0:00:23.261,0:00:25.052
So I still remember the exact spot

0:00:25.052,0:00:27.488
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.

0:00:35.259,0:00:38.141
In that moment in my car,

0:00:38.141,0:00:43.331
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!

0:00:52.547,0:00:55.284
You see, I was a gray area drinker and

0:00:55.284,0:00:58.224
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]

0:01:39.943,0:01:41.943
But what people didn’t know

0:01:41.943,0:01:45.032
was how much I loved the “off” switch

0:01:45.032,0:01:50.128
that wine provided to my “on” and often anxious brain.

0:01:50.128,0:01:53.170
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

0:02:17.590,0:02:20.140
stopped for 30 days, and other short periods

0:02:20.140,0:02:22.814
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”.

0:02:27.004,0:02:29.194
So I’d return to drinking

0:02:29.194,0:02:32.284
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

0:03:02.404,0:03:04.014
as they’re rethinking their drinking

0:03:04.014,0:03:07.514
because they are in the gray area,

0:03:07.514,0:03:11.165
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

0:03:30.622,0:03:34.732
attorneys and therapists,

0:03:34.732,0:03:40.232
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

0:08:06.626,0:08:12.003
to your GABA, serotonin, and dopamine.

0:08:12.003,0:08:13.793
U - uniting with others. [br][br]

0:08:13.793,0:08:16.256
The research is solid: close social bonds,

0:08:16.256,0:08:18.766
community, and social connections have

0:08:18.766,0:08:20.873
a direct impact on our nervous system.

0:08:20.873,0:08:22.463
In our technology driven world

0:08:22.463,0:08:24.493
we have become very deficient

0:08:24.493,0:08:26.733
of human touch.

0:08:26.733,0:08:28.776
Hug the people who support you,

0:08:28.776,0:08:31.199
hug your pets, get body work,

0:08:31.199,0:08:33.279
massage or Reiki, it doesn't matter,

0:08:33.279,0:08:35.659
whatever resonates with you.

0:08:35.659,0:08:38.269
Physical touch has an immediate impact

0:08:38.269,0:08:43.699
on boosting GABA, serotonin and dopamine.

0:08:43.699,0:08:45.783
R - replenish with food.

0:08:45.783,0:08:47.073
When you eat protein,

0:08:47.073,0:08:48.263
whether it’s animal protein or

0:08:48.263,0:08:50.653
vegetable protein, it doesn’t matter,

0:08:50.653,0:08:53.003
it breaks down into amino acids and amino

0:08:53.003,0:08:55.443
acids are what replenish GABA, serotonin,

0:08:55.443,0:08:57.183
and dopamine.

0:08:57.183,0:08:58.503
When you eat healthy fats,

0:08:58.503,0:09:00.293
particularly in the form of Omega 3 fats

0:09:00.293,0:09:04.163
like fish oil, flax seeds, or walnuts,

0:09:04.163,0:09:06.420
those Omega 3 fats are the raw materials

0:09:06.420,0:09:08.690
that make your neurotransmitters.

0:09:08.690,0:09:11.070
When you eat carbohydrates, specifically[br]

0:09:11.070,0:09:13.510
in the ideal form of vegetables,

0:09:13.510,0:09:14.800
and even more specific,

0:09:14.800,0:09:16.420
leafy green vegetables,

0:09:16.420,0:09:18.140
they break down into B vitamins and

0:09:18.140,0:09:20.440
B vitamins are the pre-cursors that make

0:09:20.440,0:09:23.180
serotonin. When you replenish with food

0:09:23.180,0:09:27.370
you replenish your neurotransmitters.

0:09:27.370,0:09:30.157
I - initiate movement. Any exercise will

0:09:30.157,0:09:31.977
boost the neurotransmitters.[br]

0:09:31.977,0:09:34.187
The Boston University did a study with

0:09:34.187,0:09:36.567
yoga participants and they had them do

0:09:36.567,0:09:38.887
a 60-minute yoga class.

0:09:38.887,0:09:39.877
And then when they measured

0:09:39.877,0:09:41.487
they're GABA after that class

0:09:41.487,0:09:42.687
they found everyone’s GABA went up

0:09:42.687,0:09:45.167
at least 27%.

0:09:45.167,0:09:46.317
Some participants had

0:09:46.317,0:09:48.797
arising GABA up to 80%.

0:09:48.797,0:09:50.447
Compared to a control group

0:09:50.447,0:09:52.297
that read a book for 60 minutes,

0:09:52.297,0:09:54.357
there was no change in their GABA.

0:09:54.357,0:09:56.787
One 60-minute yoga class

0:09:56.787,0:09:58.717
can initiate a boost in all

0:09:58.717,0:10:00.967
your neurotransmitters.

0:10:00.967,0:10:04.077
But after we active, we need to be still.

0:10:04.077,0:10:05.887
S - sitting in stillness allows

0:10:05.887,0:10:07.907
the nervous system the opportunity

0:10:07.907,0:10:11.457
to respond and adopt in a complex world

0:10:11.457,0:10:13.027
that we live and work in

0:10:13.027,0:10:14.877
in a very nurusing way.

0:10:14.877,0:10:16.127
And particularly sitting in

0:10:16.127,0:10:18.497
stillness and silence, invoking a sacred

0:10:18.497,0:10:22.377
prayer, meditation, or scripture

0:10:22.377,0:10:25.157
can really feed and replenish your GABA,

0:10:25.157,0:10:29.698
serotonin, and dopamine.

0:10:29.698,0:10:32.700
H - harness your creativity.

0:10:32.700,0:10:35.140
Dopamine loves the creative flow.

0:10:35.140,0:10:37.785
And the way you get into a creative flow is to pick

0:10:37.785,0:10:39.745
a single focused activity

0:10:39.745,0:10:41.745
that ends en “ing”.

0:10:41.745,0:10:43.825
Some examples are gardening,

0:10:43.825,0:10:45.815
fishing, painting.

0:10:45.815,0:10:47.435
But be careful because there are some

0:10:47.435,0:10:49.435
other activities that end en “ing”

0:10:49.435,0:10:50.695
that make us feel like we get

0:10:50.695,0:10:54.636
a dopamine hit: drinking, smoking,

0:10:54.636,0:10:56.766
overeating.

0:10:56.766,0:11:00.266
Fishing, painting, the positive hobbies

0:11:00.266,0:11:02.026
boost your dopamine.

0:11:02.026,0:11:05.526
The other: drinking, smoking, overeating

0:11:05.526,0:11:07.416
depletes dopamine. Harnish your

0:11:07.416,0:11:09.696
creativity, but be very conscientious

0:11:09.696,0:11:14.016
how you doing that.

0:11:14.016,0:11:18.066
As of today, It has been 1054 days

0:11:18.066,0:11:27.294
since I’ve had a drink of alcohol.

0:11:27.294,0:11:29.214
But I didn’t have a rock bottom moment [br]

0:11:29.214,0:11:32.154
that brought me to this point

0:11:32.154,0:11:36.314
and you don’t need to have one either.

0:11:36.314,0:11:38.394
From the outside looking in my drinking [br]

0:11:38.394,0:11:40.864
didn’t look problematic,

0:11:40.864,0:11:42.074
but from the inside looking out

0:11:42.074,0:11:43.857
at the road I was traveling down

0:11:43.857,0:11:45.112
I knew the way I was drinking

0:11:45.112,0:11:46.792
was a problem for me.

0:11:46.792,0:11:48.180
And I’m not the only one

0:11:48.180,0:11:49.856
making this decision.

0:11:49.856,0:11:52.266
There are thousands of people in this country,

0:11:52.266,0:11:55.260
in the U.K., Australia, and Canada

0:11:55.260,0:11:57.316
who are rethinking their drinking

0:11:57.316,0:11:58.346
and stopping drinking because

0:11:58.346,0:12:01.456
they choose to, not because they have to.

0:12:01.456,0:12:03.466
A whole paradigm is shifting

0:12:03.466,0:12:06.156
and we up on a whole new wellness movement

0:12:06.156,0:12:10.275
starting to go alcohol free.

0:12:10.275,0:12:12.125
But I’ll be honest there were two things[br]

0:12:12.125,0:12:14.685
I worried about when I stopped drinking.

0:12:14.685,0:12:16.355
And the first was: what would happen with

0:12:16.355,0:12:20.236
my relationships? This one surprised me.

0:12:20.236,0:12:22.146
The important relationships in my life,

0:12:22.146,0:12:24.446
family stuck by me, but they deepened.

0:12:24.446,0:12:26.746
And I look back at all the new wonderful

0:12:26.746,0:12:28.846
people who who had entered my life in

0:12:28.846,0:12:30.796
the last 3 years, some of them drink,

0:12:30.796,0:12:33.296
some of them don’t, but our relationship[br]

0:12:33.296,0:12:35.006
is not built on my personal decision

0:12:35.006,0:12:36.706
to not drink.

0:12:36.706,0:12:37.996
We’ve been able to connect and

0:12:37.996,0:12:40.307
relate and we’re aligned in a way

0:12:40.307,0:12:42.177
that is new for me.

0:12:42.177,0:12:43.147
And it’s been really really

0:12:43.147,0:12:45.327
nourishing to add these relationships

0:12:45.327,0:12:47.187
to my life.

0:12:47.187,0:12:48.867
The second thing I worried about was what

0:12:48.867,0:12:51.417
if something awful happened and it would

0:12:51.417,0:12:53.537
be so painful that I’ll want to numb it

0:12:53.537,0:12:57.537
with a glass or a bottle of wine?

0:12:57.537,0:13:00.940
That worry came true. Eighteen months into

0:13:00.940,0:13:02.930
not drinking I hit my worse personal

0:13:02.930,0:13:05.110
financial crisis in my life.

0:13:05.110,0:13:06.600
If there was ever a time when I wanted

0:13:06.600,0:13:07.870
to numb the experience

0:13:07.870,0:13:09.560
and anesthetize the intense

0:13:09.560,0:13:11.530
anxiety and fear that I felt that was

0:13:11.530,0:13:12.960
the time.

0:13:12.960,0:13:15.020
But I didn’t do it.

0:13:15.020,0:13:16.480
And I believe the reason I got through

0:13:16.480,0:13:18.840
that time without drinking wasn’t because

0:13:18.840,0:13:20.940
I had an intellectual understanding of

0:13:20.940,0:13:23.500
the nervous system, which I do, but

0:13:23.500,0:13:25.700
intellectualizing something is what gets

0:13:25.700,0:13:27.790
me through something. And it wasn’t

0:13:27.790,0:13:29.220
because I had a strong will power, which[br][br]

0:13:29.220,0:13:31.220
I don’t, my will power fatigue is as much[br]

0:13:31.220,0:13:34.050
as the next person. But what I had was

0:13:34.050,0:13:36.190
a very targeted and specific nourishment

0:13:36.190,0:13:37.730
that I had given my nervous system

0:13:37.730,0:13:39.870
leading up to that point in a very new and

0:13:39.870,0:13:42.300
different way. And that had given me

0:13:42.303,0:13:45.283
a zone of resilience and internal zone

0:13:45.283,0:13:50.593
of resilience that I’ve never had before.

0:13:50.593,0:13:53.063
So whatever road you’re on, wherever

0:13:53.063,0:13:54.793
you are on that road with your own

0:13:54.793,0:13:57.513
internal conversation, whether you’re

0:13:57.513,0:14:00.623
a healthcare professional like myself,

0:14:00.623,0:14:02.923
a business professional in any industry,

0:14:02.923,0:14:05.933
a stay at home parent or anyone else,

0:14:05.933,0:14:08.713
if you know in your bones that you’re in [br]

0:14:08.713,0:14:11.593
the gray area with drinking or anything

0:14:11.593,0:14:14.853
else as an attempt to regulate the anxiety

0:14:14.853,0:14:16.623
in your body or the discomfort in your

0:14:16.623,0:14:19.933
life, don’t forget:

0:14:19.933,0:14:22.763
your GABA, your serotonin,

0:14:22.763,0:14:25.723
and your dopamine are waiting for you

0:14:25.723,0:14:27.123
to activate them with

0:14:27.123,0:14:31.037
certain foods, movements and lifestyle

0:14:31.037,0:14:34.942
practices, and when you do that

0:14:34.942,0:14:36.512
you’re giving your nervous system the

0:14:36.512,0:14:41.492
nourishment it’s been craving all along.

0:14:41.492,0:14:43.901
Thank you!