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The Catholic Sobriety Podcast
Welcome to The Catholic Sobriety Podcast with your host Christie Walker!
This podcast is dedicated to empowering Catholics to live lives of freedom by providing tips and tools to help them be successful as they reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption. Christie Walker, a compassionate Catholic life and sobriety coach, is here to support you on your journey toward a healthier, more fulfilling life.
Are you questioning whether alcohol has taken control of your life? Do you worry about the impact it may have on your well-being? Many people find themselves in this situation, fearing the loss of pleasure and stress relief associated with alcohol. They assume that giving it up will only bring deprivation and misery. But Christie offers a different and much more positive perspective.
With Christie's expertise, you'll discover the joy and peace that come from embracing a healthier lifestyle rooted in the Catholic faith and tradition.
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The Catholic Sobriety Podcast
Ep 115: Out-of-the-Box Strategies to Curb Evening Alcohol Cravings
Discover a transformative path to reclaim your evenings with purpose and joy, as we challenge the common crutch of alcohol dependency many women face. Through faith and creativity, explore why evenings can often be the most challenging time, leading to reliance on that nightly glass of alcohol.
Together, we'll explore bold strategies designed to break these cycles, offering you the tools to build healthier routines and a more peaceful life.
This episode offers a compassionate companion on your journey toward alcohol freedom, providing support, inspiration, and the assurance that you're never alone.
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Welcome to the Catholic Sobriety Podcast, the go-to resource for women seeking to have a deeper understanding of the role alcohol plays in their lives, women who are looking to drink less or not at all for any reason. I am your host, christi Walker. I'm a wife, mom and a joy-filled Catholic, and I am the Catholic Sobriety Coach, and I am so glad you're here Today. We're talking about something that so many of us wrestle with. I want to talk about some common reasons why women turn to alcohol in the evenings. Of course, we think about it a lot as a stress release. So after a long day filled with responsibilities of work, caregiving, managing a household or whatever else we need to do, you know we use alcohol as a quick fix to decompress and relieve stress. Relieve stress. Alcohol can become a way of pressing pause on the endless to-do list or numbing the weight of it all, even if we know it's only temporary. And then a lot of women turn to alcohol in the evenings because they're lonely. Evenings can sometimes feel isolating, especially for women who live alone or are navigating different seasons in their life, where certain relationships feel distant, such as after children grow up or moving to a new place. Or, you know, you're retired, there's just certain life changes that can have us feeling lonely, because the people who we used to spend a lot of time with may not be there anymore. So a glass of wine for those women may feel like a comfort. And then, of course, there's boredom. Without having meaningful evening rituals or hobbies, boredom can leave a void and many of us turn to alcohol to fill that void. It feels like an activity and an easy thing to turn to when it seems like there's nothing else to do. And then, of course, there's social influence. Many women drink in the evenings because they want to be included in the social norms. Whether it's a zoom happy hour, a mom's night out or couples unwinding together, alcohol can become a fixture in those shared moments. And then there's the habitual routines. Patterns are powerful and many reach for alcohol simply because it's part of their nightly routine. I cannot tell you how many women I talk to will say I drank a glass of wine and, quite honestly, I don't even know why I did it. I didn't even need it, but I just felt like I was supposed to do it, and that is because it's just part of the routine. So a lot of the work that I do is disrupting that routine so that they can develop new routines and healthier habits.
Speaker 1:And then people turn to alcohol because they have trouble sleeping. So alcohol is often seen as a way to fall asleep faster, and it does do the trick for that. Unfortunately, it will often disrupt your sleep in the long run. You definitely do not get the quality sleep that you do when you are not drinking, and oftentimes women who drink before bed will sometimes think they have insomnia, but really it's their body processing the alcohol that is waking them up.
Speaker 1:And then, of course, many of us use alcohol to self-medicate for emotional discomfort. We drink to cope with feelings of sadness, anxiety, unresolved emotional struggles, but unfortunately, alcohol offers a temporary solution for a much deeper pain. If you don't address the source of the pain, then it's just going to keep coming back. And then, of course, there's the cultural messaging, from memes about mommy wine to commercials romanticizing alcohol, don't forget those influencers are all reinforcing the idea that drinking is acceptable, encouraged and even necessary to be a good mother, which I will tell you is completely false. Okay, so now that we've talked about why women turn to alcohol in the evenings, let's talk about some ways to combat that. And here's the good news there are so many creative and even faith-inspired ways that you can break free from those cravings and reclaim your evenings. And, trust me, these ideas will not only disrupt the habit, but will just bring you more joy and purpose and peace and have you feeling much more present in your life. So we are going to be exploring 20 fresh strategies that are going to help you curb those cravings, and I would guess that some of these may surprise you. I tried to come up with some out-of-the-box ideas for you to do, and then I also wanted to approach some of them from our faith perspective. I hope that these will encourage you and help you on your journey as you look to reduce or eliminate alcohol from your life.
Speaker 1:So our first strategy is about creating a sacred evening space, think a cozy little corner where you can pray, journal or simply be. Still, add a candle, maybe an image of Our Lady or your favorite saint, your rosary, your Bible, and keep in mind this isn't just a place to sit. This is your space to meet God, carve out this time to reflect and invite His peace into your heart. Now I've heard of women just taking a corner in their bedroom, putting out a few pillows, or setting up like just a little table or altar, their prayer space. I've also heard of prayer closets. Whatever works for you and your space, do that. For me, this can sometimes look like simply lighting a candle and reflecting on where I saw God present in my day. It doesn't have to be elaborate, it doesn't have to be time consuming. It just has to be meaningful and something that you look forward to.
Speaker 1:The next one is to take a clean slate shower. I've heard this from a few other coaches and, quite honestly, this is a practical but powerful strategy, and when I heard it, it reminded me of when my kids were little. Sometimes, if they were having a really bad day, they were very emotionally dysregulated or something, and nothing was calming them down. Nothing was helping. I would ask them do you want to take a bath? Do you want to have a bubble bath? And they would tearfully nod their head yes and take a bath. And I will tell you every single time they came out a happier child, their emotions were regulated and it was just like the water and being in the bubbles just washed away their stress. And that can be the same for you, too, if you are like me, I don't particularly like baths. If you like baths, take them, but I like showers, and when that warm water hits your head, there's just something about that that just kind of is calming, like the noise of the water hitting the floor of the shower. All of that can just be so soothing and just can help take away those cravings and even the temptation itself. If you want, you can buy like a special, like evening soap, or use essential oils like just put them at the bottom of your shower and just make it like a luxurious experience.
Speaker 1:This next one is probably not going to surprise you, since I am a Catholic coach, but praying the rosary with intention can be very powerful. You can turn your cravings into an opportunity to pray. You know all those times when people tell you something and you're like, oh yeah, I'll pray for you. Or maybe you have a prayer journal that's a mile long with names. This is the perfect opportunity to get outside of yourself and focus on serving and praying for others. You could do something as simple as praying a decade of the rosary for your own intentions, the intentions of your children, your family or all those that you promise to pray for. You can offer it for strength, perseverance or strengthening of your spiritual gifts and an outpouring of God's grace that can help you resist the cravings. Another thing I love to do while praying the rosary is walking around my home or yard while praying. It's a motion of moving my body, getting some of that exercise, some fresh air, but also just praying the perimeter of my home or praying for my family members in that home.
Speaker 1:The next is to explore some unusual flavor combinations. So if you are actually craving the ritual of drinking like your habit is what you're craving, not necessarily the alcohol this is a great time to explore some quirky new beverages like kombucha herbal infusions, like kombucha herbal infusions, some non-alcoholic wines, spirits. I used a margarita mix and I used some zero-proof tequila and just a little bit of herbal infusions in it and it was so good. I loved it. I thought it was really good. I even had like salt on the rim and I made it look really pretty with a slice of lime on the side. I actually have. If you go to my Instagram feed, you'll see the little video of it. I am not a mocktail maker expert, anything like that, but I wanted to share it with my audience there so you can go take a look there too, if you want.
Speaker 1:Another suggestion is to spend time connecting with your patron saint. If you don't have a patron saint, then maybe this is a good time to explore some saints. One of my friends, belinda Mooney, wrote a book called Praying with the Saints. It's 365 days of saints, and I love it because each day is a different saint that you can learn about. There's usually a prayer that goes along with it, but setting aside time to learn more about their life, their struggles and their victories time to learn more about their life, their struggles and their victories, and then, if you want, you can even reflect on the ways they have inspired you, by reading about their life, to grow closer to Christ. What did you find admirable about them that you would also like to inspire to?
Speaker 1:Number six is to sing along to sacred music or praise and worship music. Sometimes all you need is a good song to lift your heart. I've heard it said that singing is like praying twice, and I completely believe that. What I have done, that I absolutely turn to often, is I created a pray list. I actually named it Come Holy Spirit, and I just filled it with all of my favorite like pump me up Holy Spirit music that I love to sing along with. It's such a great way to release tension my mind and most of all and just praise the Lord with all my heart, with all my soul and all my might. But then, of course, there are times when I want something quieter, like be thou, my vision is so beautiful. It's impossible not to feel strengthened by those lyrics. You can find it on youtube. You can find all different versions, so just whatever music you love that fills you up and connects you to the lord. I invite you to really tap into that and use it in those moments, especially if you're feeling alone, if you're feeling like God is far from you can just be a great way to open yourself up and allow God just to pour into you.
Speaker 1:Number seven is something that I also do all the time. So I keep a little bit of holy water by me almost all the time when I'm at home and I bless my home, I bless my children's room. When I'm having a tough time, I will bless myself and I just ask God for grace. You can do this when a craving creeps in. Have that holy water there, or some blessed salt, or both, and when a craving creeps in, use those sacramentals to bless yourself and ask the Lord for the strength to resist the craving.
Speaker 1:Number eight is to kind of play with the lighting and change the mood of your space. So if your space feels dull or uninspiring, just try changing the lighting by adding some string lights. Or use color a lamp to create a calming environment. Soft blues are great for peace. Warm golden tones for comfort. Blues are great for peace, warm golden tones for comfort. It's just amazing how a simple shift in atmosphere can redirect your focus, which can actually help you fight those cravings.
Speaker 1:Number nine is to write letters to God or even to your cravings. Journaling can be such a healing practice and when a craving feels overwhelming, you can try writing to God about it. Or, if you want to get even more creative, write a breakup letter to your cravings and tell your craving why you're moving on Like dear craving. We've been together a long time, but you are no longer helping me and I'm choosing joy. I'm choosing freedom, and you'll be surprised at how liberating this feels. If you've ever felt like alcohol was both your best friend and your worst enemy, then check out episode 76, friend or Frenemy. Are you in a Toxic Relationship with Alcohol.
Speaker 1:Okay, this one's one that I found online and I thought it sounded fun. So what you do is you set a timer for one minute and find five objects in your home that bring you joy or remind you of a blessing. Gratitude, in this case, will shift your focus, and you can again do this when you have a craving and just think okay, guess what time it is, I'm not going to grab a drink. This is gratitude object hunt time, and just try it out. Who knows what you'll find. Maybe you'll find some of your kids' old photos or your grandmother's rosary, or you know. Just anything else that is a reminder of God's goodness and love, of God's goodness and love.
Speaker 1:Number 11 is to take an intentional evening walk with prayer. So moving your body is a great way to shift your mindset, but making it a walking prayer is even more powerful. Recite the Jesus prayer or say a mental litany as you're walking. This is also a great time if you want to start a novena and then you can say it as you walk. It is simple and it's restorative. Number 12 is to reflect on the sacrifice at Jesus. Look up at the crucifix. Look at the crucifix that you have in your home. I'm sure you have one or many, and it can be such a comfort to look at that image. Reflecting on his strength will inspire you to surrender your smaller struggles into his hands.
Speaker 1:Number 13 is to fast. Fasting is one of my favorite things. If you look at your decision to reduce or eliminate alcohol as an opportunity for fasting, an act of offering to god, that will be so much more powerful in helping you resist the craving, and then you can dedicate that offering to someone in need or use it as a way to spiritually strengthen your will against alcohol, alcohol. Number 14 is to create a new evening ritual. Evenings are special. Turn them into something new that energizes your soul. If you think evenings are boring, if they seem to drag on, create a ritual that you look forward to, whether that's sipping on herbal tea, reading scripture, Whether that's sipping on herbal tea, reading scripture, creating a gratitude list, doing a hobby that you love painting, reading, drawing, playing games with your spouse. Choose things that you look forward to. Number 15 is one of my favorites and something we do a lot around here, and that is to laugh it out. Sometimes the best medicine is laughter. So if that means watching a funny video or sharing a fun memory or moment with a loved one. Do it Because laughter not only lightens your mood, it starts to weaken those cravings.
Speaker 1:Number 16 is try cold exposure. So this one, I know, is going to sound crazy, but briefly splashing your face with cold water can calm your body and bring you in to the present moment. It jolts your senses and actually curb a craving. I know people that do cold plunges I don't, but I hear that they can be very beneficial. So if you want to do that and if you've checked with your doctor and it's okay for you to do that, then that might be something that would be helpful. My husband currently doing Exodus 90 and cold showers are part of that, and I've heard you shouldn't apply the cold water to your head first because that's dangerous or something. But getting in a cold shower, it doesn't have to be ice cold like his is. But getting in a cold shower it doesn't have to be ice cold like his is, but getting in a cool ish shower again has the same effect of jolting your senses.
Speaker 1:Number 17th is talking about a new evening ritual which is to make fake faith-based art so you can take a calming activity like drawing, bible journaling, lettering Bible verses. Engaging your hands and mind with something purposeful can be so helpful in curbing cravings. Number 18 is to practice the nightly examine, so you can end your day with St Ignatius's examine, which isa short reflection, where you call to mind where you felt God, where you struggled and what you're grateful for. So you can journal about this. And this can be a great way to bring closure to the day and hope for tomorrow. Number 19 I mentioned already, but that is to start a novena. So if you are craving persistence, dedicate nine days by asking for intercession.
Speaker 1:Saint Augustine is one of my favorites. He is a wonderful choice for resisting temptation, and Saint Monica, his mother, is a model of unwavering prayer. I am also a huge fan of the Novena to the Holy Spirit. I've actually included it in my sacred sobriety lab. It's like the very first thing that happens in my course, and each day we pray for a different gift or fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1:And number 20, you've made it is to use scripture as a shield. Keep those verses close to your heart. Recite Psalm 34. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Or Philippians 4, about grounding yourself in joy and the hope that God brings. Knowing scripture, steeping yourself in scripture, can help root out the lies of the enemy, combat our own insecurities and help us realize that we have a loving Father in heaven who loves us, sees us, knows us and wants us free. Who knows you, sees you, loves you and wants you free. So there you have it 20 creative, faith-filled strategies to curb evening alcohol cravings.
Speaker 1:Now remember, as I always say, this is about progress, not perfection. So every time you choose one of these ideas, just know that you are taking a step toward freedom and peace. You are building those muscles. You're building your sober muscles. My challenge for you now is to try one out tonight and let me know what you did and how it went.
Speaker 1:You can always reach out to me on Instagram at the Catholic Sobriety Coach, or you can click that, send a text button that is in the show notes and let me know. Until then, know that I'm praying for you and that the Lord is walking beside you in every moment. Well, that does it for this episode of the Catholic Sobriety Podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode and I would invite you to share it with a friend who might also get value from it as well, and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a thing. I am the Catholic Sobriety Coach, and if you would like to learn how to work with me or learn more about the coaching that I offer, visit my website, thecatholicsobrietycoachcom. Follow me on Instagram at the Catholic Sobriety Coach. I look forward to speaking to you next time. And remember I am here for you, I am praying for you. You are not alone.
