Most importantly, avoid accusatory or judgemental language. Sometimes, even well-meaning family won’t understand your boundaries. Lastly, it’s important to be firm but compassionate about your boundaries. Put your foot down regarding things you don’t want to do but be nice about. Letting your family know how much you appreciate their support can be fulfilling and encouraging. Over the Influence, better known as OTI is a podcast and community run by Sharon Hartley and Ben Anderson.
- Plus, temptation seems to be everywhere…given all the holiday parties you might be expected to attend.
- Serve a meal at a homeless shelter, reach out to a newcomer at a meeting, spend time with an elderly loved one or neighbor.
- If you come prepared to protect your sobriety, you should be able to outmaneuver addiction and avoid any potential relapses.
- At family gatherings and social events, tote around your favorite non-alcoholic drink.
- Sometimes we get caught up in how we have always celebrated the holidays.
- Mindfulness is one particularly helpful strategy to combat stress.
Bring Your Own Drinks
With a few creative strategies, we can still participate in holiday fun without going broke. For example, if you want to entertain, consider a potluck meal. You can ask others to bring everything from appetizers to non-alcoholic drinks to paper goods. And when you take initiative over the planning, it’s easier to ensure the evening is both fun and alcohol-free.
Enjoy A Magnificent Stay On The Pacific Shore
For some people in recovery, the holidays can be tough. But you can make it to January with your sobriety intact. You don’t have to let unfulfilled expectations, stressful family dynamics, or crazy in-laws threaten your recovery. The holidays aren’t just filled with parties, Santa, and Aunt Betty’s famous fudge. They’re also jam-packed with time-strapped travel, stress, and high expectations.
The Risks of Holiday Drinking
For many of us, the holidays are a season of peace and joy, where we decorate our memories with calm and happy moments. But the reality often looks quite different, and the holiday stressors quickly pile up for the person in recovery from alcohol or drug addiction, making it a difficult time of year to stay sober. https://ecosoberhouse.com/ Tip #17 Remember that being in recovery doesn’t mean instant heaven or a perfect life. Coming to grips with the idea that sobriety is not instant heaven is an important step in recovery. Most people with addiction expect their upside-down world to immediately turn right side up.
Tell Those You Trust That You’re in Recovery
Kit NA Brewing, an award-winning non-alcoholic beer beverage brand, is proud to announce the launch of its summer program, “Have A Kit, Share A Kit.” … Join our supportive sober community where each day becomes a step towards personal growth and lasting positive change. He suggested recommending alternative events such as “watching holiday movies, baking, attending light festivals, or volunteering.” Whether it’s frying up latkes for Hanukkah, or crafting Christmas ornaments around the fireplace, there are many holiday traditions that don’t require a buzz. Consider playing board games, watching holiday movies, or taking a stroll to gaze at the beautiful lights.
Replies to “37 Ideas to Help You Stay Sober During The Holidays”
- Make a plan to visit local museums or sign up for outdoor activities.
- They can also make sure that plenty of nonalcoholic beverages are available.
- And if you’re flying first or business class on Emirates, the flight attendant can serve you a tasty zero-proof cocktail such as an orange fizz or virgin cucumber gimlet.
- “If we put our family in front of our recovery, we might prioritize them so much that we end up relapsing and losing our family.”
- Still, it never hurts to jot down a few more polite responses in your playbook.
It can be tempting to have “just one drink” to take the edge off. If you are interested in discussing a sober vacation please contact us at CATCH Recovery. We will take your details and pass them over to our holiday providers who can contact you directly. At the recently opened Club Med Magna Marbella in Spain, the all-inclusive property has a Zen Pool with a bar that only offers alcohol-free cocktails for guests who want a break from drinking. And sales of nonalcoholic beverages have surged over the last few years, increasing by more than 20% between 2021 and 2022. Although the trend is buzzing right now, alcohol-free travel isn’t new.
Hatch a holiday escape plan, and plan to protect your sobriety
Sobah is Australia’s first indigneous-owned and made alcohol-free beer and it’s yummy, with native Aussie plants as flavours. Soul Bliss Journeys is a company which partners with others to create tours and retreats. You will find some tours that you can join as a single sober person, or in a small group. You can also partner with Soul Bliss Journeys to create your own group retreat, tour or journey. Check the We Love Lucid website to find out where and when upcoming trips are planned.
Everyone is running on empty, and the annual fight is just waiting to happen. Once confirmed, you’ll receive an email with a personalized link to your reservation. At any point, you can make payments to your account, or you can pay it all off at once. As long as the trip is paid off 90 days before your departure, you can pay at whatever pace you are comfortable with.
Kit NA Brewing Launches Program to Encourage Connection and Share the Joy of Non-Alcoholic Craft Beer This Summer
Research published by JAMA Pediatrics shows that the rate of alcohol abstinence is increasing among young adults. Our hope is merely to capture the spirit of the fellowships, and to approach people with the language they commonly use to describe the disease of addiction. We sober holidays adhere to the policies of the destination to which we are traveling – if it is their policy that incoming travelers be vaccinated then we adhere to those recommendations. We do not set the policies for each destination, that is determined by their individual governments.
Over The Influence Sober Adventures
Winter solstice darkness and drabness can be psychologically (and physiologically) depressing. Find an article about the best places to go for excellent alcohol-free drinks and eats in Amsterdam on Izzy’s article on My Bubbly Pop here. Each year OTI runs several adventures, usually long walks done as day trips, in 2023 they did a Ben Nevis climb weekend away. Given the rising popularity of sober living, it’s no surprise that the travel industry has embraced the trend. “They look at it as a sober challenge and a fun, healthy, active way of being,” she explained. Like other forms of recreation, travel is now under the influence of the growing “sober-curious movement,” giving rise to new ways of exploring the world without the risk of a hangover.