Sarah had been to a cocktail bar and had a delicious non alcoholic cocktail or mocktail. Deli had enjoyed a delicious virgin mojito at a restaurant and also shared her Slimming World recipe for fake Pimm’s. Lots of people had a ‘go-to’ delicious drink – often soda based in a big glass with lots of ice and fresh fruit or other non alcoholic flavourings. Clare mentioned Kev’s description of the ‘hit’ of cold fizz at the back of the throat that is so delicious and which we can miss. His solution was fizzy mineral water and lots of ice.
Clare mentioned Club Soda – they have the fake Pimms recipe on their website. Clare has been in contact with them and they may feature in a future podcast.
There are differing views on non-alcoholic drinks, mocktails and other drinks suitable for recovering addicts. Clare had a fake gin so like the real thing it had just made her think of drinking real gin! Deli had got so used to Fake Pimmis she’d forgotten what real Pimm’s tasted like and found it satisfying enough she didn’t drink much. Â
Other ideas are coffee mocktails – addicts like coffee! Also passionfruit or lime and soda – always with loads of ice for the ‘hit’.
The discussion moved on to holidays and parties. Those of us with children could attest to the fact that they’ll respect our boundaries and we never have to tidy up their glasses and bottles – having clear boundaries pays off. We have to plan and keep to our known strategies to keep ourselves safe. Thankfully our loved ones respect us and observe our rules. Even though they sometimes surprise us by how little they actually drink – we are baffled at the concept of ‘leftover’ alcohol- we never had that!!
Dancing is a good way for us to socialise and we dance more for drinking less! Many options – ecstatic dancing, five rhythms and other groups where you can dance your socks off without having to drink. We all agreed that there’s a healing power in dance and enough ways in our area that we can choose our style!
Sober socialising has the joy of remembering what you did for fun! Sarah had been to the Spiegeltent and found herself in line for audience participation – she loved taking part in the card trick and can relish the memory without embarrassment or regret.
Lynne had been to a sober rave and felt ‘proper righteous’ the next morning as well she should!
Kev called while we were talking about this and we took the opportunity to ask him about ‘coming’ down from sober fun, ie: when he comes off stage after a performance (that’s him in the pic on stage in Rock of Ages). His first recommendation was to embrace and enjoy the natural high – it’s not going to last as long as a drunken or drug fuelled one but it will be enjoyable and you don’t need to come down with a crash, he then likes to have a hot shower, relax with a snack, read or watch TV and let the natural high dissipate. Then go to bed.
After a delicious lunch we sat down to review Step 1 in Back To Basics with Wally P. Just as we were finishing and reflecting, we were joined by Glen and Justin and Jo B, new visitors to our recovery hub. Our conversations continued and several of us recalled how, when we began our recovery, we would worry about ‘what will I do at Christmas?’ or ‘will I be able to go to weddings?’. Lynne said we need always to stop thinking about forever or whatever and just think about today!