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Welcome to the Catholic sobriety podcast mini-soad . These shorter episodes provide quick tips and information that you can refer back to when you need it most so you can achieve and maintain your desired level of sobriety . I am your sobriety coach and host of this podcast , kristi Walker . Let's get started . Today we are delving into a topic that touches many lives but it seldom openly discussed , and that is gray area drinking . So gray area drinking can be a really confusing space to navigate , and if you're there , if you are wondering , if maybe you're a gray area drinker but you're not really sure what that is , believe me , you are not alone , and that's why I want to explore what it is and then provide some tips and strategies that can help you navigate that . So if you're not quite sure what a gray area drinker is , it's a term that often describes those who don't necessarily identify as having , like , a severe alcohol problem , but their relationship with alcohol isn't entirely healthy either . So they kind of exist in this gray area between sobriety and a disordered attachment to alcohol or alcoholism . So gray area drinkers might not even drink every day . However , when they do drink , they tend to really overdo it . Now they may have tried to set rules for themselves or boundaries , and moderate , you know , things like only drinking on weekends or not having wine during the week , limiting the number of drinks , but the thing is they just keep struggling to stick with these rules . Gray area drinking can also be categorized as moderate alcohol consumption that leads to negative consequences in various aspects of an individual's life , such as their physical or emotional , mental health , personal relationships , self-esteem and overall well-being . So how do you even navigate the gray area ?

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Well , it's really what I do with my clients , which is to help bring clarity around the drinking , to get some self-awareness , because this self-awareness is key . So to do this , I generally ask my clients to first start out by making a pros and cons list what are some of the pros that you find by consuming alcohol , like , what is alcohol giving you ? And then make a cons list . What is alcohol taking away ? There's a variety of things . So just make this pros and cons list and then , at the end of the pros and cons list , just draw your conclusion . Do you have more pros than cons or cons than pros ? What Does having this written out tell you about your drinking habits ?

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The next thing that I would recommend that you do is to start tracking what you're drinking , when you're drinking , how much you're drinking and why you're drinking . Are you drinking out of habit , out of stress , just because you're bored ? Knowing all of these things and really thinking about it , and journaling and I Highly recommend taking it to prayer Will help you to identify Patterns and triggers that lead you to drink . So once we also , once we have awareness about when we're drinking , how much we're drinking and why we're drinking , that will help us identify patterns and triggers that lead to those urges that Cause you to react and drink , even if maybe you don't want to drink or you've made the decision that you weren't going to drink or you weren't going to drink as much . So another thing that I work with my clients to do is to find Alternative ways to cope with emotions , because so many of us turn to alcohol to deal with stress , anxiety or we just don't want to feel uncomfortable feelings . We use alcohol or scrolling or TV or food or whatever it is , but the key is to find healthier coping , coping mechanisms like exercise , prayer , meditation , talking to a friend . You know there's all sorts of things that you can do instead of drinking .

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One of the things , one of the tools that I have . And actually , if you go to my show notes and you sign up for my five-day Sacred sobriety kickstart , I have a workbook in there that has all these tools . So it has a triggers , an urges sheet , it has a pros and cons sheet , it has some daily check-in sheets so that you can start to get a clarity about your drinking , and then it also has a Another sheet that is called things I can do instead of drinking , and on that Worksheet I generally recommend you list all of those things that fill your cup , that make you happy . Is it reading a book , is it knitting , is it painting , is it going for a walk ? Just , and you don't have to fill it out all in one shot either . Just as something comes to , you write it down . That way , when the urge comes up to you know , reach for a bottle , grab a drink , you can go to that list and you have plenty of options to select from of what Would be a better coping mechanism in the situation that has come up for you In that workbook . I also have morning after questions , so when you do drink more than you wanted to , you can ask yourself these questions , and Not with judgment , to be a scientist , to get curious , to gain information so that you can make a plan for the future .

Speaker 1 6:37

And then the last option , the last tip that I'm going to recommend for you today is to seek support . So if you're trying to figure out what level of sobriety works for you and Kind of gain clarity of am I really a great area drinker , do I have ? And , you know , am I more severe in my drinking or am I more of a social drinker ? Like , where am I at and what do I need to be able to meet my goals so that I can live a life being a hundred percent present instead of like numbing out , and Having support is so critical for that . So you know my clients . They hire me as a coach To help with support and accountability and to give them tools and resources . But even , you know , having a good friend that is supporting your endeavors of course , your spouse . Sometimes it can be hard to find that support and other times it's very easy . So just find those people who will love you and support you in reaching the goals that you want to for for your own health and well-being .

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The other thing that I want to urge you to do is again , I just mentioned it a little bit ago . But not to judge yourself , just be gentle and remember that change takes time and effort . Like it takes time to build those sober muscles , it takes time to , you know , maybe not reach the goal , but then not look at that as a failure and instead look at that as a learning opportunity that you can say , okay , well , this is what happened , this came up . Maybe next time , if I do this or do that , then I think I'll be more successful . That is what it is . It's just being compassionate , being loving and knowing what voices are from God and the ones that are just self-sabotaging right . So if you are thinking thoughts that are loving , kind , convicting and those types of things , that's , you know , going to be from God . But if it's condemning , shaming , that's not helpful and that's not going to help you get the results that you need .

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Again , sign up for my five-day Sacred Subriety Kickstart . It has . I have videos . There's one video each day . There's again a great workbook just filled with tools that you can use . You can do , you know , one video a week . You could do one video a day . However you want to do it . It's completely up to you and you have access to it like all the time , and when I update it , you'll have access to the new videos as well .

Speaker 1 9:51

But here's the other thing that's coming up . I also have the Sacred Subriety Lab , and you can go to my website , the Catholic Subriety Coach , and learn all about the Sacred Subriety Lab . That is a deep dive even more tools , even more resources , five modules . We kick off with a novena to the Holy Spirit and I have tons of bonuses in there . I'll be talking more about that on Tuesday , december 12th , our Lady of Guadalupe . That is also the one year anniversary of my podcast , which is so exciting . I hope that you are finding value in this podcast . If you ever have any topics that you want me to discuss , feel free to reach out to me . You can definitely send me a message on Instagram or Facebook by searching the Catholic Subriety Coach , or you can contact me via my website , thecatholicsubrietycoachcom . Well , that wraps up today's episode of the Catholic Subriety Mini-Sode . Thank you so much for joining me and please be sure to subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss a thing . And remember I am here for you , I am praying for you . You are not alone .