ccam1973

You're doing great Blueberry. Keep coming here and posting. The worst thing you could do right now is drink. When I am that close to caving, I always play it forward in my mind... if i drink today, I will feel terrible in the morning, by noon I will cave again and start drinking to stave off the bad feeling, I will be totally drunk by dinner time so I just won't eat and keep drinking until I pass out. Feeling the same the next morning I will start a little earlier than noon and repeat for days, months...

Bottom line, you don't need to drink. Absolutely nothing good will come from it. Do anything that you can to stay strong and divert your attention.

You can do this, stay in control of your thoughts and your reactions to those thoughts.

Keep leaning on us.

jryan19982

yoga, working out, being outside, getting your heart rate up, deep breathing, have all helped my stress level... but most importantly its not drinking.

Dee74

There are some good ideas here blueberry:
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...44-stress.html

PurpleKnight

Hang in there Blueberry, stress is one of those things that needs managed I find, as stress free life isn't on the cards sometimes.

When I get home from work I go for a long walk in the fresh air, ipod in and just clear my head, but I also have found cutting the overall stress on my mind/body to be a great long term approach, more sleep, less caffeine, more exercise, more fluids, better diet, these all can have a big impact in the long term.

But always remember that alcohol is not a long term solution, we can't keep drinking every day we feel stress, where is that going to lead? and what is that going to solve?

You can do this Blueberry!!

mns1

Mindfulness practice has really helped me deal with stress. Being aware of my thoughts and how they are manifested physically. That is, when you are feeling anxious or stressed out, are you feeling any physical sensation? And where in your body are you feeling the sensation? Also questioning why you are experincing a certain thought or feeling. What caused you to feel or think this way? And is this thought or feeling really a rational way to react to the situation?

Most of the time, I find that my own reactions to many situations are kind of ridiculous! I've really learned how to let things go must faster.

I must admit this takes practice and I have far from mastered it. But I have been at it long enough to be pretty calm no matter how chaotic life is around me.