Originally Posted by
kanamit 
I have a question: once someone has been practicing AVRT for some time do you sometimes forget that you use it? Right now, for me, I think about it a lot as it's a relatively new thing and I'm still honing it. While it is very simple I wouldn't yet describe it as effortless as I have to keep screening my thoughts for Beast activity.
I hadn't discovered AVRT when I quit, so I had no name for the voice in my head. My beast was skillful and cunning. It was 6 weeks in before I could drive home from work without being reminded that the liquor store was just a quick left turn across that parking lot. Over the next several months I heard the voice less and less, but I kept my visual reminders around me.
At about 6 months in I accidentally googled RR. I incorporated AVRT into my thought processes and never looked back. My beast still tries me from time to time. It's almost always when I'm tired, frustrated, and/or angry on my way home from work. "You've had such a hard day and you work so hard. You deserve something to take the edge off."
Edit: Sorry for the long-winded answer. AVRT is rarely a conscious thought for me. I must attend business functions where cocktails are served and I have also been to reunions and parties that included alcohol. I still ramp up my beast radar in those environments and probably always will.