Are you sober curious? Maybe you want to take a break from alcohol, cut back or quit altogether. Data shows that September is the perfect time of year for a new beginning. My small-group program (8-10 people max) is a stigma-free, shame-free zone, where we focus on the gains and learn the neuroscience that makes willpower unnecessary. We will lead with curiosity and concentrate on fun (I mean, why not?)

I want to share the two (quick) extra things you can do to make your Dry January exponentially more meaningful! These are steps that most people don’t do. I know that I didn’t do them, a few years in a row when I gave up alcohol for Lent. And because I didn’t do them, I wasn’t able to make the changes that I wanted in my relationship with alcohol.

During this season, the alcohol starts flowing at all hours. This can all feel like a minefield for anyone considering cutting back. We might feel like throwing up our hands, drinking more than ever, and waiting until January 1st (hmmmm, maybe the 2nd or 3rd?) to get started on this project. I get it. I’ve been there. But using these tips, you can dial up your enjoyment of the season even while you dial down drinking a notch or two.

Are you sober curious? Maybe you want to take a break, cut back or quit altogether. Congratulations!!! This small-group program, Jan 6-Feb 10, is based on Annie Grace's Alcohol Experiment - filled with mind-blowing, educational content that pulls all the best new research, science, and cognitive behavior and habit theory into one exciting, supportive, shame-free place.

Are there sights, sounds, smells and tastes that you’re looking forward to savoring this season? Taking time to indulge ALL of the senses is a great way to bring down cravings for alcohol. This simple recipe packs a lot of sensory punch and it makes a great gift - if you can part with it. Other very simple ideas for relishing flavor and scent include throwing a sachet of whole spices and citrus peel into your warm tub….making a clove-studded orange ornament…making the simplest apple sauce…collecting nuts or pine cones to add to a center piece…

It’s totally normal if you both want to take an alcohol break and don’t want to at the same time! That’s certainly how I felt. From some previous unsuccessful attempts to put boundaries around my drinking, when I didn’t have the right tools, I had lost confidence.

I really do love all the science behind what alcohol does to the body and I totally notice how much better I feel when I go for periods AF. But we’re total foodies and wine is part of our identity! Help!

Thursdays, September 30 - November 4, 9-10:15 am PST

Are you sober curious? Maybe you want to take a break, cut back or quit altogether. Congratulations!!! Fall is a great time of year to jump-start a new beginning and an exciting investment in YOU! You will not believe how much you will gain, how much you will thrive when you are able to make alcohol smaller in your life.

It’s totally normal if you both want to take an alcohol break and totally don’t want to at the same time! That’s certainly how I felt. From some previous unsuccessful attempts to put boundaries around my drinking, when I didn’t have the right tools, I had lost confidence.

I put a lot of intentionality into my role in hospitality for our wine businesses. I was focused on our guests feeling welcomed far more than focused on them walking out with case goods. Maybe it’s my Southern roots, but I have always wanted our spaces to feel comfortable to enter.

Why do we as humans resist doing things we know will be good for us. Maybe you can relate? Do you ever beat yourself up thinking "if walking, or journaling, or stretching or practicing French or sitting in stillness makes me feel good, why can't I keep it going for more than a few days at a time?" Why do we resist?

It turns out that celebrations during a pandemic have a lot in common with celebrations AF (alcohol free)! You’ve heard the expression that love is spelled T-I-M-E. All across the country, we’ve seen incredible creativity in how people found ways to honor the high school graduates, the expectant parents, the birthday kings and queens!

Much like my early years in the wine business twenty years ago, my budding passion and career in the area of mindful drinking is first and foremost about the community, rather than the liquid itself.

Years back I was inspired by an artist named SARK for her descriptions of a creative, positive, engaged, wild life. I've been moved by brilliant writers (and especially food writers) who capture in words the sensual pleasures of juicy peaches, of soft rain, of huge belly laughs, of sinking fingers into clay or toes into sand.

The outrage and heartbreak we are feeling, and the reckoning long due about systemic racism demand the attention and effort of all of us. I personally have much work to do internally, and amends to make. I’m reading, listening and supporting causes, some suggestions gleaned from this excellent list.

“I’m struck by the idea of self-compassion being like a vaccine. That it is not just to protect and preserve ourselves, but that it is also for the good of the herd.”

If addiction is defined as continuing to do something despite negative consequences, then I have been addicted to the Cortisol Sandwich. The Cortisol Sandwich is my name for my former morning routine which involved waking up very groggy, pouring coffee before my eyes were open and opening my laptop for an assault of news, email advertisements and clickbait.

I posted tips on how to manage, survive and get the most out of a 30-day Alcohol Free experiment. You can read my suggestions here but the one I stress heavily is to engage in supreme self-care. A client asked what exactly I meant by that. Good question!

Welcome!! The first tip to share with you is that you’re joining a true throng….a massive, groundswell sea of us who are questioning our relationship with alcohol. That right there might come as a surprise because we don’t see it!!

This beautiful river in the Pacific Northwest has class III-V rapids. One of those rapids is a complicated one to navigate that brings kayakers from around the world. It’s called The Washing Machine, because if you get tossed from your boat or raft and get caught in it, it will spin you around and around.