How to Put Mindful Drinking on Your 2021 List
Who’s ready for a “new habits” plan for the year ahead?
For many wine lovers, this can include reducing alcohol as a healthy way to reset for the year ahead. Not much of a Dry January believer myself, January is when I reevaluate my relationship with wine and drinking, and how it plays into my career and personal time.
If you find your drinking habits can get a little slippery, you might also find it helpful to consider your relationship with alcohol and how it fits into your year ahead. How does it turn up in your life? Do you turn to its comforts in difficult times? How does that excess sneak in when you least expect it, outside of “work”?
Then, consider how a more mindful approach to drinking may fit into your lifestyle.
Maybe it fits under the headline of “be healthier,” or “drink less.”
Maybe it’s a commitment to taking a day a week off from wine, as a spin on “Meatless Mondays.”
Maybe it’s limiting your consumption to half bottle, or else decanting that open bottle into a half bottle to reduce your temptation. (For great half bottle ideas, you can check out VinePair’s recent piece on great wines in small format bottles.) Or you can take only one bottle out of the fridge for dinner, and make an agreement with your dinner companion to limit only to one.
Like any meaningful action, a commitment to changing a relationship with anything takes time. Setting a solid foundation is critical to good movement forward. And part of that is making space to reflect, consider and make a plan. Otherwise it’s like starting a diet without knowing what you are allergic to, or a yoga practice without compensating for pre-existing injuries.
Once you have your wish list of changes to make, break it down into micro tasks and achievable actions that you can take, and name them.
Setting goals and setting a solid foundation is not a one-time deal. We try something out, fall over, and get back up to begin again. Over and over. As the team at Greater Good Science Center call it, the BTN goal (better than nothing) goal is a great place to start in your “new habits” agenda.
What do you do next with this commitment to your own health and mindful drinking?
Put it somewhere prominent, such as where you keep your wine glasses or on the fridge as a (not so) subtle reminder when you reach for the next pour.
You can also share your goals to hold yourself accountable. Being held accountable is a powerful motivation to stick to a plan, and if you need help, you have more than 1500 industry friends right here who “get you” and are willing to cheerlead.
Need inspiration for how to manage your drinking in a mindful way? Or need inspiration for those days you are not drinking ? Here are five books on the shelf that we can recommend:
The Drinking Woman's Diet: A Liver-Friendly Lifestyle Guide - Wendy Narby (EU)
How to Drink without Drinking: Celebratory alcohol-free drinks for any time of the day - Fiona Beckett (UK)
How to Be a Mindful Drinker: Cut Down, Take a Break, or Quit – Club Soda.com (UK)
The Alcohol Experiment – 30 Days to take control, cut down, or give up for good – Annie Grace (US)
Good Drinks: Alcohol-Free Recipes for When You're Not Drinking for Whatever Reason – Julia Bainbridge (US)
Unless you are planning to change careers, wine and drinking will continue to be a part of your life in a professional capacity. Creating a plan for how you manage your consumption mindfully will help you to stay healthy for the long term.
As some countries begin to loosen COVID-related restrictions (like in New Zealand and Australia), and events and gatherings resume, having a mindful drinking game plan now it will make it easier to resist the temptation to overindulge when things start to open up again for business in the future.
Let’s face it. Even the thought of community connection, tasting and exploring wines, and the ability to gather sets the stage for a few of us slipping into old, less mindful, habits. Get a plan started early.
And if you slip or stumble, no problem, just start over. More than ever, a ton of self-compassion is critical right now, and while we are often reminded to be kind to others, remember to be kind to yourself.
For some readers in the Southern hemisphere, the annual grape harvest is starting, so this is also a timely reminder to keep your own wellbeing top of mind, stay healthy and alert through harvest. Keep an eye on each other. Above all, know this community is here to support you in any way that you need.
Namaste,
Beck
What We're Reading:
Here's what has piqued our interest this week in the world of wine and mindfulness.
Six Ways to ‘Reboot Your Brain’ After a Hard Year of COVID-19, According to Science, by Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian, Christelle Langley and Jianfeng Feng for The Conversation
Chronic stress changes the brain. We need to snap out of destructive habits and get our energy levels back. Here are six evidenced-based ways to change our brains for the better.
5 Wellness Trends to Watch in 2021, by Katherine Wernet for Mind Body Online
More than four in ten Americans say the pandemic has affected their physical health, and 45 percent say it’s negatively impacted their weight. More than half say it’s negatively affected their mental wellbeing. In 2021, we can refill the tank.
New Year’s Resolutions from Industry Leaders, by Rachel Tepper Paley for SevenFifty Daily
Drinks professionals share their 2021 goals—and how they plan to achieve them
How Black Parents Survived 2020, by Dani McClain for The New York Times
The year’s reckonings were a sign that more Americans seemed to be acknowledging the discriminations and dangers Black people have faced for generations.
Meet the Community!
Here we meet some of the talented folks who make our community and profession so dynamic.
Image supplied
Amy Gross, CEO & Founder, VineSleuth/ Wine4.Me (Texas, USA)
Years in the Industry:
12 years. I started kicking around the idea for VineSleuth technology in late 2009, after a visit to Napa as a tourist. I finally began work in earnest on our learning algorithm with an applied mathematician in late 2010 then working with the sensory scientists at Cornell University and winemakers in the Finger Lakes to build out and test our wine analysis methodology along with the algorithm in 2012. In 2015, I began speaking about data integrity, digital personalization at scale and AI on behalf of IBM globally, and 2019 brought our first beer analysis and client and Master Brewer Michael “Mufasa” Ferguson joined the team. (Oh my goodness is he incredible!!)
It’s been a long, slow climb with moments of exhilaration and, of course, deep questions. One prominent gentleman in our industry told me a few years back that there is no way I could succeed at this and that I should stop.
“It’s like climbing Mt. Everest, Amy,” he said. “So many die on the way. Your company won’t make it.”
Well, I’m still climbing. And I’m feeling pretty good about the year and years ahead, especially as our industry is finally beginning to embrace digital solutions. In 2019 when I visited the south base camp of Mt. Everest, you had better believe I took a picture.
My Top Three Challenges to Wellness Are:
Time I want to do ALL THE FUN THINGS, and then there is this business I am running and a family I love, so there is only so much time. Travel used to take up a lot of time, but with that gone, it’s been easier to be more disciplined and to use my time more wisely. Plus, with the discovery of the Peloton app, exercise has become easier and a lot more fun, and now it is more of a priority.
Family Meal Planning With three teens and a husband whose favorite food just may be pepperoni and sausage pizza, it’s not easy planning meals that fit my nutrition goals and their interests. But it’s happening... Most of the days, anyway.
I love delicious food and wine! Like most of you reading this, delicious food and wine is a love and also a part of my business. I hosted 23 virtual wine tastings for a client in December. Of course I sipped right along with my guests and then enjoyed other wines when celebrating with my family and with dinner. Balancing that is TOUGH!
How I Keep It Together to Stay Well:
I budget at least 30 minutes of every morning for reading the Bible, praying and reflecting on it. I even lead full-Bible read throughs on my personal blog, MomsToolbox.com. That is super fulfilling!
I budget at least 30 minutes a day of exercise. I discovered the Peloton app on Easter Sunday this year and have not missed one day. Most days I cycle, but I also add yoga, strength and a mix of running and walking to my schedule.
I drink a LOT of water and have since I was a teen (and that was a long time ago!) I don’t track it, I just drink it all day long.
I try to be honest with myself about my capabilities and priorities… which is not always easy. I want to be able to do EVERYTHING, but, alas, that’s not possible. Hence the prayer and reflection time. :)
What Inspires Me:
I love learning about others who have done amazing things. I’ve met some fantastic women and mentors through Women for WineSense. Their founders, one of whom has become a mentor and a dear friend of mine, were the driving force behind that 60 Minutes story on the French Paradox which positively impacted the US wine industry as, perhaps, nothing else. They continue to promote the industry and women within it, in such positive ways.
Esther, from the Old Testament book that bears her name, was a rock star in discipline and acting in truth... and she saved a whole nation. She inspires me.
A Quote I Love:
“But I am like an olive tree
flourishing in the house of God;
I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever.
I will praise you forever for what you have done.
In your name I will hope, for your name is good.”
You can connect with Amy on LinkedIn Instagram @amy_c_gross YouTube and the VineSleuth website.
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Sharing Events from our Global ABG Community.
Tuesday January 19, 9am PST | 12pm EST
Breaking the Silence. Confronting Harassment in the Hospitality Industry
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