All Episodes

May 7, 2025 18 mins

I’m sharing about what it actually takes to make a lasting shift in your relationship with alcohol—and why “feeling good” can often be the very thing that triggers a return to old habits.

We explore:

  • Why you break your promises to yourself (and how to rebuild trust)
  • What really needs to change to create a new self-concept
  • How intention, not willpower, changes everything
  • What clients say made this time different—and how it can be different for you too
  • The truth about emotional alignment and identity shifts
  • Why accountability and presence are essential, especially when you feel good

This is about so much more than just “not drinking.” It’s about stepping into the woman you know you are. One who leads. One who listens to herself. One who lives from her values.

Ready to finally do this differently?

DISCLAIMER: This podcast and its contents are not a substitute for rehabilitation, medical treatment or advice. It is for educational and inspirational purposes. I am not a therapist or doctor. The views here are expressed a personal opinion and based on first hand experience. Please consult a doctor if your mental or physical health is at risk.

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mary Wagstaff (00:02):
Music. Welcome to stop drinking and start living
the feminine way. I'm yourhostess. Mary Wagstaff, holistic
alcohol coach and feminineembodiment guide here to help
you effortlessly release alcoholby reclaiming your feminine
essence. Sobriety isn't justabout quitting drinking, it's
about removing the distortionsthat keep you disconnected,

(00:26):
overwhelmed and stuck in cyclesof numbing. Each week, I'll
share powerful tools, newperspectives that transform and
deeply relatable stories to helpyou step into the power pleasure
and purpose that it is to be awoman. This is your next
evolution of awakenedempowerment. Welcome to the

(00:47):
feminine way. Welcome back tothe show my beautiful listeners.
Thank you for everyone thatcelebrated with me last week or
this week, really, because Ijust put the episode out, I
received so many beautiful justnotes of congratulations and
inspiration. And it was so, sosweet. And although I said, I
don't celebrate myself often inmy wins, I don't not do that

(01:13):
because I feel like embarrassedor like it's, you know, a big
ego or something like that. It'sreally just a habit, right? It's
a habit of slowing down andstopping at the VISTA, and I've
talked about that a lot and butit's on the other side of
alcohol and the deconditioningof, you know, what we're taught

(01:33):
as kids, as women, to not havetoo much pride or too much ego,
you know? I, really do honor myself and honor my
accomplishments. And we work sohard in this modern world and
with all of the information thatcomes in and all the information
that goes out, that this is whatwe want to inspire our children

(01:55):
to do and so that they cancontinue to inspire the next
generation, right? Because it'sthe belief in ourself, that the
work we're doing no matter whatit is, right? Getting a load of
dishes done, getting a load oflaundry done, like all of the
things we do all day long, asmothers, as caretakers, as
women, for ourselves and foreveryone, that if we don't

(02:21):
believe that it's worthsomething, right? That's where
that lack comes in. And so Ibelieve everything that I do and
presence is such a key to thatthe more present I am with the
one thing, or, you know, evenjust stopping to notice that I'm

(02:42):
kind of multitasking, or I'mwanting to rush something along
the second that I slow down andstep into a place of patience,
which is so much what the farmis teaching me, and so much of
what like having a child teachesme, and what you need to find
freedom from alcohol, is you doneed patience. We don't learn
things overnight, and you don'tunlearn them overnight,

(03:05):
especially as an adult. We don'tunlearn the beliefs that we've
had for 44 years, for 50, 6070,years, with all the social
conditioning overnight. We haveto be patient. But the way you
do one thing is the way you doeverything. So it's the little,
tiny shifts that really make abiggest, the biggest difference,
and that is what's so profoundabout coaching is because when

(03:28):
we show up every single week,we're saying what was different,
what was a win, what was easierthis week. And that evidence
builds, it compounds, but rightnow, what's compounding for you
is your confusion, right? Yourconfusion is compounding. And
you're convincing of yourselfthat when you feel better, that

(03:51):
that it's fine and it's not aproblem. And then inevitably,
you know, you go back into thesame pattern again and again. So
today, what we I want to talkabout. And the reason that this
came forward was because I hadasked, and I asked all of my
clients this, but recently, Ihad asked a client of mine, what

(04:15):
has made the biggest difference,right? Like, why was this time
different? This person who hasstruggled for many, many years,
right, probably their entirelife, since they were very
young, you know, started smokingpot, has always kind of had some
attachment to an externalreward, an external stimulus.

(04:39):
Right now, of course, this ishow we learn. But it was
stopping and starting projectslike shiny object syndrome, just
moving on from one thing to thenext to the next to the next.
And what they said is, this timeis already different. We're not
even halfway through our. Ourtime together, this time is

(05:02):
already different becausethey're here, because they set a
precedent for themselves to kindof stake their claim with
something new. So what happenswhen you say, you know, it's
like you say you're done, youmean it, and then you're pouring
yourself another glass of wine,a couple days later, a week

(05:23):
later, a month later, right?
Because the body rebalancesitself, and then it's actually
feeling good that creates thetrigger, right? It's not feeling
bad, it's feeling good thatcreates the trigger. When you're
feeling bad. You don't want tokeep doing that thing, but
you've associated feeling goodwith alcohol, and last week, my

(05:46):
invitation to you was, what canyou do for yourself, the alcohol
that you only think alcohol cando for you, right? And that is
what we aim to do in the privatecoaching program. And when you
are continuously breaking yourpromise to yourself over and

(06:08):
over and over again, it chipsaway, inevitably, at your self
trust, at a subconscious part ofyou that's like doesn't really
believe that at any point youactually are serious about
change, there's always kind ofwhat I call these Get Out of
Jail Free Thoughts. It's like,Yeah, but you know, we'll

(06:29):
inevitably go back to it or butwhat about this time and when
it's only you having theconversation? You're not holding
that new perspective, you're notholding it through the good, the
bad, the indifferent, for longenough to see yourself through
to each new circumstance. Andwhen that happens, and when you

(06:54):
feel good, start to feel goodagain, that's when you convince
yourself that nothing's reallywrong. I don't have that big of
that bad of a problem, so on andso forth. And then inevitably,
it happens again. And then it'sthat negative self talk that
something must be wrong withyou. Why can't I drink like
everyone else? And then you'rein a shame spiral. And then

(07:15):
nothing changes. And then itchanges again for a little
while, and maybe you quit for alittle while, and then you feel
good again, and then you goright back to it over and over
and over again, because youdon't want something to quote
unquote be wrong with you. Youwant to be quote unquote normal
like everyone else, right? Andso you have all of these
thoughts that are comparingyourself, shaming yourself, in

(07:36):
confusion, convincing yourself,and it's exhausting, and you
just keep doing it because youdon't make a break in that
pattern. And if you don'tinterrupt the deeper the whole
process of the beliefs and theemotional patterns, it will you
will continue to go back to thatlearned behavior. We have

(08:02):
grooves in our brain that areso, so deep. And the truth is,
is your brain is actuallyworking normally, like, if I
have any mission in life, it isto normalize addiction. It's
because addiction is a learnedbehavior. It's a especially when
you add a chemical, a strongchemical reward. Is there
nuances? Is there spectrumsAbsolutely. But when you try to

(08:23):
intellectualize the problem andlook at it like we want to look
at the data, but we also have togo beyond your beliefs, because
your beliefs aren't necessarilyfacts, and so you're looking
only at the evidence that you'vehad, which is such a small,

(08:46):
small portion, and then you'remaking it personal, like you're
making it all about you, andyou're not Having a wider
perspective, right? So shortterm relief wins over the long
term intention when you arerunning on autopilot, right? So

(09:07):
you're every single time, everysingle time your brain is going
to remember that euphoricfeeling and it's going to
override your long termintention when you're not in the
place of examination, whenyou're not in the place of
taking some sort of measurementwhen you're not in the place of

(09:29):
reiteratingyour intention and making not
just decisions about Alcohol,but making decisions about all
of your life from from your lifeintention, from doing a values
assessment. And the thing is, iswhat happens is, most people
think that they need morediscipline. They have to get

(09:52):
serious, and then they compoundthe pressure, and that pressure
creates more exhaustion usingwillpower. Power until
eventually you break and youhave nothing to fall back on
when that will power runs dry,and that's why nothing sticks.
But what happened? What thetruth of what happens is that
you need a new self concept. Youneed to be doing it different,

(10:16):
to create a new proof ofconcept, right for yourself.
This isn't just about quittingdrinking. It is about who you
are becoming without it. So whois the the version of you that
no longer desires alcohol? Whatdoes she do? Right? Well, she

(10:37):
becomes a leader in hercommunity. She walks her talk,
she makes a stance, she makes astrong declaration to do
something different. And thereason that that's so scary for
people is they're afraid if theysay, I'm quitting and they end
up drinking, that somehow, youknow, they, they've like, lost,

(10:59):
they can't save face, andthey've lost some credibility.
But with whom? Right? No one'spaying attention the way that
you are, and no one elseactually, like, really needs to
know. But when I talk to people,it's like they're just trying to
quit on their own andinevitably, without any sort of

(11:23):
accountability, without any sortof community, without any sort
of being able to find relief bysharing their story from a non
judgmental perspective, andthey're just in their own Head.
They just get stuck back intheir own head, right? Because
the decisions that your beliefsare making aren't the decisions

(11:46):
that are serving you right now,for the most part, with alcohol.
So you need some new ideas inthere, right? You have to do
something radically different toget radically new results. And I
talked about this last week andhow I started engaging in all of
these really radical new ways,like I joined a sacred
sisterhood, a priestess path. Istarted hosting my own women's

(12:08):
circles. I started going tocoaching and to networking
events, like doing all thisstuff that was outside of my
typical comfort zone, spendingtime with people that weren't
actually that, where alcoholwasn't part of the conversation,
and really diving in to mymindset around coaching, but

(12:29):
also learning how to embody myemotions from a feminine
perspective. So the key is notwillpower, it's intention,
identity and and being inemotional alignment right with
the truth of who you are, butyou have to get clear on what
that is. You can't just kind oflike think it in your head. You

(12:50):
have to get very clear. You haveto commit to it and it ha. You
have to have consistency andrepetition. So this shift comes
when you stop negotiating withthe old story and you hear it,
you honor it, you talk to it,and you take a new stand for a
new story, one circumstance at atime that you can prove

(13:14):
yourself. Oh, I can show up inthis new situation. And when I
walk my clients through this andand what makes the biggest
shift, it's just that, right?
People tell me, even just on ourconsultations, I've never felt
comfortable enough to share thiswith anyone. I've People tell me

(13:36):
all the time, I've shared morewith you on this consultation,
about this, about alcohol andother things that I've ever
shared with anyone, right? So wecreate a really safe, non
judgmental, completely disarmingspace where we get to just go
over and see, what are thestories you've been telling

(13:58):
yourself? What are youremotions? What are the facts?
What's useful, what's servingyou? Where do you want to go?
What's worked, what's worked inother areas. And we create a
plan specifically for you,something that you actually
believe now, these are not justmantras, right? These aren't
just positive affirmations.
These are about the woman thatyou are, the values that you

(14:22):
already hold and and justshifting the perspective right,
having a new perspective, butholding that with consistency
for long enough. And that is thebiggest point. I always tell
people when they step into thecoaching container, the shift is
already happening. You'vealready made a stance. You've

(14:44):
already signaled something toyour brain that you're doing
something new, and you're alwaysgoing to take away what you came
for, new awareness of yourthoughts. One of my clients, and
this is an older episode, shesaid, I didn't have a drinking.
Problem. I had a thinkingproblem. She just thought her
thoughts were just there. Shedidn't know she could become

(15:05):
aware of them. So we practicethat and change them and talk to
them. So you have to haveawareness. You have to start
bringing in compassionateattention to your objections and
your self talk. And this is likeabout the words that you say
your life, intention is socrucial. Life intention LED.
Decision making is everything.

(15:31):
Once you have that everythingbecomes a no brainer, becomes
very obvious what you're doing,from the way you treat yourself
to the way that you processemotions, to the urges, to the
decisions you make. You havealready overcome all of your
objections once you create alife intention, and this helps
with an identity upgrade,because you step into more

(15:51):
integrity, you become the womanwho does what she says she's
going to do. And if you don't,you become the woman who treats
herself with respect andcompassion along the way, and
you learn how to do that. Andthe biggest thing is the support
and the accountability right,because when you have that
consistency in any area, rightto go and to share, to express

(16:17):
the from a really deep place inyour heart, like where your
resistance is showing up tocelebrate your wins from someone
that's been through it. And thisis, you know, this is how, this
is how we do it over here. Sowhy is this time different for
you? Why is this time going tobe different? And you don't want

(16:37):
to wait until you're at rockbottom, and we're going to talk
about that next week. You wantto do it when you're feeling
good, right? Because youactually have endorphins that
will carry you through. Andswitch them from being triggers
to help you drink to being thetrigger that nothing has gone
wrong. Stay tuned for nextweek's episode. Follow the link

(17:01):
here in the show notes to signup for our consultation. We are
going to take you from burnoutto bliss out and having an
amazing summer. I'll talk to yousoon. The days of white
knuckling your way through anurge are over. No more
distracting yourself, no moreavoiding alcohol, no more
resisting and I am notexaggerating when I say that

(17:23):
doing this one thing for fiveminutes will change not only how
successful you are in drinkingless, but how much you will love
your alcohol free life. You aregoing to feel so good. So come
on over to my website or followthe link right here in the show
notes to grab the free urgeguide that gives you the exact
cheat codes to use to findrelief without a drink. And the

(17:47):
best part is no deprivation, nomissing out, required. I'll see
you over. Mary Wagstaff,coach.com, you.
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