Mindful drinking is a movement all about paying more attention to your drinking. Choosing when to drink and when not to drink, depending on the moment, the place, the time and the people, maximising the occasion for your enjoyment. Sticking two fingers up to the morning after ‘hangxiety’ and waking up with your phone, keys and dignity still intact.
It’s being in tune with how drinking makes you feel and getting to grips with the role alcohol plays in your life and with your health. Choosing the impact of alcohol and not the other way around.
Mindful drinking is up to you. Whether you want to cut down, stop for a little while or to ditch the booze completely.
There is now an exciting community of mindful drinkers who have chosen to change the way they approach drinking. They share their experiences and lots of handy tips and advice to those looking to make a change. There are also some delish no and low alcohol drinks on the market to help you on your way (including Amplify, of course!).
Peer pressure is the worst for people looking to cut down and join the mindful drinking club. We’ve all got that friend who would be outraged if we turned up to a party only to announce we weren’t drinking…like we’ve ruined their evening and it’s really going to impact their life so much! Besides when it hits 12 o’clock, it can get so messy that your friends probably wouldn’t even notice when you sneak off into that Uber!
At times it can be easier to just down the shot than to put up with all the questions and moaning from your friends – especially when on a night out.
So, we say peer pressure no more!
We’ve spoken to our pal, Millie Gooch, writer, speaker and founder of Sober Girl Society about her top tips for overcoming peer pressure.
Avoid joining in with ‘rounds’
Probably one of the easiest ways to avoid having to turn down a drink is to simply buy your own! If you don’t want to make a big fuss of the fact you’re not drinking, grab an alcohol-free beer or ask the barman to put your tonic in a gin glass.
Don’t drink, drive
Offer to be the designated driver and watch how quickly people will come around to the idea of you not drinking when it means a free ride home. It also gives you a very valid excuse as to why you can’t just pour yourself a glass of wine.
Set your intentions
Set your intentions early. When I was taking breaks before teetotalism, I always found that if I told people ahead of time that I wasn’t drinking, by the time the event came around, they’d got used to the idea and didn’t try to pressure me on the day.
Just no
Know that ‘no’ is a complete sentence. You don’t have to explain yourself if you don’t want to. No one will ever ask you ‘why aren’t you smoking tonight?’ or ‘why aren’t you doing heroine tonight?’ and it should be the same for not drinking. There doesn’t always have to be a reason other than, you just don’t want to.
Plan ahead
Make plans for the next day that you really don’t want to cancel. Knowing you have to get up in the morning for something you’ve been really looking forward to is a great reason for both yourself and others as to why you’ve chosen not to drink.