoned yogi.
You should connect with her!
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