Crystal ~ 1023 days
“My life turned upside down when my therapist suggested one day that I try to "moderate my drinking". I thought, "pffft, I can do that, easily". Whilst I was suffering with severe anxiety and depression during my drinking stage, not once did I question alcohol's role in that. It was both a cure and the cause.
Growing up in an alcohol-centric society, heavy binge drinking was and still is very much the norm and in turn having disastrous effects on health. It's now my life's mission to help others discover just how beautiful life can be without it. I am bored of the same old rhetoric that “life is boring without alcohol” when life actually began when I stopped drinking.
After going sober, I looked around and realized I had built a life that I wasn’t happy in. I was working in a high-pressure corporate job with no work life balance, constantly stressed and still anxious and depressed. Eventually, I was signed off due to sickness.
The time off gave me the clarity I needed to leave my job and go to Sri Lanka. I had the time and capacity to really connect to myself and deepen my spiritual practice of yoga. I found it as a solace during dark times that was there to hold me and bring me back home to myself. Whilst in Sri Lanka, I decided to train as a yoga teacher and came back to the UK with a whole new lease of life.
This year I founded Sober Flow Retreats, with a mission being to build a supportive and inclusive community for sober and sober-curious people through championing the importance of finding inner peace with our internal world through mindful practices such as yoga, breathwork, sound.
Today I am 1023 days sober and whilst its been a journey of many ups, downs and around the blocks. I am the most centered, authentic, fulfilled, healthy version of myself that I have ever been. My advice to anyone thinking of trying out sobriety is to just do 30 days and see you how you feel. Connection and support is so important, so reach out to online communities and never feel alone, because you’re not.”
To find out more about Crystal and Sober Flow Retreats, follow the below links:
@IamCrystalApril
@SoberFlowRetreats
