The Happy Brain - with Loretta Breuning PhD

Tribe Sober - inspiring an alcohol-free life!

This week my guest is Dr Loretta Breuning.  Loretta is the author of an excellent book called the "Habits of a Happy Brain" and she shared many fascinating insights with me.

In this Episode

The world of neuroplasticity is an exciting one - no longer do we have to believe that our brain shrinks and loses its capacity as we age - if we keep exercising and keep learning we can keep our brains healthy and active for longer
Although most of our neural patterns are set in early life we can build new neural pathways as we get older - if just takes a bit more effort and a lot of repetition. 
Thats why our 66 day challenge can help you to build a new neural pathway and change your drinking habits for good.
Loretta explained that we need to develop many different coping mechanisms to deal with life's ups and downs - we become dependent on alcohol when we have been using it as our only coping mechanism. 
That's why it makes sense to build a "distraction list" of all the things that we could to do - instead of drinking.
We need to discover what gives us a "natural high" rather than the chemical high which alcohol has been giving us
She explained that the Sober members of our community provided powerful inspiration because of the effect of  "mirror neurons"
My discussion with Loretta led me to a personal lightbulb moment which will change the advice we give to our community
A few months into sobriety I suffered from a long period of anhedonia - my mood plummeted and I felt miserable
However I kept going and after a couple of months my mood finally lifted - I thought this was because my brain had been relying on alcohol to make me feel good for so long that my natural "happy chemicals" were taking time to return
Loretta helped me to understand that the reason my low mood had finally lifted was because I had set a new goal
Getting sober had been my goal for the first few months of sobriety but then I needed another one
Setting and achieving goals trigger the happy chemicals and keep them flowing 
So if you are suffering from the blues in early sobriety set a goal and start working towards it
If you can't think of a goal then book a coaching session to explore possibilities
New tribe sober members are entitled to a complimentary coaching session as well as many other benefits
Joining Tribe Sober is a great way to start your Sober Curious journey - find out more on tribesober.com
We'll put you on a 30 day alcohol free challenge so you can test your dependency
Membership also allows you to find your people as we welcome you into our supportive community
Just go to tribesober.com and hit the "join our tribe" button to read more about the benefits of membership

More info

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Episode Sponsor

          This episode is sponsored by the Tribe Sober Membership Program.  If you want to change your relationship with alcohol then sign up today

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Thank you for listening! 

Till Next Week

Janet x