Stop Over-drinking and Start Living

This podcast episode discusses some common difficult emotions and what they might be trying to tell us. We need our feelings to tell us important information. If we continue to douse our feelings with alcohol, scrolling, or anything else that helps us avoid discomfort, we lose the ability to know what we actually need and instead now, rely on things outside of ourselves for comfort, which can lead...

Today's podcast is the final part of the 3-part series where i teach my proven technique to interrupt automatic behavior (drinking, over-eating, reacting, etc) called Stop-Notice-Process aka SNP. I am guiding you through the 3rd step called Process. You'll want to have context to what I am teaching you today, so please listen to part 1 and part 2 if you haven't already. You can find those links he...

Today's podcast is a continuation of a 3-part podcast series where I teach my proven technique to interrupt automatic behavior (drinking, over-eating, reacting, etc) called  Stop-Notice-Process. I am diving into the Noticing. If you haven't listened to the 1st step, Stopping, please do so before listening to this. You can listen to that here: https://www.angelamascenik.com/podcasts/stop-over-...

Please listen for updates on Alive AF! and Sober October.. and what's coming at the end of October! And I am dissecting the 1st step in my signature way to interrupt our automatic behavior with drinking. It's STOPPING. We think this should be easy and simple and it can be, but you need to be conscious that you are making a decision and then stopping and becoming aware of the decision you are makin...

With October right around the corner, I thought I’d bring back this podcast rewind for anyone considering doing Sober October. Please enjoy: Yesterday, I hosted a live session—Sober October: How to Take a 30-Day Break and Truly Enjoy It—and over 100 women tuned in, ready to feel better. If you missed it, don’t worry! In the class, I cover : How to take a 30-day break  without  white-knuc...

This is a fun one! I share what the pink cloud feeling is when you quit drinking and how you can get it. The pink cloud is like 'having your head in the clouds' it feels like elation, joy, gratitude, aliveness and nothing can bring you down during this time. You are so grateful for how you feel, you compare and contrast before with drinking to now with not. It's a common expression in the recovery...

400 Episodes of the Stop Over-drinking and Start Living Podcast!! WOW. I started this podcast way back in 2018.. and now here we are 8 years later and 400 episodes. This episode is going to help you understand why just planning isn't the tool that will save you at 5:00 pm on a Tuesday when your brain is whining to you about a glass of wine. Planning is A tool, but not the only one. We need to look...

This podcast is sweet little reminder that change follows the exact path it does. It's the beginning of a new season for a lot of us.. kids back to school, perhaps cooler weather settling in.. maybe a slight color change to the leaves, if you really slow down and notice. What if you allowed the change you are working on to take the time it takes? What would happen if you stopped comparing yourself...

"I know all the things." I hear this constantly. On calls, in my membership. She's read all the quit-lit. She's listened to hundreds of podcast episodes. She's done therapy, maybe twice. She can name her triggers and explain her own drinking patterns better than most professionals could. And she is still pouring a glass at five o'clock. Here's the thing about that.. at the moment, nobody is reflec...

If you want to stop over-drinking but you keep abandoning every journal, tracker, urge that hits, and morning routine you start, this episode is for you. Quitting drinking gets a lot easier when the work stops feeling like a punishment. For twenty years, I gave alcohol the good glass, the beautiful thoughts, the longing feelings, the candle, the music, and the best hour of my day. Then I started d...

Who's good at being patient? I know I didn't used to be! I wanted things FAST. I wanted to get results in weight loss as fast as possible, to get over my drinking ASAP, for my husband to change quickly or my co-workers to function faster. Our culture is built on getting things done the fastest and most effecient way possible. So, it's our conditioning and programming that has told us to not have t...

Scared to stop drinking because you don't know what happens next? We'll cover what actually happens when you stop drinking, what happens to your friendships when you're the one who changes first, and why Dry January was never a preview of anything. If you're afraid to quit drinking because of everyone else, this one's for you. In this episode I'm walking you through why your brain is so bad at det...

Quick update episode before I head out to walk the Camino! A few episodes ago, I told you about coming off my medication and sleep aids, the brain zaps, and the nights I barely slept. Here's where things landed: I'm fully off everything, sleeping better than I have in months, and I'm sharing exactly what worked. I'm also telling you about the day I broke my own rule, paid for it until 12:30am, and...

If you've ever thought "I've wasted so many years drinking," this episode is going to change how you see your entire story. It started with Madonna- a line about how the deepest darkness holds the greatest light. And it perfectly captures something psychologists have been studying for decades: post-traumatic growth. The research shows that women who go through hard seasons — including years of ove...

Let's discuss intuition. In this episode, I'm telling you the full story of how one small decision to listen to my body last fall led to the biggest, most magical thing in my business and my life. Last year I had a two week trip planned with my friend Sarah. On paper it was a dream. But as it got closer, something in my body kept whispering, this is too much. And instead of pushing through like I...

You decided this morning you weren't drinking tonight. Then 5pm rolls around, the day was long, and the debate starts: "Maybe just one. I don't want to be left out. I'll start fresh Monday." In this episode, I'm sharing a very personal story about coming off anti-anxiety medication and sleep aids during our move to Lisbon, the brutal side effects nobody warned me about, and the two nights I barely...

I'm recording this from my first morning LIVING in Lisbon, Portugal, sitting in The Magic House with a cup of coffee, my family finally here, and this feeling I can only describe as the specific joy of having done the hard thing. Eighteen months ago I had an idea to move my family to a country I had never been to. No plan. Just a decision. And this morning that decision is my reality. In this epis...

Please enjoy this podcast rewind: This episode is a further exploration of Decisions. If you haven't listened to Part 1, please do that first,  https://www.angelamascenik.com/podcasts/stop-over-drinking-and-start-living/episodes/2148935056 This episode dives into AFTER we made a decision, how to evaluate that decision, especially if you didn't experience the outcome of the decision that you r...

Please enjoy this Podcast Rewind: This episode is going to help you become aware of your automatic or unconscious decision making process. Once you see HOW you are making decisions you can decide with more intention on the outcome you want to have versus just your automatic quick or knee jerk decisions. This is a skill that you can use for any decision you are contemplating or to evaluate how you'...

I've been sitting with a thought this week that I can't stop thinking about: transformation requires transparency. You cannot have one without the other. We all know too well the toxic cycle of sneaking, hiding, avoiding, and disregarding how much our drinking is impacting us, mostly from the inside. If you truly want to transform your relationship with alcohol you need to start getting honest and...

You've done Dry January. You've made the Sunday night promise. You've cut back, taken breaks, set rules, and started over more times than you can count. And every time, you mean it. So why does it keep happening? In this episode, I'm talking about the real reason the cycle doesn't break — and it has nothing to do with willpower, discipline, or how badly you want to change. The answer is deeper tha...

Have you ever said "I just want to be take it or leave it about alcohol"? I hear this all the time. And every time I do, something in me cringes. In this episode I'm going to tell you exactly why this phrase bothers me — and why making it your goal might actually be keeping you stuck. "Take it or leave it" sounds like freedom. But when I hear it, what I picture is someone standing in the moment —...

I was watching a show called Legends the other night and one of the characters said something that stopped me cold. "Hindsight is helpful but it shows up too late."  I had to pause it. Because that is one of the most accurate things I've ever heard.  You already know what's coming. You've known for years. You can tell yourself the whole story the next morning, exactly what led up to...

This week, Dina Perrine joins me to share what happened when she attended the first-ever Magic House Retreat in Lisbon, Portugal. Her experience was profound — and honestly, I think you'll want to hear every word of it. Dina came home with something she didn't expect: a completely new relationship with pleasure. She learned that pleasure is nourishing, that numbing is not the same thing, and that...

Slipped back into drinking after real progress? Shame is keeping you stuck. Angela Mascenik breaks down why — and how to stop hiding and start again. An episode for the woman who changed her relationship with alcohol, lost her footing, and is now too embarrassed to ask for help again. If you've been working on your drinking — maybe with a stop drinking coach, inside a sober community, or on your o...