The Power of an Alcohol-Free Vacation: Joy, Relaxation, and Freedom / Ep. 019

Welcome to the "Feel Lit Alcohol Free Podcast"! In this episode, our hosts Ruby and Susan dive deep into the impact of alcohol on vacations. They answer a listener's question: "Vacation worries…. I am a year+ into my AF journey, have been on vacations AF and still think having some drinks on vacation sounds fun. I have done a lot of work and still notice how vacation triggers that FOMO. 

They discuss the effects like feeling unwell, increased stress and anxiety, and the potential for overconsumption on vacations, and discuss reintroducing alcohol after one year AF on a vacation and its effects on the brain and body. They emphasize the importance of considering how one wants to feel over a 24-hour period on a vacation, not just 20 minutes. 

They also explore the use of tapping as a tool to manage anxiety and stress, and how it can help to deal with cravings. The hosts encourage listeners to join the discussion and reflect on their own alcohol-free journeys. With practical tips and personal anecdotes, this episode is a valuable resource for those seeking an alcohol-free vacation experience. So, grab your favorite non-alcoholic drink, sit back, and join the conversation!

Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and ask us any questions you have about breaking free from wine or living an alcohol-free lifestyle. Your question could be the highlight of a future episode!

Grab our Feel Lit Weekend Guide!
https://feellitpodcast.com/Guide

Watch Episode on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/@FeelLitAlcoholFreePodcast/videos

Websites:
Susan Larkin Coaching https://www.susanlarkincoaching.com/
Ruby Williams at Freedom Renegade Coaching https://www.freedomrenegadecoaching.com/

Follow Susan: @drinklesswithsusan
Follow Ruby: @rubywilliamscoaching

It is strongly recommended that you seek professional advice regarding your health before attempting to take a break from alcohol. The creators, hosts, and producers of the The Feel Lit Alcohol Free podcast are not healthcare practitioners and therefore do not give medical, or psychological advice nor do they intend for the podcast, any resource or communication on behalf of the podcast or otherwise to be a substitute for such.

Transcript

Ruby [00:00:32]:
Hello. Welcome. Oh my gosh. We are having so much fun with our podcast, Susan and I, and we get so much awesome feedback. We're just having so much fun, and it's exciting. And our goal is, like, what if we people get free, just alcohol free, just listening to our podcast? How cool is that?

Susan [00:00:56]:
So cool. I Yeah. I love it when people, oh, I love it when people DM me and they're like, I've been listening to your podcast, and it's so good. And I'm getting so much out of it. And then they ask me a question, and I'm like, okay. We'll answer it on the next on the next one, the next one we record.

Ruby [00:01:12]:
So, Yeah. And we have exciting news that you can now find us on YouTube. We have been recording all of our videos when we and so exciting. That's our new thing. Oops. Yeah. So let's get right to it. You know? Let's we have a couple of good questions.

Ruby [00:01:34]:
So

Susan [00:01:35]:
Mhmm.

Ruby [00:01:35]:
So, you know, it's vacations are coming. Right? Next weekend is Memorial Day. That's, like, the beginning of summer for most people and, like so vacations are top of mind, and you might be a little worried. So here's the first question from one of our listeners. I am a year plus into my alcohol free journey, and I've been on vacations alcohol free and still think having some drinks on vacation sounds fun. And I've done a lot of work and still notice how vacations trigger that FOMO. So FOMO is like that fear of missing out. Yeah.

Ruby [00:02:13]:
Mhmm. Yeah. So it's such a good I all

Susan [00:02:16]:
Such a good question. I completely relate because I was in that same position, but I also got a question in my DMs regarding vacations. And this question is, what if you're mostly AF, but several times a year you drink, like on vacations and weddings and special events. Is it worth it to quit most of the time if you aren't gonna go all in? And based on the science, how does this drinking for special occasions affect the body? So that's so interesting that, yeah, vacations are top of mind, as you said, Ruby. People are starting to go, okay. What am I gonna do? Like, I have 30 days alcohol free, and now I'm going on vacation. Yeah.

Ruby [00:03:01]:
It comes up with almost all of our clients. And this is really interesting too because even though these seem like 2 totally different questions, they're similar. You know? The person is still putting a value on alcohol for vacations or special events. And there's this, like, FOMO again, fear of missing out, that I'd love to dig into about our thoughts. What do you think, Susan?

Susan [00:03:25]:
Yeah. Well, I this is definitely my nemesis, my kryptonite, and that was what was keeping me really stuck in my alcohol free journey. I think I've talked about this before, but I just really just similar to the second question, the second listener's question, I really wanted to be alcohol free in my life. I knew that that was the best choice for me, but I still felt like I wanted to drink for special dinners out, like, special fancy restaurants, events, and vacations. However, that desire for wanting to keep alcohol in my life in those areas was what was keeping me stuck, what was keeping me on the

Ruby [00:04:10]:
days,

Susan [00:04:14]:
especially at a vacation where it was just, like, every day for 7 days or 10 days, I brought it home with me like a little parasite. Somehow, we would come home and still be in vacation mode and still kinda give ourselves, like, another week of, like, vacation mode and, like, having drinks out on the deck. And then or all of a sudden it was like, oh, well, so it worked on vacation. I was really good. You know, I was still putting it in the good or bad category. I was really good. I only had 2 or 3 drinks a day. So now I probably can do that in my regular life, and then all of a sudden, an ordinary Tuesday becomes a special event because it's Tuesday.

Susan [00:04:53]:
And then pretty much every day that ends in y becomes a special event, quote, unquote, and a reason to drink. And because I opened the door, the little alcohol door, all of those pathways in our brain lit up again, and then I was back to drinking either as much or sometimes more. And we hear this from clients, sometimes more than you were drinking before. So that was my experience with vacations. And it really took that first vacation alcohol free, which was hard but doable, I'll say. You know? And this is what I tell clients. Hard but doable. And maybe it's on the scale of, like, 10 is hard the first time.

Susan [00:05:35]:
But that first one, you gain so much experiential knowledge and and just that does so much to change your neuro pathways. And and so many alcohol free people I know are just, like, vacations alcohol free are the best because well, it's a long because if alcohol is causing all of these these these negative, you you know, results in your life, how is that not gonna still happen when you're on vacation? Right? You wake up feeling like crap. Is that what you wanna do on vacation? Right? Well, that's a good

Ruby [00:06:08]:
that's a great segue for what I wanted to share is, you know, is it actually true that you're relaxing on vacation when you're drinking? And I just when I look back at my life and all my vacations where I thought, okay. I'm gonna drink on vacation because it's fun. Right? I'm on vacation. I wanna relax.

Susan [00:06:28]:
Wanna have

Ruby [00:06:28]:
fun, and that means drinking. But when I think about, like, a specific vacation I took with my son, we went to Tulum, Mexico. And when I think back to that, what was I doing? I was hungover the whole time. Like, every morning, I really didn't feel well. And I'd say, let's just have another beach day. And I remember he was like, I wanna go snorkeling. I wanna go hiking. I wanna go do all these things.

Ruby [00:06:57]:
And I remember feeling so bad that I would say, I just I just wanna read my book on the beach. I wanna I wanna have another beach day. And that meant doing nothing. Right? Nothing adventurous. Just laying on the beach, which is fine to lay on the beach, but I wasn't feeling well. So what I would like to ask or have you guys think about is how do you actually wanna feel on vacation? How do you wanna show up on vacation? Do you wanna wake up with energy? And so this is the kind of, like, questioning that we would start asking our clients. And when I look back again, look back in your phone maybe. When I look back in my phone at at pictures for the last, like, well, now I'm almost alcohol free 5 years.

Ruby [00:07:41]:
But prior to the, like, the 10 years prior to that, every single vacation, I would say I was drinking or drunk. I was drinking or drunk. And, like, every single picture when I think back. Because that was my mentality that, you know, drinking, is happening on vacation. So I would love to, you know, maybe pretend like I'm a I'm not that pretend. I mean, I am a coach. But can we do it, like, a role play, Susan, where, like, I'm in a coach, and you pretend to be the client. And, like, like, I wanna show you guys too and and have you listen to what a coaching session is like.

Ruby [00:08:20]:
Because coaches, we work together. We're like a team. We, you know, we link arms with our clients. And following your lead, what's what's going on with you? Like, with these two questions, it's fear of missing out or how are you gonna be on vacation. And we we meet with clients each week. And the real value that you get, it's like personalized guidance and accountability. And we talk about awareness and thoughts and beliefs and really try to turn those around and come up with a mind shift. So, Susan, are you game to doing, like, a role play? Sure.

Ruby [00:08:57]:
Sure. Yeah.

Susan [00:08:58]:
Okay. This is I can I don't know? I could just dig right back into my old self because this was definitely where I struggled in. And then, gosh, that getting through that first vacation, though, you really feel like a badass afterwards. Like, you really feel like, woah. Now I can go anywhere and do anything alcohol free, and it's so amazing. So I always suggest, regardless of what your goals are, try one vacation alcohol free. So, yeah, let's see. Let's dig into those thoughts that keep us stuck.

Ruby [00:09:31]:
So how I would start is, like, so tell me, you know, what's going on with you? Well, I

Susan [00:09:37]:
just don't think that I would be able to have fun on vacation if I'm not drinking. Like, that's what's so you know, that's just part of the atmosphere. It's like drinks by the pool, fancy fancy cocktails, you know, before dinner, and wine with dinner, wine on the beach, you know, with the sunset. I get to ask I I could bear I just can't even imagine it. I just don't know how that would it would just not be fun. And and then if everybody else is drinking and I'm not, I would

Ruby [00:10:06]:
just feel left out. Okay. So how does it feel when you have the thought that I'm gonna

Susan [00:10:11]:
I'm gonna be left out unless I drink? It makes me feel like I don't even wanna go on the vacation, just makes me feel like it's not gonna be fun that Yeah. Everyone else is having fun, and I'm just sitting there like a party pooper.

Ruby [00:10:26]:
Yeah. And then how do you behave when you have this this thought that I'm gonna be missing out?

Susan [00:10:33]:
It makes me anxious. It makes me feel withdrawn. It makes me feel like I want to that I'm not part of the fun, that I just, yeah, that I just feel withdrawn and kind of, like, stand like, I'm outside of everyone else. You know? I'm not part of it. Yeah. Mhmm. So

Ruby [00:10:53]:
and then what do you end up doing when you have the thought, you know, that you're just missing out?

Susan [00:10:58]:
Oh, just as I don't feel excited about the vacation. I don't feel like I really wanna go. I feel nervous. I feel disappointed. I'm mad at myself that I even have this problem that I can't drink even though, like, normally in my day to day life, I feel so much better, and I'm really happy with being alcohol free. Like, this just seems like it's gonna be too hard, and Yeah.

Ruby [00:11:23]:
Would be fun. Yeah. Okay. And is it really true that you're gonna miss out on the fun when you're I don't know.

Susan [00:11:35]:
I just I guess I don't really know because I've never tried it. I mean, I don't know. Because then it's like, well, I don't know. I don't know. Okay. I don't know if it's true. Like, what's yeah. I guess what am I missing out on?

Ruby [00:11:54]:
There's the question. Yeah. So what happens when you do drink alcohol? Let's play it forward the other way now. So say you're on this vacation. I just gave you a bunch of examples. What happens to me? Like, what what actually happens when you drink on vacation?

Susan [00:12:12]:
Well, usually, I just think I'm gonna have 1, and then I don't you know, it's never just 1, and then I overdo it. And then I wake up the next morning and feel like crap, and I'm really mad at myself, or sometimes my husband and I get into a fight when we're both drinking. We've had that experience before lots of times, many, many times, unfortunately. So then I don't feel good in the morning, and I, you know, start up at around noon when the pool bar opens and just rinse and repeat. So no. I know. I know. I know.

Susan [00:12:52]:
I know.

Ruby [00:12:52]:
I don't know why you're I get it. Yeah.

Susan [00:12:55]:
I I know that. Yeah. It's good to remind myself. I mean, it seems fun in the moment when it's all, like, letting your hair down and everybody's dancing on the tables, and and then it's not. Right. Yeah.

Ruby [00:13:12]:
So what's the alternate thought? Another way to think about I'm going to miss out on the, you know, I'm going to miss out on vacation unless I'm drinking. What's another thought? I think

Susan [00:13:25]:
I really am putting myself back in, like, my old self here. I know. I can tell. This feels really real to me, actually. Anyway, that's a little aside, but I think I don't know. So I think I would use what we call a ladder thought, which would be I'm open to experiencing what it would be like to not drink on vacation Wow. And see how it is. That's that makes

Ruby [00:13:54]:
An amazing new thought that you're open and curious. And how does that make you feel if you're open and curious going into the vacation to see what it's like?

Susan [00:14:06]:
Yeah. That makes me feel open, like, just, like, in my body, even in my mind, and kind of, makes me start thinking about directs my thoughts sort of like to what is to enjoy. Like, kind of when you said, you know, you didn't do anything adventurous and you just wanted to lay on the beach, it's like making me think, oh, yeah, snorkeling or, yeah, swimming every day, getting up in the morning and going for a run on the beach, thinking about the food, like, just thinking about all the things there is to enjoy. It's kind of making me my mind, like, focus on those things more, and, yeah, I feel more excited about the vacation. Yeah. For sure.

Ruby [00:14:47]:
Good. So you feel more excited. And then what, so then what are the new actions? Are you gonna actually prepare for, oh, you know, an alcohol free vacation now? Do you feel like you wanna try this out? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I do. I do. You know? In the back

Susan [00:15:07]:
of my mind, I'm still like, I don't know, but I'm willing to just see. You know? I'm yeah. I wanna I wanna try it. And and then I kind of feel like I need some tactics to how am I going to you know, what I need to do if to turn down drinks or, like, tactics when I am at the fancy dinner, or what am I gonna do instead of wine at, sunset and stuff like that. So just working on some strategies, but but, yeah, no, I just expect

Ruby [00:15:33]:
to feel better. A workbook, right, Susan?

Susan [00:15:35]:
Yeah. Okay. Now I'm Susan Coach again. No. That was Susan. Oh, yeah. How are you? That was awesome, Ruby. That was me 4 years ago or 5 years ago before I even started Also, I do have a a background in theater, so I was Also, I do have a a background in theater, so I was it was method acting.

Susan [00:16:00]:
But, anyway, like, oh, I I really felt the feelings that we were saying, like, when I was saying, like, I don't know. I'm really I I really was feeling that. So that was like really kind of interesting, Ruby. I just It just reminds me of how our clients feel and when we're stuck and how crummy that feels. Like, I was really feeling those feelings when I was talking about it. And then when I said, like, I was willing to try an alcohol free vacation, I felt more open. I actually felt excited. I wasn't pretending, actually.

Susan [00:16:30]:
But, yes.

Ruby [00:16:31]:
Is exciting because we know It is. We know now how good it feels alcohol free, and we're it's not cliche. It's not just saying the words. It actually it feels so good. Like, why the question is, like, why would you you know, your vacations are not working, not chores. You know? You want to relax. So what is relaxation, or what is adventure? Whatever is it you want to to experience on this vacation. What you know, you can, if you're open to it, just try like Susan said, try one vacation alcohol free.

Ruby [00:17:07]:
Give it your best shot by preparing and getting in the right mindset and getting excited and hopeful and empowered, and give it a try. It just might be magical because we want to actually even be our best selves on vacation, I think, or be the most relaxed, have the most fun. Yeah. Yeah.

Susan [00:17:29]:
Yeah. And not need a vacation from your vacation, like, I you know, for myself so many times. But so as far as you mentioned my work workbook, I did because this was my thing that I had to get over. Once I became a coach, I'm like, I want to to prepare something or make something for people who struggle like I did. And I came up with, a boot camp, but I also put it into this workbook, which is a free work book, which is these 5 steps with these strategies to help you get your mindset in the place of how am I going to enjoy my vacation? What is my intention for my vacation? What is there to enjoy? And I put it in this context of something I heard from Brene Brown, which is creating a strong back, but a soft front. And so in our strong back is, like, our firm commitment to not drink on our vacation. It's also play it forward, all the tactics we're gonna use, like, just imagine you know, visualizing some of the things that might be hard, like the sunset cruise or something, and then what are the things that you're gonna do, like, have a plan. But the soft front is about what is, that's that open feeling that you brought me to in our coaching role playing is that, what is there to enjoy? Like, oh, besides alcohol, it's like, that's not, you know, the main event of these vacations.

Susan [00:18:53]:
Right? So what else is there to enjoy? And I've really found on on vacations in fact, the sorry about that. The first one that I went on, I was we were at Lake Winnipesaukee, and I, like, jumped off the front of the boat with my daughter and, like, swam, and we went tubing. I would never have done any of those things. I would have sat on the boat with my wine and been like, okay. You kids go have fun. But I was like, let's do this fun stuff, like cannonball. You know what I mean? And, like,

Ruby [00:19:24]:
I just Yeah. Yeah. You feel like a kid again when you're alcohol free. You'd actually are doing the things like the cannonball. And instead of yeah. I was always like, well, I'm the mom. I'm gonna lay on the beach and read my book, which I didn't read a book because I can't actually read a book while I'm drinking. That was me.

Ruby [00:19:43]:
I would pretend to read a book. But, really, I it's just my vacations are so much more fun. I wake up. Yeah. I'm exercising more. I'm adventurous. I'm resting better. I'm sleeping better.

Ruby [00:19:56]:
I'm truly relaxing. Yeah. As an alcohol freedom coach too, I also created, like, I call it a mini course on having an alcohol free vacation. So, yeah, with same sort of thing, I just really wanna help other people plan for these vacations because you can totally do it.

Susan [00:20:13]:
You can

Ruby [00:20:13]:
totally do it. Yeah. Now

Susan [00:20:16]:
we like to be realistic on this podcast, so we're not all happy clappy. And there are things that are that are hard sometimes, so I'm not gonna lie to you there. Like, I've been on snorkeling things where it was a party boat. Everybody's drinking, dancing. They're super annoying. I'm like, I'm here to snorkel, and I'm worried about these people snorkeling after they've been drinking, and like so I've been annoyed. Like, let's just I'm not gonna lie to you. You know? There are times when you're just like, okay.

Susan [00:20:43]:
Now everybody's drunk, and this isn't fun for me anymore. But guess what? It's not fun even if you were drunk with them. Like, it's if it's not fun without alcohol, it's just not fun. Yeah. And on that snorkeling trip and looking over, and there's, like, other families with kids, and the kids are even looking around like, these adults are acting like weirdos. You know what I mean? It was embarrassing and then f bombs going. And I'm just like, you people are acting like lunatics in front of these kids. And I was like, I'm getting out.

Susan [00:21:12]:
The when we got to the snorkel station, I was, like, I was the first one in the water. I'm, like, okay. I'm out of here. I came to snorkel. Get away from me, people. Yeah. So

Ruby [00:21:22]:
But that's a great segue into what I call the having a getaway plan. Whether you're on vacation or at home, where maybe you can't when you're stuck on a boat with these people. But in general, have, like, a getaway plan where maybe, you you know, people are getting drunk around you and you feel uncomfortable on vacation. You know, you can go on a walk by yourself or go back to your hotel room or or drive. I say drive yourself. It's like if you're, you know, going to a party, I always drive myself because then I can leave whenever people are getting annoying, and drunk people are annoying is what I found. Yeah. Yeah.

Susan [00:22:00]:
Yeah. And every vacation, you know, has ups and downs regardless of whether you're drinking or not drinking. Right? Every single second isn't fun. And so I know that sometimes we we tend to to paint with a wide brush where it's like, oh, well, this one thing, because I wasn't drinking now, the whole thing wasn't fun. You know? And that's not really true. You know what I mean? It's like so I think that's important to realize too is, okay, everybody's still partying at midnight, but I wanted to go to bed, and that's okay. That doesn't mean you're party pooper. That's the story that's the story we're telling ourselves in our head.

Susan [00:22:36]:
Right? It means this is my vacation, and this is what I I wanna do with my time. So I'm gonna go to bed because I'm gonna get up early, and I'm gonna go for a run on the beach, or I'm gonna go on the snorkel boat that leaves at 9 AM. And you know what I mean? Because this might get vacation.

Ruby [00:22:53]:
Right. And not have that hangover or feel bad or just and then, yeah, your whole day. I can think of so many countless times where I had plans, like I said, to go, I don't know, do something really adventurous, and then all I could do was maybe sleep in, lay in bed because I wasn't feeling well. And that's not how I'd be on vacation. But I wanna talk about one really quick thing before we, you know, we get to the end is that you mentioned, do you need a vacation after vacation? I mean, how many times? I just think that's such an interesting, like, concept because I would say that every time. I'd get back from vacation feeling horrible, and then, you know, have all this extra work and from from my job that I just wasn't you know? And just like, I need a vacation for my vacation. That's one thing I just don't say Yeah. Anymore.

Ruby [00:23:40]:
Because I'm mainly, it's sleep. I think sleep is so important. Sleeping's so

Susan [00:23:43]:
much better overall. But yeah. And I would find, like I said, I think, in the beginning, in my little story, is I would find that needing a vacation for my vacation created stress and anxiety in my life that then I was relieving with alcohol when I came home from my vacation. My my alcohol intake always was ramped up after a vacation because I was just in that mode of drinking every night. So we would come home and go, okay, now it's dinner and let's keep drinking because we were drinking every night on vacation. And so, like I said, it's like the little parasite you bring home in your suitcase, like a little lizard that came home with you. It's the lizard in your brain that still wants to keep drinking. Right? Because you just restarted that habit.

Susan [00:24:31]:
Yeah. And those neural pathways are still there. And so we traveled on that road. So, say, you were alcohol free primarily in your daily life for a certain period of time, 30, 60, 90 days, whatever, and then you go on vacation and reintroduce alcohol, you're getting back on the merry-go-round, so to speak. You're starting that up again, and it's really hard to stop again when you come home. At least I have found that, and I know a lot of clients that I work with have found the same. Sometimes they even drink more after this experience, and then they're just back in the same vicious cycle again.

Ruby [00:25:08]:
Right? Yeah. And that can bring us back to the original questions around how does it affect like, if you just introduced alcohol occasionally at, like, a wedding or a vacation or a special event, Just like you said, you reintroduce this and the neural pathways light up again. Mhmm. And your body actually has to go through detox again. I mean, so your body and brain are affected. You also, I've heard this so many times, have even a worse hangover because, say, you have a period of alcohol free time, your body then will react even stronger. So you might actually even feel worse when you're on vacation. So it's all about the question is, how do you want to feel? I think if you lead your life in that way, how do I wanna feel today or on vacation or at the wedding, I think that could be a really good guide for you.

Ruby [00:26:04]:
Yes.

Susan [00:26:05]:
And how do you wanna feel over a 24 hour period, not for just 20 minutes? Because our subconscious wants us just to feel good for 20 minutes, which is why our subconscious goes, go ahead and have that drink. But we need to use our prefrontal cortex or our thinking brain to think, wait, how do I wanna feel over 24 hour my whole life, not just 20 minutes? And that's that's that play it forward tactic that we've talked about too. It's like, is you know, what is really true here? How is this gonna affect me later? And, you know, alcohol is an unfair trade. 20 minutes of pleasure for 3 hours of the dynorphin reaction, which is the downer chemical, and then multiply that by the number of drinks. Yeah. And then in that downward spiral.

Ruby [00:26:51]:
Once you introduce even for me, it got so you know, even like a half a glass of wine, say, it just, like, my prefrontal cortex, my the thinking brain was just offline. And so I always led to 2nd drink, 3rd drink. Yo. I just drank. So Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's just so important to not I don't know.

Ruby [00:27:14]:
It's it's it seems easy to say, like, just don't have that one drink. It's easy, but it's hard too. It's simple.

Susan [00:27:21]:
But hard.

Ruby [00:27:21]:
It's simple but hard. Yeah. So Yeah. Well, we are at the point in our recording here of our podcast where I like my one of my favorite parts is asking you, Susan. So what are you doing to feel lit alcohol free? What are you doing?

Susan [00:27:40]:
Oh. Well, I love and I I heard about this early on in my journey. I love tapping. I'm it's kind of an it's called the emotional freedom technique, and it's tapping, which helps me with anxiety and stress. So so I think we've talked about this before. If we were gonna fire alcohol from a job that we've given it, which for me, I was drinking for anxiety and stress relief, We have to hire something else. Otherwise, we create this void. And for me, I experimented with lots of different things, and and we've talked about them here.

Susan [00:28:15]:
You know, I do yoga or go for walks. You know, there's a lot of things, but one of the things that really, really works when I'm really having an anxiety episode is tapping. And so I used this app called The Tapping Solution, but you can just Google tapping and they'll, you know, and and find find videos and such, but it's it's the premise is is that you're tapping around is around the emotion that you're feeling. So you're allowing body. Your body, and then you're tapping along these different points in your body, which if you're on the YouTube channel, you can see my videos. So I'm tapping on the side of my head, and then I'm near my eyebrows, and then side of my eye, then under your eye, under your nose, under your mouth. Oh, I really like that one. On your collarbone.

Susan [00:29:09]:
And then for women, right on about where your bra line is on the side of your body, so you like this. Yeah. If you're looking at me, I'm doing it. You end on the top of your head. And you go through that whole tapping routine, getting into the feeling sensations in your body and recognizing them and allowing them, and then you tap through another time just sort of expressing that you can feel those your your those those emotions and feelings dissipating and kind of this idea of, like, flowing through you and out rather than getting stuck in you. And also, you can do it even without language. You can just tap and breathe, and I've done that one. That one's for anxiety.

Susan [00:29:52]:
And I believe that that one is in the free there's, like, a free version of the Tapping Solution app, and that one is in the free version. There's little ones that you can do to teach yourself how to do it, and you can do it on your own, Or you can get the app, and then there's tons of guided tapping with the app if you get the paid version. But in the free version, there's, like, 3 or 4 where you can do it with those guiding ones and kind of learn how to do it. But I did this just the other day when I was just having a really anxious time, and, I've suggested it to many people and many clients as just a really great tool. That's a great tool for cravings too when you're having it all calm.

Ruby [00:30:34]:
Bring that up. Yeah. When you have urges or cravings, a lot of people use tapping through it. And we we got tapping well, for me, I was introduced to it fairly recently. I mean, I've heard about it for years, and I've done a little bit of it with my therapist. But we were in a training last month, and we got some tapping instructions for helping clients through, you know, urges. And and this is one of our tools that we help with for clients, and we use it ourselves. It's it's amazing.

Ruby [00:31:05]:
It can really just calm you down. Right? It's it's so calming to do the tapping. Yes.

Susan [00:31:09]:
Yeah. Yes. Mhmm. And, honestly, the first time I did it, I'm like, this is BS. This is nuts. Just tapping on my face. This is weird. You know? It does look weird, and I just was so skeptical the first time it did.

Susan [00:31:20]:
I'm like, okay. Whatever. And then afterwards, I was like, I do feel, woah. I was really, really, like, okay. Wow. The experience was works. I this works. Yeah.

Susan [00:31:32]:
So just wanna add that I was skeptical at first. But, yeah. No. It really is something that's been so useful for me in managing stress and anxiety in my life and helps me stay feeling lit. So

Ruby [00:31:48]:
thanks, Susan. That's such a great tool in your tool belt to share with us. So I just wanna wrap things up and say thank you for listening. Like, thank you so much for listening, and I hope you please let, you know, let us know if you have any questions. We really do wanna, answer your questions on these, podcast episodes, and we can even share your name. So a couple of things. We have our wine free weekend guide. We we really want you to try this out with great ideas.

Ruby [00:32:20]:
We also have a YouTube channel. That's something new. And please join our Facebook group, our community. We're having a lot of fun there. We're posting little videos and going live sometimes. So, yeah. Thank you so much.

Susan [00:32:33]:
Yeah. Thank you. So great

Ruby [00:32:35]:
to be here with you. Bye. Bye bye. Thanks so much for listening to Feel It Alcohol Free Podcast. Do you have a question you'd like us to answer on the

Susan [00:32:44]:
show? All you need to do is head over to Apple Podcasts and do 2 simple things. Leave a rating and review telling us what you think of the show. And in that review, ask us any questions you have about breaking free from wine or living an alcohol free lifestyle. That's it. Then tune in to hear your question answered live. Don't forget to grab your copy of a wine free weekend at www.feelitpodcast. Dotcom. And remember, do something today that will help you feel lit.

Susan [00:33:15]:
See you next time.