January Newsletter: Game-changing alcohol PSA from Oregon Health + A Big Hit NA Cocktail
After leaving Paris on Christmas day, I'm still in New Orleans visiting with family and with childhood friends. I've covered a lot of ground exploring restaurants and music venues, plus attended a baby shower, a black-tie wedding and a funeral, and got to hold my great-nephew just hours after he was born! It's been fun and also emotionally intense. My hometown is richly seasoned, laced with beauty, mystery and paradoxes and I wouldn't want to miss a single, magical note by dialing it down with alcohol! But you know what came up left, right and center? Alcohol. I can't think of a single conversation where someone didn't happen to mention a relative struggling with alcohol (I even heard of a near fist-fight between inebriated friends my age dressed up at a fancy party!). I wonder when we'll stop saying, "it runs in my family," and just say, "alcohol is addictive?"
I came across a post from an executive with the Oregon Wine Board complaining that Dry January is essentially a business boycott, and even deeper in a comment thread, he said that it was his view that people who abstain lack a certain spark! There was also a grumpy rant from a famous wine writer, slagging Dry January. I hate seeing members of my former industry - the wine industry - miss the point AND miss the business opportunity! Ian Blessing (former sommelier at the famous French Laundry restaurant and now founder with his wife of a terrific NA bitters company All The Bitter) sums up my sentiment exactly in his reply! My clients and most Dry Jan participants are eagerly supporting businesses of all kinds...including those that offer compelling NA options, delicious food, classes, rock climbing gyms, bookstores, you name it! And not that anyone has any obligation to spend...they are also enjoying time in nature, more peace and better sleep! And I'll add that I'm AF because I'm having more fun, not less. This is a favorite photo (pictured above) from a trip to Oregon Wine Country where we were the boisterous group in the winery tasting room, enjoying cocktails made with NA spirits. The group did a hot air balloon ride, we lunched, we visited an olive oil mill and bought wine country gifts to take home.
Don't let anyone put a damper on your Dry January or try to tell you it's not a good idea! The science and stats are with you, and the rest of the culture will catch up to you. You are rocking it!
Here are my top Dry January tips (including the essential follow-up steps that most people skip)!!
(And just email me if you'd like support via 1:1 or group coaching!)
Game-Changers
🙌 My top game-changer of the month is this new public service announcement from Oregon Health Authority, Rethink the Drink, - a spot called Why in which a little girl asks if drinking is good for her father since he has just told her it's not good for her. I'm all about it because it is based on curiosity and asking questions, not scaring, preaching or guilting. But it has winemakers complaining.
This song, "I Like Not Drinking," from SoCal-based musician Eric Hirshberg is growing on me! Like many people who choose to be AF, he was constantly asked why he wasn't drinking. And he finally came up with an answer that sort of stopped people in their tracks. He says, "all of the language around stopping drinking is negative. ‘I quit drinking.’ ‘I gave up drinking.’ I wanted a positive phrase because it is very positive for me.” I heard a popular recovery podcaster say that our culture needs to hear more from people who make the choice to quit, without a dramatic rock bottom. This is one of those voices.
The New York Times wrote about the health benefits of Dry January. And a great article that explains "hangxiety: how a night of drinking can tank your mood." Articles like these did not exist five years ago and longer when I was searching for answers about why I was waking up in the middle of the night beating up on myself!
The Everygirl shares Trader Joe's beverages to try during Dry January.
Forbes Magazine vets the best NA beers here.
Deeply researched articles like this one from Vox, entitled Alcohol Overuse Causes 140,000 Deaths Annually. Why Is It So Undertreated? do not come along very often. The article explores the vastly under-prescribed medications that can help some people curb or eliminate cravings, plus stats, history, the paucity of doctors trained in addiction and shares the quiz used to determine Alcohol Use Disorder level.
A marketing director for a creative agency writes, "It Worked On Us, But We Won't Be Able To Retain Gen Z Talent With Free Booze."
The future of NA drinks? You deserve a better NA cocktail, and here's who's doing in right, and how, in Seattle.
A Hollywood set designer has opened LA's first dedicated NA cocktail lounge in a historic Chinatown space...a former punk rock venue.
We hosted a zoo themed baby shower for my niece two days after Christmas and I wanted to share the drink I made that was a hit! I named it the Wild Flamingo to honor the popular birds at the New Orleans Audubon Zoo! I poured a small amount of Three Spirit Livener into a flute and topped it with Noughty's Sparkling Chardonnay, one of my top recommendations of NA sparklers. Voila! Easy, chic, with a nice kick, and everyone who tasted it wanted to take photos of the bottles and learn more! I've gotten great feedback from friends also when I made a simple spritz with Three Spirit Livener...just add good club soda and/or tonic and an orange slice.
Wishing you a JUICY remainder of "dry" January!
xo,
Martha
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From my hometown of New Orleans to working with Food Network chefs, to the vineyards of Oregon...food, friends and flavor figured centrally in my life - and got ALL tangled up in alcohol! I didn't want a wine habit running my life, but I was scared that giving up wine meant living with a "glass half-empty." When I got certified as a sobriety/mindful drinking coach, trained in the neuroscience of habits and behavior and did a deep dive in the health benefits of cultivating joy, I realized I didn't have to give up places and rituals I had enjoyed! I could double-down on them! I invite you to visit my site and book a free call because
I believe you deserve a juicy life, not a dry one!
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