Sober and Bored? It’s Time to Redefine Your Leisure Time.
If you’re feeling sober and bored, it’s time to redefine your leisure time. You may have noticed alcohol makes boring things seem more interesting than they are. That’s why we can sit and binge-watch mediocre TV on the couch while drinking and feel entertained. Alcohol gives us a whopping big dopamine hit. That hit lights up the reward centre in our brain. We start to relax and feel entertained - without having do anything.
When we go alcohol-free, we need to redefine our leisure time. We need to replace that dopamine hit with something else. We need smaller, effort-based dopamine hits we can get naturally. When we take alcohol out of our lives, we need to put other things in. Like hobbies, interests, extra time with the people we love…
But first, how alcohol ‘dumbs down’ the brain…
Booze directly affects brain chemistry by altering levels of neurotransmitters - the chemical messengers that transit the signals through the body that control thought processes and emotions. Alcohol affects “excitatory” and “inhibitory” neurotransmitters. An example of this is neurotransmitter glutamate which usually increases brain activity. Alcohol suppresses the release of glutamate, effectively resulting in a slowdown in your brain’s “highway”.
That’s why people who are drinking find conversations more stimulating than a sober person might! Why alcohol takes the edge off mundane tasks. And why you don’t feel bored when you are drinking, even though you might be doing very little.
How to redefine your leisure time…
When we take alcohol out, we need to put things into our lives that we enjoy. Otherwise, there’s a gaping hole where alcohol used to be. We then might get bored, frustrated, and feel triggered to drink. The way to add more in is by thinking about what lights you up, interests you, or makes you laugh and feel inspired. Our core happiness emotions include interest, awe, serenity, love, pride, gratitude, hope, and laughter.
Small activities can give you what I call “dopamine tickles”. Examples might be listening to music, hiking, buying a new journal, earthing in your backyard, or taking up a new hobby. These can give you dopamine tickles. String them together, one by one, and you will redefine your leisure time and get that ‘missing’ dopamine hit you used to get from drinking.
Some ideas for redefining your leisure time…
1. Ask yourself what you used to be interested in
Did you have a hobby you loved? The past can hold clues to what you might like to bring back into your life now you have more time.
2. Try something new
Go to a new yoga class or sound therapy. Try breathwork. Try socialising with fellow sober friends.
3. Have a goal
Often when we get sober, we need a goal or something to work towards and look forward to. That might be improving our overall wellbeing, a weight loss goal, or a fitness goal. Perhaps all three. Many women will take up running when they get sober and give themselves the goal of finishing a half marathon.
Ways to get natural dopamine tickles …
1. Walk
The combination of exercise and time in the outdoors will give you a solid dopamine tickle. Countless studies have proven nature has a positive effect on your mental health. Add exercise to nature and the dopamine tickles will FLOW.
2. Laugh
Laughter swaps the cortisol in our bloodstream with highly sought-after chemicals– dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins.
3. Dance
Dance has been scientifically proven to reduce the cortisol (stress hormone) caused by day-to-day life pressures. It causes the brain to release dopamine. The exercise of dancing (even if it’s sweaty and hard) helps you RELAX!
4. Cuddle
Cuddling releases the feel-good hormones dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin. Once the hormones are released with a big cuddle, we experience feelings of happiness, relaxation, improved mood, and lower levels of depression.
P.S. If you’re curious about redefining your leisure time without alcohol, check out my personalised programs. Find out more about grey area drinking and my programs here. Book a FREE Discovery Call with me and let’s see if I can help.