So much has happened on this sobriety journey of mine over the past year that I no longer consider it a journey. Besides being an overused word to describe such things, journey doesn’t begin to describe the trip I’m experiencing. I’d rather use the word adventure. I’m on a sober adventure. And know this because the twists and turns have presented me with an unexpected opportunity to build myself a rather excellent sobriety toolbox.
Applying effort is more than just reading a book on recovery; it is about bringing some of the tools that have been suggested into action.
– Valerie Mason-John
In fact, the sobriety toolbox I have assembled is one of extraordinary power and utility. From day to day, I never know which tools or combination thereof I’ll use tackle alcohol, food, or other cravings and compulsions.
That’s why it’s so important to have assembled such a robust collection of sobriety tools. Each tool serves a unique purpose. They’ve been tested individually and in combination. And the best part? I keep discovering new sober tools and combinations all the time!
In this blog, I’ll introduce the reader to the tools in the order I discovered or considered them, explain how I use each, and the special place they occupy in my sobriety toolbox.
The Original Sobriety Tool: Alcoholics Anonymous
In 1935, Bill Wilson and Robert Smith (aka Dr. Bob), both alcoholics at the time, founded what later came to be known as AA or Alcoholics Anonymous. And I would say that AA is more than a sober tool but a sobriety toolbox in its own right!
As I talk about in my very first blog post, my binge drinking and pot smoking had reached all time highs (pun intended) during the covid pandemic. I was pretty sure I had gotten myself into a deep predicament alcohol and drug abuse-wise. So I first considered going to some AA meetings. The idea was to take advantage of an ‘off the shelf’ sober toolbox.
The AA sobriety toolbox consists of 12 steps:
- Honesty – We admit we are powerless over alcohol
- Faith – Believe a power greater than ourselves will restore us
- Surrender – Turn ourselves over to God and ask for His help
- Soul Searching – Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
- Integrity – Admit to God and another person our wrongs
- Acceptance – We accept our shortcomings
- Humility – We humbly ask God to remove our shortcomings
- Willingness – List the people we have harmed and be willing to make amends
- Forgiveness – Make amends wherever possible
- Maintenance – Continue to take personal inventory and stay out of denial
- Making Contact – Using prayer and meditation to improve
- Service – Bring this message to others
Of course, even though this list vastly simplifies the rich toolset that is AA (you find can their whole sobriety toolbox here), one can presume that those who use these 12 tools regularly are far more likely to succeed than those who don’t.
Ultimately, I decided to take a different approach than AA. And my sober adventure soon led me to meditation.
The Power of Meditation in Sobriety
In my experience, the power of daily mindfulness meditation cannot be understated! If you’re a regular visitor the the Return on Sobriety blog, you’ve likely read about meditation’s impact on my daily marijuana habit.
If not, let me recap it for you here.
I had been smoking pot daily for over 20 years. Probably closer to 25 years, and regularly for around 35 years. When I started meditating, I did so with the goal of reducing my drinking. And I’ve certainly achieved that! But I never intended to quit smoking pot. Not at all… But that’s what happened.
At around 35 days of daily meditation, I simply lost the desire to smoke or consume marijuana and tossed it all over my back fence! It’s almost a year later and I’ve never looked back. I didn’t understand what happened, so I’d tell friends that ‘pot quit me’, which it did. But now I think I know why: Anandamide!
Also, known as the ‘bliss molecule’, anandamide is a naturally occuring neurochemical that binds to the same brain receptors as THC, the active ingredient in cannabis. In fact, it stimulates the reward circuitry of the brain in a very similar manner. Had meditation simply cranked up my body’s production of anandamide? Evidence suggests it very well might have. Either way, I’m done with pot, and that’s a huge bonus!!
Meditation is a tool I take out of my sobriety toolbox and use every single day. It was and continues to be a gamechanger for me.
The Journaling Sobriety Tool
Another powerful addition to my sobriety toolbox is journaling. Journaling, like meditation, has had an outsized impact on redefining my relationship with alcohol.
I write about journaling a lot on this blog. In fact, this blog was born out of my daily journal, starting with Day Zero where I discuss how to Make Sobriety Sexy. So how can you use journaling as an effective sober tool?
- Writing down your thoughts, goals, and transgressions allows for deep introspection
- Set a drinking goal – This may be one drink, two, or none at all
- Journal your drinking – Tracking how much or little you are drinking is a powerful motivator to drink less or not at all
- Choose alcohol-free days – And use your journal to explore your feelings, cravings, and challenges
- Write about whatever comes to mind – you might be surprised at what ‘appears’ through your pen
- Be consistent – Staying with anything new is key to developing enduring and life changing habits
For me, journaling is where I track how many sober days I string together at a stretch. It’s also where I reflect upon my falling down and work through issues so I can pick myself back up. Nothing is off limits in my journal. It’s a place of refuge, self discovery, and reflection. It’s where I toss all my dirty emotional laundry on the floor, sort through it, and get it cleaned up. Emotional baggage be gone!
Pharmacological Tools
While I haven’t gone down this road, it’s nice knowing that it’s an option. A good friend of mine has had tremendous success combining therapy and pharma to kick his drinking habit. If you’d like to cut right to the chase, WebMD has a pre-assembled sobriety toolbox that’ll get ‘er done:
- Disulfiram – changes the way your body breaks down alcohol. If you drink while taking it, you get sick. And because you get sick, you’re probably not going to drink as much or at all
- Naltrexone – this drug decouples alcohol from pleasure, so getting drunk just doesn’t feel good
- Acamprosate – eases withdrawal symptoms like insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, etc
- Other Medications – gabapentin and topiramate help people with cravings so they don’t drink or drink less
According to WebMD:
“While some of these medications have been around for decades, fewer than 10% of the people who could benefit from them use them.“
It goes without saying that if pill popping is your thing, popping pills to reduce your alcohol addiction may not be the best tool to toss in your sobriety toolbox. But having these options available in our toolbox, along with medical oversight to ensure proper usage, can be a powerful option for some. If you’ve heard of the Sinclair Method, you may already be familiar with this sobriety toolset as it employs the decoupling power of Naltrexone to rob drinking of all its euphoria and fun. Sinclair Method is one of the only tools available where you continue drinking as you begin the program.
Hobbies, Hobbies, Hobbies
One of the biggest traps lying in wait to ensnare your sobriety is BOREDOM! It’s amazing how much time free’s up when you stop drinking! Now you need to fill it up. That’s why I added a whole host of new hobbies to my sobriety toolbox.
At first, I was simply looking for distractions. Little did I know that many of these hobbies would become passions of mine. Some of my most impactful sober hobbies include journaling, reading (I’ve read 50 books in the last 12 months), playing guitar, blogging, hiking, meditating, metal detecting at the beach, and yoga.
I find that I get the most pleasure when I’m being creative or spending time in nature. You may be interested in different things. That’s great! Variety is what makes the world go ’round and is the spice of life.
The most important thing is that you find hobbies that are completely engrossing. Things that occupy your full attention and that you can’t wait to do. What you chose is unimportant so long as it fulfills you and provides the necessary distraction (and growth) to aid in keeping you clean and sober.
EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique
EFT is the latest addition to my sobriety toolbox. I discovered it as I was reading Mind To Matter by Dawson Church.
EFT, or Emotional Freedom Technique, is an evidence based tool that helps reduce anxiety and stress and promotes calm in the body and mind.
It is based on activating acupressure points on one’s body by tapping on them. Hence, this tool is often referred to simply as ‘tapping’. EFT is such a rich topic, that I can’t do it justice in a list blog post such as this. So, I encourage you to visit EFT Universe, if you’d like to learn more about how EFT can help with addiction, eating disorders, trauma, and other emotional issues.
Frankly, while meditation and related tools like R.A.I.N. relieved me of a longtime pot addiction and have helped me reduce my drinking, EFT offers additional benefits in a simpler, more effective, package.
In just a few short weeks of tapping, I’ve dramatically cut both alcohol and sugar from my diet. In fact, just the other evening, I had a strong urge to drink. So I tapped before cracking my first beer.
The first thing I noticed was that the beer tasted a little ‘off’. That’s the best I can describe it. It simply didn’t taste quite as good as usual. Thinking it was the style of beer (lager), I switched to my favorite: IPA. About halfway through that IPA, I began to feel a bit disgusted, so I dumped the rest of it down the sink.
The next night when I went out to the garage fridge to grab a tonic water, I saw the beer sitting there and felt a little nauseous. It was not only unappealing, but actually offputting. In fact, I’m feeling nauseated remembering the experience as I write this.
I’m planning on writing an EFT specific blog as I get more experience using it, so stay tuned to see how this latest sobriety tool works for me over the long run.
Building Your Sobriety Toolbox
If you have some tools or ideas, please share them in the comments below. I’m excited to continue on my sobriety adventure and to find new tools to add to my toolbox. As I do, I’ll share them here. Hopefully this blog gives you some useful ideas to keep you going strong on your own journey.
What’s in your toolbox?
