Mindful drinking: the brain connection
The benefits of reducing alcohol are compelling – weight loss, brain clarity, better skin and sleep, improved bank balance – so why is it so hard to say no when a glass of wine is presented to us? Or to resist opening a bottle of wine while preparing dinner after a busy day?
The answer is mind-numbingly simple, and the insight it brings is totally liberating. It has now been scientifically proven that drinking alcohol helps silence our inner critic and that, coupled with our strong drinking culture, means you never stood a chance.
To put that more simply, we’ve been programmed to reach for a drink when the going gets tough, or to celebrate, commiserate, relax, reward, lower social inhibitions, and as a medicinal treatment. It’s an omnipresent factor that threads through the fabric of Western culture, making it nearly impossible to avoid, and, as statistics prove, even harder to not imbibe. In the past year, 85 per cent of Kiwis aged 16-64 had an alcoholic drink.
“The trouble with alcohol being so ingrained in our culture is that we often don’t even realise the real reasons. “It’s perfectly natural that you want to reach for a bottle of wine after a bad day at work, but this process is all about spotting the feeling, and understanding it before we can tackle it head on.”
