Hi Kaily The purpose of shifting is it is an exercise in recognizing what are your thoughts and feelings and what are ITs thoughts and feelings on drinking, thus helping you to seperate you from IT.
When imagining using let the Beast come out, it will like the thoughts of using it will "remember" the pleasure. Then you "switch" to you , you allow yourself to be disgusted by the vile stuff that poisoned you and held you prisoner in a chemical jail.
This difference you feel in the two attitudes helps you differentiation yourself from IT. This makes it easier, when the AV strikes to recognize them as Beast thoughts and feeling not yours
It's not you that can't remember the bad stuff about drinking and romanticising the first few sips it is IT. Remember, the Beast is nothing but a perverted survival drive it has no higher thinking functions. IT uses your higher thinking functions through the AV. It will only use your higher thinking functions though, to get you to give IT the alcohol. So when the AV uses your memory, it will only pick out the bits of memory which will persuade you to drink.
IT will bring up all the pleasant memories of drinking. IT is hardly likely to persuade you to drink if it pulls forward the memories of you puking in the bed, feeling ill, thinking you are going to die and feeling helpless and pathetic through drinking is it? So IT only pulls forward the pleasant feelings of drinking.
YOU are the one who has the full picture of the aftermath of a binge at your recall.
Once you can separate you from IT you will know, any pleasant thoughts feeling or images of drinking are coming from IT and IT is biased towards alcohol so will never show you the full picture. IT will use any and all of your all mental facilities, but only with the intention of of showing drinking in a GOOD light. IT needs that alcohol. IT is a perverted survival drive, IT thinks your body needs it to survive. But IT is mistaken.
YOU know the full picture, the alcohol will kill you. At the very least it will take away your life while you are still living (shudder)
So shifting, isn't allowing yourself to wallow in the joys of drinking, it's an exercise in recognizing the split between you and IT
Once you have yourself and the Beast separated in your mind, recognising ITs voice, the AV is easy.