Welcome to The Wholesome Path Blog with Orlagh Reid, a positive health and alcohol freedom blog for women in Ireland and beyond who want to feel better, live well and make more intentional choices about their health, lifestyle and relationship with alcohol.
Women in Ireland are changing their relationship with alcohol, choosing alcohol freedom and wellbeing over hangovers, fatigue and the alcohol trap.
Whether you are ready to cut down or cut out alcohol, embrace alcohol sobriety or go alcohol free for a few months, the Wholesome Path blog will have simple, realistic and useful insights and articles to keep you focused and motivated.
You might like to read…[Why So Many Midlife Women Are Choosing to Cut Down and Cut Out Alcohol]
Choosing a wholesome path forward and changing your relationship with alcohol while boosting your overall health is a journey that could not just change your present – but reshape your future.
About Orlagh Reid
My name is Orlagh Reid, an IACP-accredited psychotherapist, addiction counsellor and positive health coach based in Kildare, Ireland. The Wholesome Path Blog has grown from my professional experience working, in particular, with women around alcohol, addiction, recovery, health and wellbeing. What I have learned over the past decade, and also as a woman and mother myself, is that women have different needs, demands, challenges and health concerns compared with men.
I notice in Ireland that there is an absence of positive health-related articles and support which focus on alcohol freedom and wellbeing, which is not specifically addiction treatment and sobriety-related.
Similarly, many addiction treatment programmes and alcohol self-help groups, which are excellent and important in their own right, do unfortunately overlook the positive health aspect of recovery and wellbeing. There is a gap in most treatment options which bridges alcohol behavioural change with positive health and lifestyle medicine information.
This wholesome path blog aims to bridge that gap for women of all ages, providing useful, insightful information for those who are cutting down or cutting out alcohol – without guilt and shame.
“Women are quite literally waking up to the negative impact alcohol is having on their lives, health, wellbeing, even parenting and performance. Once you realise you can take control of your relationship to alcohol – everything changes.”
At the heart of The Wholesome Path are two different but connected approaches to alcohol and alcohol use disorder (AUD).
Cutting Down, Moderating & Drinking More Mindfully
For some women, the goal may not be to stop drinking completely. It is to change the way they drink and use alcohol. No more harmful alcohol use, binge drinking or excessive alcohol consumption. Strict moderation, while also experiencing prolonged periods and milestones without alcohol, can be part of your wholesome path forward.
This might mean cutting down, becoming a more mindful and intentional drinker, moving away from habitual or automatic drinking and staying within the low-risk alcohol guidelines. It can also mean taking prolonged breaks from alcohol and discovering what life feels like without drinking regularly. Progressing a moderation approach for many does shift eventually to an alcohol free lifestyle once you begin to experience the benefits.
This is about moving away from drinking because it is Friday, because everyone else is drinking, because you have had a difficult day, or simply because it has become part of the routine — and towards making conscious choices about whether, when and how much you drink. It is about changing attitudes to alcohol, socialising, and health, and introducing new ways to blow off steam and wind down and destimulate your brain after a busy week.
Choosing Alcohol Freedom and Freedom From Alcohol
The alcohol freedom movement in Ireland is growing. For other women, the decision is to become alcohol-free. For some, alcohol abstinence and sobriety is the only healthy, realistic option. If you have tried to moderate and failed over and over again, this is the best, most realistic and recommended option for you.
That might mean taking an extended break that eventually becomes a permanent choice, establishing sobriety in early or active recovery, or simply recognising that life is better without alcohol in it.
Alcohol freedom is not just about eliminating alcohol from your diet. It is about creating a life, lifestyle and mindset that isn’t centred and centric around alcohol.
It is about finding new ways to enjoy weekends, socialise, relax, celebrate, manage stress and have fun. It is about waking up feeling good, having more energy and clarity, and discovering what becomes possible when alcohol is no longer part of the equation.
The Bigger Picture: Positive Health
But The Wholesome Path is about more than alcohol.
Alcohol is one part of the bigger picture of our health and wellbeing.
The blog explores the many things that can contribute to a healthier, happier and more fulfilling life — including mental health, physical health, nutrition, sleep, movement, relationships, stress, self-care, recovery, confidence, connection and creating positive habits that support the woman you want to become.
Whether you are questioning your drinking, looking for a healthier relationship with alcohol, experimenting with moderation, taking a prolonged alcohol-free break, or choosing sobriety, there is a place for you here.
And you don’t have to be changing your relationship with alcohol at all. You might be interested in positive health and wellbeing and finding more wholesome ways to live. Women are quite literally waking up to the negative impact alcohol is having on their lives, health, wellbeing, even parenting and performance. Once you realise you can take control of your relationship to alcohol – everything changes.
The Wholesome Path is about moving towards health rather than simply moving away from alcohol. It is about choice, intention, wellbeing and creating a life that feels good to be present for.
Welcome to your Wholesome Path Blog with me, Orlagh Reid and the Wholesome Path Community. Together we can make progress, discover joy and freedom and take a more wholesome path together.