Sober curious is a term that is growing in popularity as the wellness industry surges with new research for how people can reach optimal health. There are countless individuals now that are not only shifting the culture around alcohol, but are looking at a new future towards healthier living.
Millennials are cited as abstaining from alcohol consumptions 5% less for health reasons than those in the generation above them, but they are largely contributing to the statistics that show how the cost of getting a drink out, making choices around health, and the desire to lose weight, all affect decision making towards sober fun.
For some, choosing not to drink feels like a radical choice. For those in recovery, it stems from a place of necessity to positively improve their health and overall lifestyle. For the up and coming movement in sober curiosity, choosing sobriety roots itself in the desire to enjoy life in a more meaningful way.
Alcohol is a depressant that can disturb sleep patterns, impact the fluctuation of moods, and can harm overall health over time. As a result, people are waking up groggy and disoriented for work the following day, or experience important life events without fully feeling like they are there for it. All because of a continued relationship with alcohol that impacts not only one evening, but also a lifetime of living.
Shifting The Culture Around Drinking
Holly Whitaker’s book “Quit Like A Woman: The Radical Choice To Not Drink In a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol” she discusses how taking a step away from alcohol can provide a powerful impact on behavior and how a person feels on a daily basis.
Sober curious does not always mean completely ruling out alcohol over a lifetime. It means taking short breaks to see what health benefits can come from it. It is the choice to have a clear mind to make important decisions or be more productive at work.
It can also mean choosing the path towards sober travel for an alert mind when walking back to a hotel in a new city, or experiencing different types of travel opportunities like local tours. All outside a booze cruise or all-inclusive resort that encourages sinking money into alcoholic beverages.
Shifting the culture around drinking is the choice and desire to learn how alcohol affects you. It helps change how you can live without alcohol drinks as a social ice breaker, or way of coping with anxiety and depression.
Recognize How Alcohol Affects You Personally
The main reason many come to find themselves sober curious, is the inherent need to understand themselves in a better light. Whether you have grown up in a home where alcohol was a continual issue, or are coming to terms with situations where you felt alcohol was needed, recognizing your response to alcohol is important in knowing yourself more closely.
Alcohol affects individuals in different ways, as well as the social situation or coping mechanism that drives the desire to drink. Knowing how you react and respond without alcohol can aid understanding in what life can look like with your intuition and senses fully intact.
To Strive Towards Healthier Living
For some, learning how to get sober is about striving towards a healthier mind and body. From wanting to lose weight or experience better sleep patterns, choosing not to drink has powerful health benefits.
Lowering your alcohol intake benefits heart health, can lower blood pressure, and give the chance for your liver to repair itself from previously too much strain.
Without alcohol in your system, you can keep a clear mind for problem-solving or navigating stressful situations that arise. Overall, living alcohol-free benefits all physical functions within the body, and positively impacts mental health.
To Wake Up Feeling More Energized
The Sleep Foundation found that alcohol interrupts your circadian rhythm, which wakes you up in the middle of the night. The disturbance in sleep pattern with alcohol in your system can also stem from alpha and delta activity working at the same time. Normally it is the delta that is in control while you are asleep for the cultivation of memory and learning, but with both sides active, it keeps the body from fully falling into a deep sleep.
People who suffer from sleep apnea or snoring also find that alcohol constricts airways during sleep that contribute to the problem getting worse. Without alcohol, you can achieve better sleep without continual brain activity interruptions or less than ideal bathroom breaks during the night.
To Improve Mood
Waking up groggy from interrupted sleep can contribute to feelings of aggravation and a bad mood during the day. By creating habits that can help encourage a more positive and balanced mood, you can learn how alcohol counterbalances feelings of anxiety and furthers depressive moods.
Researchers recognized how alcohol over the years has been used as a way to cope with anxiety in social situations, which affects mood at an event, and afterward. While many people find themselves reinforced to drink through social events, the current sober curious movement is changing the initial view of how to have fun and enjoy being out with friends or family.
How To Find The Way Towards Sober Fun
There is a rumor that sobriety means less fun, but that is far from the truth. With the rate of purchased drinks while out at a bar or restaurant declining, businesses had to think quickly how to create an atmosphere that could still be inviting to those learning how to get sober.
What’s your favorite drink?
From mocktails to seltzer drinks and juice blends, there are many other drinks out there available in social settings then there was before. Even speakeasy kombucha bars with a low alcohol percentage are becoming more popular than mainstream bars that are open all night.
Whether you want a classy evening out with friends, or are the driver that is designated to get everyone safely home, there are more options out there than just alcohol to drinkl.
Find Sober Events
Sober events are popping up everywhere in major cities and smaller towns that invite anyone who is in recovery or those who are sober curious to have a fun time out. Look for sober events through sobriety apps or local community pages that showcase upcoming events.
Learn A New Hobby
Have you wanted to get a perfect score at a bowling alley? Want to learn to skate at the ice rink? Are you looking to discover new strategies through games at a cafe? Learning a new hobby takes the focus away for the need for alcohol, while still being something you find fun!
Discover Sober Travel
Sober travel is the ticket to training yourself how to navigate new places on your own, or with friends, all without alcohol interfering with your plans. You will not have to wake up with a bad hangover and have to be on a train all morning, nor will you have to wonder how it got to be so late in a place you are not sure about.
Staying sober can keep you safe and assists alert ability while in transit. No one wants to miss the last bus of the day because of too many drinks the night before, no matter where you are in the world.
How You Can Join The Sober Curious Movement
Sober fun begins when you are able to explore how you tie alcohol to social, emotional, and personal past and present experiences. To join the sober curious movement, all you have to do is to question and shift habits in how you use and respond to alcohol consumption.
How can it benefit your daily life? Your relationships? Your conversations with family? An upcoming event you plan on going to?
By removing the need to blanket experience in alcohol, you can learn how to experience life in a more meaningful way with those around you. Sober curious is not fully committing to a sober life, it is giving yourself the chance to see what life could look like without one too many drinks in your system.
Download a Sober Living App
A sober living app can help answer your questions about life without alcohol. From community chat boards to sober curious specific resources, you can learn how to shift daily habits towards healthier living.
Loosid has sober curious resources that invite any person to join the movement. Even if it is trying it out for one month, or a few, having the connection of others who have walked the path before you can help in discovering a different way towards sober events.
Live Curiously
Society in general does not have a positive relationship with alcohol. It is nearly present in every level of society and every class line through happy hours, networking work events, sporting arenas, and family reunions, it permeates social gatherings across cultures.
Yet, it does not have to be the norm. Choose to live curiously and find your own path towards a sober lifestyle. Whatever you seek normally through alcohol, find ways you can have a similar feeling through healthier avenues. From joining a yoga class in the evening to lower anxiety, or going on a sober date for a more meaningful connection, there are plenty of ways to live curiously.
Whether you want to take a month off from drinking, or a few, the sober curious movement invites anyone who is looking for a way to understand themselves better and to live a healthier life of their choosing.
