9:59:59.000,0:00:23.731


0:00:23.731,0:00:25.082
So I still remember the exact spot

0:00:25.082,0:00:27.488
on the highway where I was driving.

0:00:27.488,0:00:29.708
I think I remember it so vividly because

0:00:29.708,0:00:31.823
I was having one of the most important

0:00:31.823,0:00:33.873
conversations that I’ve ever had with [br]

0:00:33.873,0:00:35.259
myself.

0:00:35.259,0:00:37.531
In that moment in my car,

0:00:37.531,0:00:43.331
I knew in my bones, I wouldn’t drink alcohol again.

0:00:43.339,0:00:45.224
So you might be thinking what was the rock

0:00:45.224,0:00:47.874
bottom that brought me to that point?

0:00:47.874,0:00:52.547
And the answer is … there wasn’t one!

0:00:52.547,0:00:54.874
You see, I was a gray area drinker and

0:00:54.874,0:00:58.224
I drank between two extremes.

0:00:58.224,0:01:01.067
I wasn’t an end stage, lose everything kind of

0:01:01.067,0:01:03.250
drinker, not by a long shot.

0:01:03.250,0:01:05.260
If you would have asked my friends and family if they

0:01:05.260,0:01:06.571
thought I had a drinking problem

0:01:06.571,0:01:08.778
they would have said, “of course not”.

0:01:08.778,0:01:11.082
But I also wasn’t an "every now and again drinker"

0:01:11.082,0:01:12.588
who would have a glass of champagne

0:01:12.588,0:01:14.836
for example at the wedding and then not

0:01:14.836,0:01:16.736
drink again for weeks.

0:01:16.736,0:01:19.606
I didn’t fall into either one of those drinking categories

0:01:19.606,0:01:21.775
or drinking extremes. And ...

0:01:21.775,0:01:25.093
maybe you can identify?

0:01:25.093,0:01:26.763
As a nutritionist who has worked in

0:01:26.763,0:01:29.053
corporate wellness since 2004,

0:01:29.053,0:01:31.293
I functioned really well. I knew how

0:01:31.293,0:01:33.623
to eat well, I worked out on a regular

0:01:33.623,0:01:37.113
basis and I loved to read and study

0:01:37.113,0:01:39.943
everything health and wellness. [br]

0:01:39.943,0:01:42.463
But what people didn’t know

0:01:42.463,0:01:45.032
was how much I loved the “off” switch

0:01:45.032,0:01:50.428
that wine provided to my “on” and often anxious brain.

0:01:50.428,0:01:53.170
I loved the immediate effect that red wine delivered.

0:01:53.170,0:01:55.000
And people also didn’t see how

0:01:55.000,0:01:59.270
easy and frequent it was for one glass of wine

0:01:59.270,0:02:03.270
to turn into one bottle of wine.

0:02:03.270,0:02:05.650
There is a commune characteristic and pattern

0:02:05.650,0:02:07.190
in gray area drinking that I

0:02:07.190,0:02:09.120
experience and I’ve watched many others

0:02:09.120,0:02:11.290
experience as well and that’s a stopping

0:02:11.290,0:02:14.490
and restarting drinking.

0:02:14.490,0:02:17.590
One time I stopped for 7 months, another time I

0:02:17.590,0:02:20.350
stopped for 30 days, and other short periods

0:02:20.350,0:02:22.814
in between, and then I would think to myself:

0:02:22.814,0:02:24.814
“Why am I being so restrictive?

0:02:24.814,0:02:27.004
I can be a social drinker”.

0:02:27.004,0:02:30.584
So I’d return to drinking

0:02:30.584,0:02:32.284
only to return to a level of drinking

0:02:32.284,0:02:34.244
where I regret it.

0:02:34.244,0:02:36.584
This back and forth drinking marry-go-around

0:02:36.584,0:02:39.914
was the exact thing that I knew I wanted to exit off for good

0:02:39.914,0:02:43.914
that day in my car on the highway.

0:02:43.914,0:02:46.304
And maybe you actually don’t identify with

0:02:46.304,0:02:49.564
gray area drinking because not everyone will.

0:02:49.564,0:02:50.644
But here is what I know with

0:02:50.644,0:02:53.754
absolute certainty: there are people in

0:02:53.754,0:02:55.554
your life right now, it could be family

0:02:55.554,0:03:00.214
members, close friends, colleagues, and

0:03:00.214,0:03:02.404
they are worrying and wondering

0:03:02.404,0:03:04.674
as they’re rethinking their drinking

0:03:04.674,0:03:07.894
because they are in the gray area,

0:03:07.894,0:03:11.165
but more than likely they are not talking to you about it

0:03:11.165,0:03:13.705
and they are not talking to others about it

0:03:13.705,0:03:14.935
because they think they are the only ones

0:03:14.935,0:03:17.395
and they think they are alone.

0:03:17.395,0:03:20.522
So how do I know this? I’ve lived this

0:03:20.522,0:03:22.422
for many years.

0:03:22.422,0:03:25.102
the more I've been speaking out professionally about my

0:03:25.102,0:03:27.962
gray area drinking experience the more my email inbox

0:03:27.962,0:03:30.622
gets flooded with emails from

0:03:30.622,0:03:35.072
attorneys and therapists,

0:03:35.072,0:03:40.232
senior level managers and nurses, stay in home moms,

0:03:40.232,0:03:43.552
yoga instructors, and many many others.

0:03:43.552,0:03:45.982
And the words are different, but

0:03:45.982,0:03:48.092
the jest of what they write me is all [br]

0:03:48.092,0:03:50.142
the same and they say, “I identify with

0:03:50.142,0:03:52.682
your drinking story.

0:03:52.683,0:03:55.043
I don’t have a rock bottom either,

0:03:55.043,0:03:58.493
I want to be able to drink socially, but I end up regretting

0:03:58.493,0:04:02.093
how much I drink on a frequent basis."

0:04:02.093,0:04:06.823
This gray area drinking spectrum is real

0:04:06.823,0:04:10.673
and it’s large. And a lot of high achieving,

0:04:10.673,0:04:11.863
high functioning people who

0:04:11.863,0:04:16.003
silently live here every day.

0:04:16.003,0:04:18.503
But beyond gray area drinking is even something

0:04:18.503,0:04:22.573
bigger and that’s a collective story of anxiety.

0:04:22.573,0:04:25.143
And this I believe is where we are

0:04:25.143,0:04:28.833
collectively missing the mark.

0:04:28.833,0:04:30.763
We don’t need anymore cognitive hoops to[br]

0:04:30.763,0:04:32.503
jump through and we don’t need anymore

0:04:32.503,0:04:35.413
ways to focus our will power and contort

0:04:35.413,0:04:38.803
our will power in an attempt to “fix” ourselves,

0:04:38.803,0:04:42.233
what we need is practical training

0:04:42.233,0:04:44.423
in how to nourish our nervous system

0:04:44.423,0:04:51.793
in a revolutionary and new way.

0:04:51.793,0:04:54.413
So there is many components and pieces to this,

0:04:54.413,0:04:56.223
but one component and one

0:04:56.223,0:04:58.043
interesting place to start can be

0:04:58.043,0:05:00.903
understanding your neurotransmitters.

0:05:00.903,0:05:07.203
So let’s start with GABA.

0:05:07.203,0:05:10.973
So GABA is the natural anti-anxiety neurotransmitter.

0:05:10.973,0:05:14.223
When GABA is low we can feel anxious

0:05:14.223,0:05:16.653
and our mind can get stuck in a loop of worry,

0:05:16.653,0:05:20.923
rumination or obsession about anything.

0:05:20.923,0:05:25.523
Serotonin is the natural anti-depressant neurotransmitter.

0:05:25.523,0:05:27.333
When serotonin is low we can feel

0:05:27.333,0:05:30.093
more depressed, unhappy, and crave things like

0:05:30.093,0:05:33.633
carbs and alcohol and have trouble sleeping.

0:05:34.843,0:05:37.703
Dopamine is the neurotransmitter that’s in charge

0:05:37.703,0:05:39.863
of our focus and motivation.

0:05:39.863,0:05:42.733
When dopamine’s low it can be hard to stay at a coarse

0:05:42.733,0:05:44.723
and stay on track with your goals

0:05:44.723,0:05:46.953
and your routines.

0:05:46.953,0:05:49.393
So people with low GABA people will often

0:05:49.393,0:05:52.313
say that they drink as a way to relax.

0:05:52.313,0:05:55.693
That was me. People with low serotonin[br]

0:05:55.693,0:05:59.523
will say they drink as a way to have fun,

0:05:59.523,0:06:01.523
and people with low dopamine will say they

0:06:01.523,0:06:03.073
drink as a way to connect

0:06:03.073,0:06:06.683
and engage with others.

0:06:06.683,0:06:08.023
But here’s the problem and here is what I

0:06:08.023,0:06:09.963
want to you know and take from this talk —

0:06:09.963,0:06:12.763
It can be relatively easy for most people

0:06:12.763,0:06:14.613
on the gray area drinking spectrum

0:06:14.613,0:06:16.933
to stop drinking,

0:06:16.933,0:06:19.233
but it can be hard to stay stopped,

0:06:19.233,0:06:21.343
especially if we are not

0:06:21.343,0:06:23.733
replenishing our neurotransmitters and

0:06:23.733,0:06:25.523
nourishing our nervous system

0:06:25.523,0:06:30.063
in a comprehensive and consistent way.

0:06:30.063,0:06:33.793
So here’s the good news, in turns out that[br][br]

0:06:33.793,0:06:35.353
there is actually specific foods,

0:06:35.353,0:06:37.683
movements and lifestyle practices that

0:06:37.683,0:06:39.223
while they are great wellness tips for

0:06:39.223,0:06:41.883
everyone, they have very direct and

0:06:41.883,0:06:45.313
immediate roles in boosting all of our

0:06:45.313,0:06:48.313
neurotransmitters.

0:06:48.313,0:06:51.043
So as a way to give you some practical

0:06:51.043,0:06:52.773
ways that you can begin to boost your

0:06:52.773,0:06:57.283
neurotransmitters now I’d like to start by

0:06:57.283,0:07:01.653
doing that by using the acronym “NOURISH”

0:07:01.653,0:07:04.863
So N - notice nature.

0:07:04.863,0:07:07.993
Research shows that when our pleasure,

0:07:07.993,0:07:09.513
which is dopamine,

0:07:09.513,0:07:12.153
and our happiness, which is serotonin,

0:07:12.153,0:07:14.873
both begin to rise when we go into areas

0:07:14.873,0:07:17.413
with a large density of trees or a large

0:07:17.413,0:07:19.573
body of water like an ocean.

0:07:19.573,0:07:21.613
All it takes is 20 minutes

0:07:21.613,0:07:23.893
of being around nature with

0:07:23.893,0:07:25.903
a lot of trees, a lot of water for your

0:07:25.903,0:07:28.273
GABA, serotonin, and dopamine

0:07:28.273,0:07:32.156
to begin to rise.

0:07:32.156,0:07:34.366
O - observe your breath.

0:07:34.366,0:07:36.696
There are many medications that can stunt,

0:07:36.696,0:07:38.346
blunt, and block

0:07:38.346,0:07:40.286
the fight-flight-freeze response

0:07:40.286,0:07:43.006
in your body, there are no medications

0:07:43.006,0:07:46.566
that can boost the calm response.

0:07:46.566,0:07:48.006
But there is one mechanism in your body

0:07:48.006,0:07:50.346
that can do that naturally.

0:07:50.346,0:07:52.956
And that mechanism is your breath.

0:07:52.956,0:07:55.096
When our breath is regulated our

0:07:55.096,0:07:57.956
neurotransmitters become regulated.

0:07:57.956,0:08:03.246
Take a breath!

0:08:03.246,0:08:05.536
How does that feel?

0:08:05.536,0:08:06.626
You all just gave a little boost

0:08:06.626,0:08:09.043
to your GABA, serotonin, and dopamine.

0:08:09.043,0:08:10.043
U - uniting with others. [br][br]

0:08:10.043,0:08:12.086
The research is solid: close social bonds, community, and social connections have a direct impact on our nervous system. In our technology driven world we have become very deficient of human touch. Hug the people who support you, hug your pets, get body work, massage or Reiki, it doesn't matter, whatever resonates with you. Physical touch has an immediate impact on boosting GABA, serotonin and dopamine.

0:08:12.086,0:08:14.129


0:08:14.129,0:08:16.173
R - replenish with food - when you eat

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
protein, whether it’s animal protein or

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
vegetable protein, it doesn’t matter,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it breaks down into amino acids and amino

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
acids are what replenish GABA, serotonin,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and dopamine. When you eat healthy fats,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
particularly in the form of Omega 3 fats

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
like fish oil, flax seeds, or walnuts,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
those Omega 3 fats are the raw materials

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that make your neurotransmitters.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
When you eat carbohydrates, specifically[br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in the ideal form of vegetables, and even

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
more specific, leafy green vegetables,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
they break down into B vitamins and

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
B vitamins are the pre-cursors that make

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
serotonin. When you replenish with food

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you replenish your neurotransmitters.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I - initiate movement. Any exercise will

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
boost the neurotransmitters.[br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The Boston University did a study with

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
yoga participants and they had them do

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a 60-minute yoga class. And then when

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
they measured they're GABA after that

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
class they found everyone’s GABA went

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
up at least on 27%. Some participants had

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
arising GABA up to 80%. Compared to the

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
control group that read a book for

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
60 minutes, there was no change in

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
their GABA. One 60-minute yoga class can

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
initiate a boost in all your

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
neurotransmitters.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But after we active, we need to be still.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
S - sitting in stillness allows

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the nervous system the opportunity

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to respond and adopt in a complex world

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that we live and work in in a very

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
nurusing way. And particularly sitting in

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
stillness and silence, invoking a sacred

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
prayer, meditation, or scripture can

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
really feed and replenish your GABA,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
serotonin, and dopamine.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
H - harness your creativity - Dopamine

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
loves the creative flow. And the way you

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
get into a creative flow is to pick [br][br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a single focused activity that ends

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
en “ing”. Some examples are gardening,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
fishing, painting. But be careful because

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
there are some other activities that end

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
en “ing” that make us feel like we get

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a dopamine hit: drinking, smoking,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
overeating. Fishing, painting,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the positive hobbies boost your dopamine.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The other: drinking, smoking, overeating

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
depletes dopamine. Harnish your

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
creativity, but be very conscientious

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
how you doing that. As of today, It has

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
been 1054 days since I’ve had a drink[br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of alcohol.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But I didn’t have a rock bottom moment [br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that brought me to this point and you

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
don’t need to have one either.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But I’ll be honest there were two things I[br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
worried about when I stopped drinking.[br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And the first was: what would happen with

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
my relationships? This one surprised me.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The important relationships in my life,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
family stuck by me, but they deepened.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And I look back at all the new wonderful

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
people who who had entered my life in

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the last 3 years, some of them drink,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
some of them don’t, but our relationship[br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is not built on my personal decision to

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
not drink. We’ve been able to connect and

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
relate and we’re aligned in a way that is

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
new for me. And it’s been really really

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
nourishing to add these relationships

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to my life.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The second thing I worried about was what

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
if something awful happened and it would

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
be so painful that I’ll want to numb it

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with a glass or a bottle of wine? That

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
worry came true. Eighteen months into not

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
drinking I hit my worse personal financial

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
crisis in my life. If there was ever

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a time when I wanted to numb

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the experience and anesthetize the intense

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
anxiety and fear that I felt that was

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the time. But I didn’t do it. And I

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
believe the reason I got through that time

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
without drinking wasn’t because I had

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
an intellectual understanding of

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the nervous system, which I do, but

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
intellectualizing something is what gets

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
me through something. And it wasn’t

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because I had a strong will power, which[br][br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I don’t, my will power fatigue is as much[br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
as the next person. But what I had was

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a very targeted and specific nourishment

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that I had given my nervous system

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
leading up to that point in a very new and

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
different way. And that had given me

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a zone of resilience and internal zone

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of resilience that I’ve never had before.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So whatever road you’re on and wherever[br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you are on that road with your own

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
internal conversation, whether you’re

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a healthcare professional like myself,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a business professional in any industry,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a stay at home parent or anyone else, if

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you know in your bones that you’re in [br]

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the gray area with drinking or anything

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
else as an attempt to regulate the anxiety

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in your body or the discomfort in your

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
life, don’t forget: your GABA,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
your serotonin, and your dopamine are

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
waiting for you to activate them with

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
certain foods, movements and lifestyle

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
practices, and when you do that you’re

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
giving your nervous system the

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
nourishment it’s been craving all along.

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Thank you!