For many social, casual or even habitual drinkers, it seems like the desire to often drinking falls into two main categories:
Drinking to relax/relieve stress OR drinking to celebrate/have fun
This week, I’m going to focus on alternatives to the first category with 11 things you can do to relax/relieve stress instead of drinking.
Need week, being my birthday week and all, I’ll focus on a list things you can do to celebrate and have fun, instead of drinking.
How to relax and relieve stress without alcohol?
This is something that comes up a lot in the groups I’m a part of and with my clients.
I know there’s a part of me that still pines for a glass of red wine at the end of a long day or stressful day. Yesterday was certainly one of those days.
Here are 11 alternatives to alcohol that I used with great frequency:
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Go for a walk. Get outside and into nature if you can! Stuck in the middle of a city? Find a planetarium, atrium, or aquarium to visit.
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Have a delicious aromatherapy bubble bath. Use scented blends specifically focus on calm, relaxation, or sensuality.
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Light candles. Again, pick floral or plant-based scents which stimulate the limbic system and life force energy, or “food-based” smells like cinnamon, vanilla etc that provide comfort and coziness, while they turn on our senses.
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Drink tea. Make sure to have your tea cupboard stashed with aromatic and delicious teas. I love teas that are named with a desired feeling, such as pleasure, calm, zen, relax etc. I find it helps trigger and tell me brain that that’s the experience I’m looking for. Pukka is one of my favourite tea bag brands. I also love teas with roibos as a base, and accents of honey, chocolate, cocoa, rose, vanilla. Remember that you are trying to create a sensory experience for yourself, so enjoy the taste and aroma.
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Drink cacao-based drink. If tea is not your thang or not rich enough for the moment, try a hot cocoa made with raw cacao. It’s rich in tryptophan, which is a powerful mood-enhancer, crucial in the production of serotonin, which diminishes anxiety and has the same impact as love in our brain. Maca, a powered root from Peru, is also a great additive to your cocoa. It’s amazing for balancing hormones and is a great adaptogen that helps decrease stress levels. (See recipe below)
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Call a friend. Open up about how you are feeling. Ask her to tell you some jokes.
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Stretch or do yoga while listening to relaxing music.
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Have sex or give yourself some self-pleasure, or better yet, BOTH!
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Treat yourself to a movie, or go to the theatre.
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Cook a delicious meal. Again, go for sensory overload with beautiful colours, tastes and textures.
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Book a massage or spa treatment. Go to a sauna or hot tub. Get hot and let your body relax.
The more of these tips that you can combine into one evening, the better! Think setting the mood and romancing yourself into blissful relaxing. Or, enlist a friend or lover to help you out if you don’t feel like being alone.
I know that none of these will exactly replace that glass of red that you might be craving. However, any combo of these alternatives will serve both you and your sanity, ease you into relaxation and calm the internal storm or stress.
Have I missed any tips? What are your favourite wine (or other alcoholic bevvy of choice) replacements? I’d love to hear in the comments!
xoxo
Cacao-based drink recipe:
Blend 1 Tbs raw cacao, 1 tsp maca, 1 Tbs coconut oil, 1/s tsp vanilla powder, and your sweetener of choice (maple syrup, honey or stevia) with 1 cup hot almond milk or other dairy alternative. Hmmmm