Damp Lifestyle instead of Dry January
Why you don’t have to give up alcohol completely
© Drobot Dean / Adobe Stock
The body and mind benefit immensely when we take a break from alcohol every now and then. Is that too restrictive for you? Then the flexible “Damp Lifestyle” might be just the right thing for you.
Are you currently having a “Dry January”, i.e. an alcohol-free first month of the year? Great, because it’s definitely good for the body to give up alcohol for a while – after all, the drinks ensure that our brain ages faster, we sleep less well and our risk of many diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases or cancer, increased.
Damp lifestyle: moderation and mindfulness instead of complete renunciation
But it may also be too much for you to completely do without beer, wine and the like for a month. Then the so-called Damp Lifestyle could be something for you. “Damp” means something like damp or clammy in English and in this case means: You don’t live completely dry, i.e. without any alcohol, but only drink very little and consciously.
The “Damp Lifestyle” topic got its start on the social media platform TikTok, where more and more people are declaring that they drink little alcohol – but don’t want to give it up completely. The whole thing fits into the “Sober Curious Movements” trend, in which representatives of Gen Z in particular are curious about the topic of sobriety and abstinence from alcohol, experimenting with it and seeing how much or little drinking is good for them personally.
One of the pioneers of the almost dry lifestyle is Hana Elson, who reports on her experiences with alcohol and moderate drinking on her TikTok channel. In addition to the term Damp Lifestyle, she is currently also talking about a “Dry-ish January”, which means something like “quasi-dry January”.
How does the steam lifestyle work?
It is up to each person exactly how they shape their steam lifestyle. For some it may make sense to only treat themselves to their favorite cocktail on special occasions, for others there may be a drink a little more often, but only those with a low alcohol content, such as beer or a wine spritzer. Drinking enough water in between is also part of a mindful use of alcohol.
The main thing is to reflect on one’s own relationship to alcohol and to consider, for example, whether a glass of wine really has to go with every visit to a restaurant. Or it’s about the measure, and you’re considering whether the next bar evening really needs several long drinks with a lot of alcohol – or whether maybe one or two beers or ciders are enough.
What is your personal relationship with alcohol?
At the heart of the Damp Lifestyle is mindful drinking. This also includes asking yourself questions like: Why do you drink? Do you feel you need alcohol? How do you feel when you drink? How do you feel the next day – do you have a hangover? And how do you feel about it psychologically: Do you know the feeling of “hangxiety”, i.e. an anxious-stressed basic feeling, coupled with a hangover?
The answers to these and similar questions can give you information about how drinking is really doing for you and how good it is for you (spoiler: probably not very much, because at least too much alcohol rarely feels good).
Find your own personal steam lifestyle
Based on the answers, you can next see how to proceed. Maybe you start your steam lifestyle with a temporary abstinence phase, in order to then switch to a moderate use of wine and co. Or you set clear rules for yourself as to when and how much you drink. Maybe that’s already too restrictive for you, and you’d rather make your moderate drinking a little more free and flexible.
No matter how you approach it and what your personal vapor lifestyle will look like in the end: It is always a good idea to consciously look at how we deal with alcohol and whether drinking is really good for us.
Sources used: bustle.com, eatthisnotthat.com, TikTok