In this episode, I'm diving into how to conquer those intense cravings for alcohol, sex, food… you name it! Drawing from the works of Judson Brewer and Holly Whitaker, I'll introduce you to the RASINS acronym. We’ll walk through each step together, so grab your notepad and let's ride this wave!
Plus, I’ll share a sneak peek of Tara Brach's RAIN method and a heartwarming Cherokee parable about balancing our inner wolves.
Tune in for tips that make cravings less scary and more manageable!
Are you ready to drink 95% less in 30 days without committing to the nevers, forevers, and always so you can have more time and freedom to create a life that you love? Fill out this brief application to schedule a free 30-minute call.
Love the show? Leave a 5-star review, and let me know what hit home for you.
In this episode, I'm diving into how to conquer those intense cravings for alcohol, sex, food… you name it! Drawing from the works of Judson Brewer and Holly Whitaker, I'll introduce you to the RASINS acronym. We’ll walk through each step together, so grab your notepad and let's ride this wave!
Plus, I’ll share a sneak peek of Tara Brach's RAIN method and a heartwarming Cherokee parable about balancing our inner wolves.
Tune in for tips that make cravings less scary and more manageable!
Are you ready to drink 95% less in 30 days without committing to the nevers, forevers, and always so you can have more time and freedom to create a life that you love? Fill out this brief application to schedule a free 30-minute call.
Love the show? Leave a 5-star review, and let me know what hit home for you.
Who here has a hard time saying no to a craving, that intense feeling that we get in our mind and our body saying, I want the thing that I want right now. Like Veruca's salt from Willy Wonka. Well, in today's episode, I will teach you how to surf the urge, how to ride the wave of a craving so it can be more easeful and skillful, and you don't have to be afraid of cravings. See you in today's episode. Let's dive right in. Who here has had a craving, a craving for alcohol or sex or intimacy or food or sweets, or just connection. We have all had a craving. It's that intense and urgent desire or longing for something. And it sends off. All of these feelings in our body, all of these thoughts within our brain. And in today's episode, we are going to talk about how we can surf this urge, how we can ride the wave of a craving and not give into it and use it as a beautiful opportunity for us to stretch and grow and learn more about ourselves. To explain this first acronym, I'm using the work of Judson Brewer and Holly Whitaker. Judson Brewer is an MD, PhD, and his work is in the field of habit change and the science of self mastery. I'm also going to reference the work of Holly Whitaker. She created, and is the author of the book, Quit Like a Woman, the radical choice not to drink in a culture obsessed with alcohol. So I'm going to marry both of their work to share with you the first acronym, which is RASINS. R A S I N S. And I'm going to go through each one of these letters, and I would love for you to pull out your notes on your phone or write this down somewhere, because when we need a tool, we aren't going to run back and shuffle through our library podcast to try to, first off, remember which podcast spoke about this. And then if we do find it, then go to the episode, open it up and fast forward it to the part that is meaningful to us. So I highly suggest and invite you to stop what you're doing, grab a notepad, grab the note section in your phone and write down the acronym R A S I N S. And we will walk through each step of the way. If you want to put this on a notepad, you can have it in your bathroom, in the kitchen, on your refrigerator, in your car, in your wallet, anywhere where you'll be able to see it easily. When you have a craving, this will help you walk through it. And with practice, it will be so easy and you'll become so skillful at it that a craving will no longer scare you. You actually will love a craving because you know, you aren't going to D I E if you have one and you know will come and go quickly. So let's dive right in. So the R of RASINS stands for recognize. The first thing we're going to do when we have a craving is recognize that we're having a craving. We're going to say it out loud. We're going to say, dang, I have a craving for a drink right now, or I have a craving for a donut right now. I am experiencing a craving, right? It sounds so simple, but typically we're going about our lives and we have these big sensations, these big feelings in our body, this big draw or longing for something. And we don't even take the moment to recognize that it's happening. We let our lives play out instead of being the choreographer of our life. Next, what we're going to do is allow. So step two is allow the craving to be there. And this is counterintuitive because usually we want to just push the craving aside or just give into it, right? Because typically cravings don't feel great. That desire and longing doesn't feel good in the body. We want to itch the scratch if you will, but we're going to be big girls here and we're going to put our big girl pants on and we are going to allow for the craving to exist without pushing it away and without giving into it. Step number three. We are going to set aside the story. This is extremely important. Because what stories do you think come up when we have a craving? The stories of, I have no willpower. I knew this was going to happen. I'm so weak. Whatever the struggle or lie is, will come in at this moment. We are going to set aside that story. Because when we attach the story to it, we sit within the craving. It will heighten and it will not dissipate. It will get bigger and bigger and bigger. So we are going to set aside the story. So if the story comes up, like I have no willpower, that is the thing that we are going to move to the side. That is the thing that we are going to step over because the story is the thing that will keep you stuck. The story is what keeps you living in the past and inhibits growth. So we're going to set it aside, set aside whatever story is wrapped up in this craving, and then we're going to move on to investigate, the I in Rasin. Investigate what is happening in your body when you have this craving. Because remember, our mind and body are connected. We so often forget that in medicine. In Western medicine, they like to look at them as separate parts, but no, our mind and bodies are connected and the body is telling you something. It gives us extremely valuable information if we pay attention. So feel into where the craving is in the body. Is it in the jaw area? Are you getting headaches? Do you get blurred vision or tightening in the heart space area or, or this flipping around in your stomach or like a knot in your stomach? Just notice it and feel it. And then step number five is you're going to name the sensation. So grab a pen and paper when you have the sensation, because it can be really important to take note of this. But if you don't have that around, no worries. Just put it in your head. Is you are going to name the sensation. My jaw feels tight right now when I'm craving alcohol. My jaw feels tight right now when I'm craving sugar. I'm distracted and I can't concentrate when I'm craving sugar. I'm irritated and the irritation is manifesting as a headache in my body when I want alcohol. Name the sensation and write it down. Writing it down can kind of get us out of our head. That's why it's so important because then we can just do stream of consciousness where we're just kind of writing down what's coming through. And it's also so good to take note of what's happening. Cause typically it's going to be the same thing that happens later, or it's happened in the past. So you can start recognizing what the patterns are. So those will be your red flags. If you're having it, you're like, Oh, I know what's about to happen here. And now we'll move on to step number six. And this is the part where you surf the craving. You surf the urge, you ride the wave, you ride the sensation. So the sensation will be in your body. So I have a craving and it's within my chest area and that craving will intensify and it will get larger and bigger and that desire and longing will peak and then you'll notice it will dissipate. I even recommend you timing this out because you'll notice. That the first time it may take a little bit longer for it to dissipate, the next time it doesn't take quite as long, but eventually you're able to surf the urge, ride the wave pretty quickly, really well. You'll become really proficient at it where you won't need any of these other parts, where you don't need to grab your pen and paper, you won't have to have the acronym on your wall because you've practiced so much how to ride this wave. That you become really good at it. And we learn so much faster through being aware and pushing and leaning into the discomfort that we have. When we can stretch ourselves and stay present in the stretch. That's where the true learning occurs. That's where those neural networks are laid and get stronger and stronger. And when we recognize that we don't die, even though we're uncomfortable, this is true growth. This is so important. This helps us settle our nervous system. It helps us feel safer in our bodies. And this is when we become really skilled at not drinking or not giving into other urges and cravings. You've become really skilled at drinking, right? We need to learn these skills of not drinking, of not giving into urges and cravings. And another shorter acronym that I would love to share, mainly because I absolutely love Tara Brach. If you don't know who she is, she blends Western psychology and Eastern spiritual practices. She has a podcast of her own. She hosts talks and meditations on her podcast that will break your heart wide open. At least they break my heart wide open. I absolutely adore her. She has a meditation based on her acronym RAIN, R A I N. I have a meditation that I've created that's adapted from the RAIN meditation and the RAIN acronym that I'll share as a bonus on Thursday. So the same week that this podcast episode is out, there'll be a meditation popping up as a bonus. So keep an eye out for that. But the acronym that she uses, RAIN, Is to bring mindfulness and compassion to difficult emotions. So the R stands for recognize, the A stands for allow, the I stands for investigate, and the N stands for nurture. So the recognizing, recognizing that we're having a craving or an emotion. Naming that emotion, allowing that emotion to be there. So not pushing it away, investigating where that emotion lies in our body. And then she has this end for nurture because she says, giving loving light around that feeling around that emotion. And so what we do is we transmute the feeling through love and tenderness and care, instead of ignoring it, we allow it to be there and be present. And when we do that, then it dissipates on its own by just giving it that attention and love that it wants and desires. And this reminds me of this Cherokee parable about two wolves. And there are two endings to this parable, so I'll share both with you. So, first off, it's this grandson talking to his grandfather, and his grandfather is telling him, Grandson, there are two wolves at war inside of you. One of them is a dark wolf, and he's full of rage, and anger, and shame, and hatred. And there's another wolf, a light wolf inside of you, who is full of love and happiness and joy and connection and peace. And the grandson says, well, which one wins granddad? And the granddad replies, the one you feed. The second ending to this parable says, well, granddad, which one wins? And he says, both of them. You feed both of them. Because if you don't feed the dark wolf, he will always be lurking behind the corners, in the darkness, waiting for you to be weak and feeble, and then he'll pounce. But if you feed both of them, they will both be happy because they will both be seen. As always, I hope you enjoyed this episode. Please share this or go to Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts and give me a five star review. This way it will get in front of more people. I will see you next time. Do you think that moderation or mindful drinking is the gold standard? Well, and next week's episode, I am going to talk about the five moderation myth busters. So join me there. If you are ever thinking about if moderation is for you, see you then.