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December 26, 2015

Conscious Drinking: 5 Ways to Happier (& Healthier) Holidays.

courtesy of author, saskia griffiths

Let’s bring our yoga practice to the table this season for a shining New Year.

Fact: Yogis drink.

Many modern-day yoga teachers living in the West are more like bridges sharing a prophet’s knowledge than enlightened gurus living a monastic life.

A lot of hip yoga teachers and practitioners don’t deprive themselves of the fun or separate themselves from the crowd. They like to embrace all that life has to offer and be an active player in society. Because being enlightened all the time means being an angel all the time, and being an angel all the time means not embracing our fun-loving little devil sides.

Our devil side is part of us. It’s a balancing act between the two—the dark and the light, this whole game of life.

So, how can we participate in the fun of the holidays and alter our state of mind consciously with a bottle of bubbles?

You know the tipping point. When we drink or take substances to numb feelings or escape thoughts. When we get to the point where the thought we’d usually have with a sober mind starts to change shape and our usual boundaries become a little too flexible and grey areas start to appear in our perception. It often creates situations where the next day we’re not so proud of our words or actions.

There’s also the price to pay for unconscious decisions: “Was I consciously saying “yes” to one more?” “Did I remember to have an honest check in with myself?”

Banging dehydrated brain (a.k.a. hangover).

Balance in our society is not about not being part of it; being a saint on a cloud is easy, but finding balance is allowing our fun-loving devils to dance through the festivities without losing our angels’ light embrace.

Happy Holiday Tips:

1. We can be super indulgent and have two glasses on the go: our bevi of choice and a glass of H20. Keeping our system watered will ensure that our bodies will ride the fun tides more fluidly. We’ll feel so much better for it the next day if we drink a big glass of water before bed and another one when we wake up.

2. Having some good Vitamin B complex handy will help our brains rehydrate.

3. Getting our sweat on the next day will help the toxins out.

4. Twisting will help our livers flush. We can forget inversions with a hangover—they will only intensify our headaches!

5. When we don’t judge others for their decisions, not only do they feel free to find their own way in their own time, but we also feel so much more joyful for loving and accepting each soul as they come.

May we let the fun flow and not lose our minds. When we lose our minds, we lose our shine. Our sparkle and light is the greatest gift we have to share with our loved ones!

~

Relephant Read:

Drinking Alcohol: A Big No-No for Serious Yogis?

~

Author: Saskia Griffiths

Editor: Toby Israel

Image: Jadon Barnes/Unsplash // Author’s own

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