Stop Over-drinking with Angela

Let's discuss intuition.

In this episode, I'm telling you the full story of how one small decision to listen to my body last fall led to the biggest, most magical thing in my business and my life.

Last year I had a two week trip planned with my friend Sarah. On paper it was a dream. But as it got closer, something in my body kept whispering, this is too much. And instead of pushing through like I would have during my drinking years, I said it out loud.

Then Sarah asked me one question that changed everything.

In this episode, we're talking about intuition. What it actually feels like in your body, what science says about when you can trust it, and why twenty years of over-drinking teaches you to mute the very signals that are trying to guide you.

You'll learn:

* Why gut feelings are literal (your body sends way more information to your brain than your brain sends back)

* The one question to ask yourself when you can't tell what you really want
Why your intuition about your own needs is the most reliable kind, according to research

* How wine becomes the tool we use to drown out the "something's off" whisper
What honoring your intuition actually gives you (hint: I'm keeping this honest, no fairy tales)

I’m listening to Madonna’s new album Confessions II. I just found myself automatically dancing and feeling in a better mood. It’s so good!!!!

I wasn’t paying attention to the song titles, but when I heard her sing these lines.. ohhh, I had to stop and sit down and send you a note.

YES, Queen of all time, Madonna. YESSSS.

That’s true for most painful things we will experience in life.

Your drinking story... overcoming that becomes the greatest light you will ever experience.

Your darkness.. the drinking years. The 9pm promises and the 6am shame. The decades you think you wasted. And most women spend years trying to run from it, numb it, pretend it didn’t happen.

But there’s actual research on this. It’s called post-traumatic growth.

Psychologists found that people who go through hard seasons and actually process them, feel the feelings, make meaning, stop escaping, come out the other side with deeper relationships, more appreciation for their lives, and a kind of strength they never had before.

Not despite the hard thing. >>Because they walked through it.

I’ve completely rewritten my website and I couldn’t love it more. I’ve decided that I’m done tip toeing around some things and I’m putting it all out there. I especially love the About Me page. I wrote this. AI did not. I was laying awake the other night (more about this in yesterday’s podcast) and I rewrote it all in my head.. the next morning I changed it on my website. I think it captures what was hoping for perfectly. Now, more than ever, what you see is whatcha get! Let’s have some fun!! Let’s stop over-drinking and START LIVING!!!

Please go check it out angelamascenik.com and angelamascenik.com/about 🔥

Gorgeous scenes around Lisbon today. Just regular sights as I’m walking around living :). Noticing these beautiful little vignettes makes me feel happy. Art, color, nature, city wildlife ❤️🐓🐾🌸🌺

You decided this morning you weren't drinking tonight. Then 5pm rolls around, the day was long, and the debate starts: "Maybe just one. I don't want to be left out. I'll start fresh Monday."

In this episode, I'm sharing a very personal story about coming off anti-anxiety medication and sleep aids during our move to Lisbon, the brutal side effects nobody warned me about, and the two nights I barely slept at all.

What got me through was one skill: allowing the discomfort WHILE my brain also wanted to talk me out of it.

In this episode, you'll learn:

My experience stopping a low-dose anti-anxiety and what the withdrawal was actually like (brain zaps, body aches, sleepless nights, stomach issues.. all of it)
Why I decided to come off everything before walking the Camino, including sleep aids
The difference between allowing discomfort and white-knuckling through it
Why deciding ahead of time changes everything, and how the 2 am moment becomes just following through

Quick note: this is my personal experience with medication. Always talk to your doctor before starting or stopping anything. This is not medical advice.

I didn’t think it could be any better here in Lisbon… and then Jackie Pooh came. ❤️❤️❤️❤️🐾

Happy Freedom Day to me. 🎉
Eight years ago today I had my last drink. “I think I’m done with this.” was the one simple thought.
This morning I ran along the Tagus River in Lisbon with my 15-year-old, Alec, air drumming to Led Zeppelin, high-fiving tree branches when Cruel Summer came on, full on run dancing, despite him potentially dying of embarrassment.
That IS freedom. Body tingles, exhilarating, a high alcohol could never touch.
Eight years of choosing to be me, authentically, not to numb or escape when life got intense.
My life got bigger. Fuller. More alive and colorful and expansive than I ever could have imagined when I quietly put down the wine.
I had been moderating successfully for a while. But there was still something icky, the pull, the want, the desire. I was done with that. I wanted to desire something new.
And I did.
If you’ve been thinking about your own freedom, I hope today is the day you get a little closer to it. It starts quieter than you think. Just a steady, calm decision that this is the thing you’re choosing now.
Happy 4th to my American friends. And happy Freedom Day to me. ☕️
And if you want my help, of course, I’d be honored to help lead you to your own freedom, whatever that is! xoxoxoxoxo

Gahhhh my new friend Laurie whom I met at the best yoga studio ever, stopped by with a welcome basket today. I am so lucky, blessed, fortunate and grateful for my friends, here and afar. I just wonder sometimes how I got so lucky. 🥲🥰💫✨☀️

I'm recording this from my first morning LIVING in Lisbon, Portugal, sitting in The Magic House with a cup of coffee, my family finally here, and this feeling I can only describe as the specific joy of having done the hard thing.

Eighteen months ago I had an idea to move my family to a country I had never been to. No plan. Just a decision. And this morning that decision is my reality.

In this episode I'm sharing what that journey taught me — and exactly how it applies to changing your relationship with alcohol.

Because here's what I know after eight years of doing this work: the women who stay stuck aren't lacking information. They aren't lacking willpower. They're waiting to know how before they decide. And that's backwards. The plan doesn't come before the decision. The plan comes FROM the decision.

We cover:
Why waiting to feel ready keeps you stuck — and what to do instead

The one question that cuts through every excuse: if you knew it would work, would you do it?

What real change actually looks like from the inside — and why the mess doesn't mean you're failing

The grief nobody talks about when you change your relationship with alcohol

And what deciding, actually looks like.

THIS EPISODE IS FOR YOU IF:

You've been thinking about changing your drinking for months or years and you still haven't fully committed

You keep waiting until you feel ready, until things calm down, until after the next event

You know what you want but you don't believe you can actually get there

You've tried before and it didn't stick and you're not sure this time would be different

You want permission to start before you have it all figured out

Bom Dia, from Lisbon (Good morning!).

WOW. Here I am, sitting in The Magic House, my office is set up, I've had my first cup of coffee as a resident of Portugal.

U N B E L I E V A B L E.

Yesterday, myself, my beloved family, and pets all made the trek across the pond and landed here to stay.

18 months ago, I had an idea.. I wanted us to relocate to Portugal. I had actually never been there. Just a lot of research and a dream to live abroad with my family.

So, that idea is now REAL. It's a fact. I live in Portugal with my family and pets.

18 months may seem like a long time, but when I think about it, it feels like yesterday that we made a decision to pursue the dream.

I can't even begin to tell you all the trials and tribulations this goal and dream had. Just like it's hard to describe all the wins and huge highs this journey has had.

If I could draw it, it would look like a toddler scribbling on a piece of paper with a slight upward curve to the top right.

WOW.

What I am thinking about now is if I had known all the struggles and wins ahead of time, would I choose to do it?

The answer is YES.

Even though it was more expensive than I thought, took longer than I thought it would (originally we thought we could do it in 3 months, it ended up being 15, LOL.), and the excruciating pain of leaving my beloved Chapel Hill, I would still do it all over again.

And here I go... I can't help it, lol. I'm gonna compare this to changing your relationship with alcohol.

First of all, I want you to reflect 18 months ago, or even a year, or 6 months ago.. where were you with your drinking?

Fast forward to today.. how is it different? How is it NOT?

What if you KNEW you could change it in 18 months, a year, or 6 months.. but that it might be more expensive than you thought, it might take longer than you thought, and you might have to experience some difficult feelings, and perhaps mourn the loss of your old self and your relationship with alcohol?

But, you KNEW that you could...

Would you?

Imagine, having freedom from it, it doesn't take up brain space, you don't think about it really at all. You feel free, lighter, happier. You have discovered your true self and what works for you and what doesn't, you have stronger boundaries, you rest more, you have more fun and your relationships improve..

Would you do it?

I know you would.

The problem is that you don't believe you CAN.

But I happen to know you can, because I've done it and I've led hundreds of people through this process, even when they thought they couldn't. Even when they thought that they would be the one I couldn't help.

So, Angela, where do you WANT to be 6-months, a year or 18 months from now?

Decide. Then join me in the Transformation program, you + me + 5 other women, showing up and gettin' er done, every week, overcoming your biggest challenges, sharing what's working, what isn't, celebrating our wins, evaluation our mistakes.

And then meeting me, right here in Lisbon, where this email is coming from at The Magic House.

Bom Dia from Lisbon. This is real. Your transformation can be too!
link below.