You are listening to the Drink Less Lifestyle podcast with Dr. Sherry Price, episode number 137.

Welcome to Drink Less Lifestyle, a podcast for successful women who want to change their relationship with alcohol. If you want to drink less, feel healthier and start loving life again you’re in the right place. Please remember that the information in this podcast does not constitute medical advice. Now, here’s your host, Dr. Sherry Price.

Well, hello my gorgeous friend. I am so excited to talk to you today. I have just wrapped up the retreat that I held at my house and I feel like I’m on cloud nine. I feel so jazzed and excited after meeting and helping those ladies that I feel on top of the world. It was such a lovely, beautiful time that we spent together. There were eight women at my house. We had coffee and tea and we just relished in each other’s presence. It was just the most magical, beautiful, experience that I’ve had had in a long, long time.

And if you were one of the ladies, I know several of them listen to my podcast. If you were one of the old ladies there, I just want to thank you for your presence and for coming because I know, in speaking with one of the ladies it felt like a risk. She didn’t know what to expect. She knew she was putting herself out there in an uncomfortable way and yet she just embraced that because she felt it was the right time and she felt called to come to this event.

And speaking about being called to come to this event I can’t even tell you, the women in that room were just so excited to meet one another. And they even said, “I just feel connected to you.” And these are the types of connections and spaces that I love being a part of when we feel divinely connected, we feel the sacred space where we are free to be ourselves and express ourselves in a way that is just so endearing. And we know that it’s human to want to belong.

And it felt like everybody there already felt like they belonged right when they walked in the door, just the way we greeted one another, just the energy that those ladies brought. And I’m telling you, it was just so, so magical. I can’t even find other words. I would love to call it this exquisite experience that I had and that all of them felt as well. And I tell you, my cup is so full right now that I am just overflowing with love. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

And just go back to what I said, to be human is to belong. It is a biological and psychological need. And so give yourself that gift, ladies, find your tribe, find the women that really set you up and just give you fuel and fire for life. And I want to tell you that that is not a selfish thing, that is the best way for self-care, taking care of yourself, knowing what you need so that you can go on and be a gift in the world. And I have to say, I selfishly created this retreat.

You know that my word of this year is connection, because I feel that I have been so disconnected because of COVID. COVID came, everything shut down. Our church shut down. We had to watch it on our TV. My daughter’s school shut down, our gym shut down. All of these ways that I was connecting with others, working out with others, being with others that really fueled me, had all changed. And now I crave that. I crave that so much for my life especially, I connect very well with my husband and with my daughter.

But I’m craving female connection, meaningful female connection, not surface talk, not chit chat but really deep conversations. And so I created this space and this opportunity and it was just exactly the way I wanted it to go and it was beautiful. It was actually better than my expectations. And I’m realizing how much I need this because it fuels me. It’s my power. And that’s what I’ll be talking about in today’s podcast is finding your source of power. And I’m so excited because I have other opportunities coming to connect with women.

So one thing that was so important at this retreat is that we feel safe to be seen and to be heard for who we are. I think a lot of times we think we have to change to fit into society, we have to adapt or there’s certain expectations out there. And that may be true in the job setting or a family setting with others. But I really wanted to create this space where we can be just seen and heard and who we are. And who we are is a beautiful space, is a beautiful thing because we are already worthy, already loved and already have value.

And I love that we shared the things that we’re ready to walk away from, the things that were not filling up our lives anymore, the things that really drain our power or drain how we feel about ourselves. And some of the ladies are ready to walk away from alcohol or really just limit it in their lives. Some of the ladies are ready to walk away from sugar and how that causes a yoyo effect for them. And they’re just ready to walk away from it. There was a lady there expressing that she wanted to walk away from negativity. There was just a lot of negativity and she just was done with that and she wanted to walk away.

And then a few of us, including myself, want to walk away from perfectionism, having to look perfect or think things have to go exactly according to plan. That’s at least how I describe it. If things don’t go exactly according to plan, that’s just not going to be good enough. And many women phrased it differently for them. This perfectionism is really just the opposite side of some fear, some fear of willing to be seen and express yourself as is.

And then we talked about all the things that we want to walk into, everything that we want to attract into our lives, the abundance, the way we want to express love and receive love in our lives. And how we want to nurture our bodies and how we all want to connect with ourselves again because there can be times, especially with overdrinking where you just feel like you left yourself behind, you don’t even know what you want anymore. What are your desires? What is it that you want in this next phase of life?

And so we spent a great deal of time connecting with what we want more of or what we want to bring into our lives. And I think that’s so beautiful because we know that these external substances that we consume in forms of sugar, in forms of alcohol and even in the forms of social media, or the news. They can disconnect us from who we want to be and how we want to show up in the world. And we say, “It’s just a nibble there or just a swig of alcohol here.” But it’s never just a nibble and just a swig for some people.

There tends to be an overindulgence. And so that keeps us from really connecting with who we are and what we want for ourselves. And then we did some transformational practices which, oh my goodness those were so good. We had aha moments being expressed. We had processing of our emotions and really feeling safe with inside of our bodies and really letting go of some negative baggage.

And I have to say, one of the most beautiful parts of the retreat is we opened it up to do some interpretive dancing or intuitive dancing. And wow, that was a powerful experience, even going through it. I went through it myself and then watching the other ladies do it. And by the end we just all felt so good, so light, so free and that feels so amazing. There was so much excitement in the room that we might actually be having another retreat. And so I’m working that out with my friend, Anna and see what we can put on for the ladies again because it felt like such a beautiful, magical experience.

So I know we want to keep the next event very small but we can open it up to a few more other people. So if you are interested you can follow me on Instagram and drop me a DM there. Or you can just email me at sherry@epicyou.com, if you are interested in one of these connection events where you get transformation and peace.

So one of the areas that came up for me in this retreat that I want to talk about on today’s podcast is really stepping into your power. I was so touched by the stories that were shared. I was so touched by the women in this group and how they just want to be a positive force in the world. And what’s so amazing to me is that in my journaling session before the ladies came, I was praying to God and I was receiving some inspiration that May is going to be a powerful month.

And what does that mean? What does that look like? And I know inside the EpicYOU VIP group, I’m teaching about the concept of self-efficacy theory which goes right along with stepping into your power. So self-efficacy is the belief in your capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific results. Now, self-efficacy theory is a model that’s been used in health psychology because it’s an effective way to manage a lot of conditions.

So it’s been studied in managing chronic disease. It’s been studied for quitting smoking, cutting back on alcohol, to stop overeating or to stop emotional eating. And it’s also used to help with pain control. So these are just a few areas that this model has been shown to be very effective. And all the dots started to connect because one of the retreat ladies had said, “I want more agency in my life.” And that exactly goes into the self-efficacy model because people do want to feel in control of their lives.

And when people feel in control of their lives, they feel better and they report higher satisfaction scores. So you live a life with more satisfaction if you have agency in your life or feel that you can control things. And actually it’s one of the six markers of wellbeing. And so that’s why I am so excited to talk to you today is to talk about stepping into your power which means stepping into your self-agency. And I did a whole podcast on creating and choosing self-agency where you are the locus of control, where you take in that internal locus of control.

And then you follow the process of self-efficacy theory so that you can take the actions necessary to produce a specific result. And that my friends is what we are doing inside EpicYOU. We are taking control of the areas of our life where we want to have control. And for me, when I do that, I feel better physically, mentally and emotionally, and spiritually because I am actually carrying out my values. I am living in alignment with my values and what is important to me, which means that now I feel I’m living an integrous life.

I am living with my integrity. I’m not only saying what I want, I’m doing what I want. And I’m getting the results that I want. And this is one of the biggest levers to happiness and wellbeing. Because what comes up when I’m talking with women is that they don’t feel they are living in alignment with what they want or what they believe. Whether that is eating food that they know that drains them of their energy or drains them of their health or doesn’t make them feel good or makes them put on weight or that’s drinking too much, or that’s overconsuming the news.

Because if you’re doing anything you don’t want to be doing, that’s going against your value system and your integrity and what you stand for. And I was talking about this at the retreat because it’s all about your inputs. Your inputs shape your outputs. If you put garbage into your body, if you put garbage media into your mind you are going to think negative thoughts and you are going to not have great outputs in terms of energy and vitality for life. Your inputs shape your outputs.

And I know for me whenever I am feeling out of control around some area of my life I know that then dread, shame, embarrassment, all those feelings are coming in. I get even anxious about it, I’m like “What’s going on? I don’t want to be doing this but I keep doing this.” And for me that’s a clear sign that I am not operating in my power. And I think a lot of people get in this space. We think we just want to disconnect from life. We just want to be comforted by food, be comforted by alcohol, be comforted by just scrolling things on our phones.

But all of that comfort comes at a price. We’re disconnecting from who we are, what we want and how we show up. And many of us, we get just used to so consuming that we push down things that are important to us. We push down feelings. We push away stuff. We fight with ourselves to say, “Wait, I don’t have a lot of energy, but man, I should go to the gym today.” So we have this resistance with ourselves that we’re fighting with ourselves inside. I shouldn’t want this drink but here I am drinking.”

And this cycle is exhausting. And it’s actually the opposite of connecting with yourself and creating the peace that you could have in your life, because here’s what I want to tell you. You are here to experience your best life. And I think we all need to hear that again so let me say it one more time and see how it lands for you. You are here to experience your best life. This is why you were given freewill, my friend. You have the power of choice. That is an amazing responsibility.

You are completely autonomous as an adult to do what you want. Isn’t that amazing? I think that’s a huge gift and how are we honoring that gift? Now, when I say you’re here to have your best life, will there be setbacks? Yes, of course. And will there be disappointments? Yes, of course. And are there things out there that you can’t control? Absolutely, like the weather. But when you step into your power you are taking control of you and what you want to do and what matters most to you. And what I find is that a lot of us disconnect with what matters most to us.

And so when we did this exercise at the retreat about connecting with what matters most to us, it was extremely powerful because defining what is important to you and going after it and getting it, is meaningful. It gives you purpose in life. It sets your rudder up for saying, “Hey, this is what I want in my life and this is the direction I want it to go.” And you get to choose that and I think choosing that and following that is one of the most powerful feelings of health and wellbeing. Now, I call that being powerful.

You may phrase it something else. It may bring up a different emotion or a different vibration in your body. But I know for me, when I’m getting what I want out of life and when I’m giving what I want to life, to others, to you, to the community that I host inside EpicYOU, to the ladies inside Intermittent Fasting 45. When I’m able to deliver and give at my highest capacity that fuels me because I know I’m put on this Earth to change women’s lives. I know that in the deepest part of my existence.

And I’m honored that I have that ability and that gift to give other women. It is my gift. It was what I was gifted with and it is my gift to others because I know for me I couldn’t change by myself. I needed someone’s help to get me to where I am today and that was a gift. I received that gift. And now I have the benefit of giving that gift to others.

And that’s why I want to build community with like-minded women who are on this journey to better health, better wellness, greater happiness and who want to fill up their cup so their cup can fill over and overflow to others. I tell you so much about my life so that I can be an example for you, so that you can feel seen, heard as you’re listening to this podcast and know that change and how to get it is available to you. Because I know what it’s like to sit there and think, I can’t change my relationship with alcohol.

It feels just like it has such a hold of me. And part of that was right. I didn’t know how to change but I knew somebody could help me. I had faith that somebody could help me. I had hope that somebody could help me and thank God somebody did. Thank God I reached out. Thank God I put myself in the position of power to get help on this. The same thing with eating. I was fueling my body with crappy stuff that was not making me feel good. And then I reached out. I learned. I got the tools. And now I teach those tools to others.

And one of the things that came up at the retreat and that I hear so often is that women feel that this is somehow a selfish pursuit. That they shouldn’t want to be thinner, that they shouldn’t want more energy, that they should just be thankful for what they have and all the blessings that they have in their life. And yes, you can be thankful for everything that you have and still want to feel better, still want more strength in your body. I know for me, I’m lifting heavier weights so I can have a body that I feel comfortable with, in my 50s, in my 60s, in my 70s, in my 80s.

Because I plan to keep traveling and keep moving. I don’t want to be decrepit and age quickly. And if there’s something I can do that’s within my power, I will do it, even if that means making very, very, very small steps in the beginning because I know my why. I know what I value. And that’s what I love helping other women with is connecting with their values, to find their power so they could take those next easy steps and step into their power. And that’s exactly why I designed EpicYOU is to step into your power so you feel epic in your life.

Because you know what happens when you feel epic in your life? You lift up other people. You give more to other people, whether that’s your time, your energy, your love, your gratitude, your smile. When you don’t feel epic, you smile less, you’re grumpy. You put out negative energy into the world. The world doesn’t need more of that right now. The world needs the opposite. And when you feel good, others feel good around you. And I know I am here to make a positive difference in the world and that starts with making a positive difference in my life.

And by me showing to the world to you all where I messed up and how I’m making those changes is going to fuel you to say, “There is a mess up that she did. And there she changed it, oh my gosh. I can do that same thing.” I give you permission to just want to drink less. I give you full permission to not want to drink at all. But how much of society is telling us the direct opposite, maybe even our friends are trying to coerce us or pressure us into drinking more, thinking that’s going to lead to more fulfillment, more fun and greater health.

And that’s not to judge. It’s just to say, if that’s the path you want, go ahead. If that’s not the path you want, then I want to fuel you to stand firm in who you are and your values and what you believe and execute those, because that’s self-efficacy. I love it at my daughter’s school that they are teaching self-advocacy. We are always talking about how she can advocate for herself, how she can go to school and navigate school and communicate with her teachers and communicate with her friends in a way where she stands for what she believes in and what she needs and wants.

Imagine if we all did that, not from a disrespectful way, from a place of respect for yourself and for others because I’ll tell you, that’s mental and emotional health and that is critical in our society right now. We are mentally not getting stronger. We are getting weaker. The foods are making us weak. The alcohol’s making us weak. Social media can make us weak or it could make us strong depending on how we use it. Food can make us strong depending on what we choose.

And I believe we should all have the information to give us proper nutrition, proper love, proper safety so that we can be our best selves. We can be our most epic self, yes, and that includes enough rest, enough sleep, enough hydration, stress management. It’s all of those things which is why I have so many programs inside of EpicYOU because I want to meet you where you are at. And some people don’t want to come in because it’s a drinking thing. It’s not a drinking thing at all.

It’s a health and wellness program. That’s why I got rid of Drink Less Lifestyle as the title of the program. It’s EpicYOU. It’s how you feel epic in your life from stress management to sleep, hydration, how to eat right, how to manage alcohol, if you continue to drink or decide that you want to continue to drink in a judgment free zone. Because what I firmly believe is every woman deserves to experience their best life.

I said that at the beginning of the podcast and I’ll probably say it before the end of this podcast is that you deserve to experience your best life. But a lot of us have been sold a bill of goods that doesn’t give us our best life. And maybe we’re hanging out with those people or maybe we’re being influenced by those people. But maybe you need influence on how to live your best life and that’s the safe community that I have created inside of EpicYOU.

So how about you, do you agree that you are here to experience and live your best life? Because if you don’t have that mindset my friend, you’re going to struggle on how to get it. You’re going to struggle on taking the right actions. It has to start with your mindset. And then once you get that mindset then it’s based on strategy and I give you those tools on how to do it as well. Because if you are here to live your best life and experience your best life then let’s get it. Let’s stop delaying. Let’s stop sitting on the sidelines of your life and just jump right in.

Let’s create a movement where we’re for each other, about each other and we’re about our health and wellness. And that’s the movement I am a part of. I have been approached to participate in a startup non-profit here in San Diego to help our youth who are struggling with mental and emotional health issues. And I said, “Hell yes, I am in.” I’m not exactly sure how I will contribute but I know it’s in my heart that I want to contribute. So where are you a hell yes? And maybe you want the right encouragement and the right support along the way.

I believe we were all created for a purpose and living our purpose is what brings us meaning and joy. EpicYOU is for any woman who wants to live with better health, greater mindset, have more energy and knows how to advocate for their needs and their wants. And this month inside EpicYOU in the month of May I’m going to be teaching you how to self-advocate, how to step into your power, how to use these tools to break through any fears and grab life by the balls, because life becomes epic. You feel amazing when you live this way.

I want you to get it. I want you to live powerfully. I have to share with you that I was just looking up online, a necklace that would make me feel powerful, something I can physically touch around my neck that would make me feel amazing. And I haven’t found it yet but I did find something else. I found this wall plaque that I purchased because when I read it, it brought me to this place where I was just on fire. So I want to read you this plaque on being powerful. And I have it sitting here in my office and it just makes me feel amazing inside.

So it goes like this. You have the power to live the life of your dreams, to go after the things you truly want most. You have the power to rewrite your own story, to turn unexpected endings into captivating beginnings. You have the power to let go of the things that weigh you down, to rid your life of any negativity. You have the power to walk away from love with conditions, to free yourself from people who don’t value your worth. You have the power to stop settling for less, to turn failure into possibility, to do whatever it is that you want to be.

Trust in your own power, believe in your own magic, live life on your own terms. Choose aliveness and only do things that align with your soul. Everything that you desire is within your reach, waiting for you to recognize your own power. You are courageous. You are capable. You are whole. You are powerful’. Oh my gosh, I have chills reading that. That feels so amazing. And now I want to go conquer the world. Are you with me? Let’s go be our epic self, ladies, step into your personal power. Don’t delay, it feels so amazing when you do.

And if you want my help stepping into your personal power I am there for you. Come join us over inside EpicYOU, it’s an awesome month. We are having such fun inside the community.

Alright my beautiful friend. I love you. Go, step into power and be epic this week.

If you want to change your relationship with alcohol and with yourself then come check out EpicYOU. It’s where you get individualized help mastering the tools so you And become a woman who And take it or leave it and be in control around alcohol in any situation. EpicYOU is the place for women who want to be healthy, confident and empowered to accomplish their goals and live their best life. Come join us over at epicyou.com/epicyou. That’s epicyou.com/ E-P-I-C-Y-O-U. I can’t wait to see you there.