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3-step meditation
If you find your cravingsA craving is a real, physical experience we get when we change our drinking, which the mind interprets as needing a drink. More or urgesUrges are that overwhelming feeling of needing or wanting a drink. They can happen after a craving or a trigger. More overwhelming, try to reset them with a bit of simple meditation, commonly known as breathing space. It allows you to take a helpful timeout, and if you find yourself wanting a drink, the breathing space will give you time to notice any unhelpful automatic behaviours, so you can…
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Dealing with uncomfortable thoughts
When we go through a period of change, all sorts of feelings, emotions and thoughts can emerge, which can have the combined effect of leaving us vulnerable. This Pep introduces an approach to help you handle uncomfortable thoughts and feelings and build resilience.
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Separating facts from opinion
In Dealing with uncomfortable thoughts Pep, we discuss how thoughts and feelings are experiences that will pass rather than facts that define us. But sometimes, repetitive negative thoughts and feelings can resurface unless we address some opinions – that we mistakenly perceive as facts – about ourselves. The following exercise should help.
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Make good decisions easier
One of the secrets of behaviour change is that it’s often easier to change the world around us than to change ourselves. So as we begin to notice the triggersTriggers are situations and circumstances that lead to triggering thoughts around drinking. More for drinking, we can plan our lives to make better decisions. At the…
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Triggers
Alcohol is woven through every part of our lives, and anything can become a triggerTriggers are situations and circumstances that lead to triggering thoughts around drinking. More to drink. This Pep looks at understanding, identifying and combatting triggersTriggers are situations and circumstances that lead to triggering thoughts around drinking. More
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Where you drink
Our environment has a significant impact on mood, thoughts and behaviour and paying attention to where we drink can help us manage how we drink.
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When you drink
How does time affect your drinking? Are you triggered by a particular time of day, a day of the week or both? Beginning to pay attention to when we drink can help us put strategies in place to help us manage change.
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Who you drink with
As social beings, how we behave, think or feel is affected by the people with which we share our time and impacts how we drink. Understanding who we do and, just as importantly, don’t drink with is essential in taking back control.
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What you drink
The type of drink we choose at a particular time is important to notice because different drinks offer different perceived benefits and different times. For example, beer is perfect for a BBQ or watching football. We may choose wine at home or to accompany a meal. Or bubbles or a cocktail is our go-to at…
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Building confidence
If you’re a seasoned user of Peps or are following one of the curated courses, you may have already come across the RelianceReliance is a term used by Pep when referring to psychological or neural links between alcohol and a perceived benefit, such as joy or support. We use it instead of ‘psychological dependence’ to avoid confusion with the much more serious ‘physical dependence’, which can threaten health and life. More Bag. In short, I give the moniker to the place we record or store our accumulated alcohol reliances. This Pep invites us to address what’s inside our bag to build confidence and…
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Feeling change
In The pros and cons of drinking Pep, we encouraged you to consider the benefits and costs of drinking and mark them as either short-term or long-term. It was a helpful exercise, but it only tells half the story. This Pep looks beyond the pros and cons and explores the deeper motivation for changing relationships…
