Hello Sunday Morning | ben

Early March trip down the pit
20/03/12 • 1 Comment

Hey all So I’ve been doing a HSM for the past seven months. I got to the end of February really easily. At the beginning of March I thought this would be great to see if I can enjoy some wine in a very moderate way, as I do like it, and there are some health benefits. Day one: some Coopers Stout, my favourite beer. Nice. Day two: stout and some wine with tea, nice again Day three: had a community meeting to attend, caught up with some people for a ‘few’ drinks at the pub which was four pints. Felt crap the next day Day five to ten: beers and wine each night straight after work. Head getting fuzzy (can you see what’s happening here? I couldn’t) Day eleven: my best mate was over from Sydney. We went out ‘for a few drinks’. Three pints of cider, 2/3 of [...]

Still alive and going
29/02/12 • 2 Comments

Well hello I’m still alive and on my HSM. Up to seven months now. Not really had any cravings at all, been happy on softdrinks at gigs and parties and quite enjoyed being straight and watching people make fools of themselves. My head is a lot better, and trying to keep up with the yoga and meditation.

dangers of drinking too much
27/10/11 • 8 Comments

went out friday night last, watched my friends drink a lot. it was pretty surreal. one of them walked home and fell asleep for a few hours on the side of the road, very pissed, then awoke at 5 in the morning and walked the rest of the way, thinking he’d been mugged, having taken off his watch, wallet and shirt to use as a pillow. very dangerous. hey i’m enjoying being dry at the moment; teetotaler? maybe straight-edge has a better sound to it

Fascinating article on alcohol research http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/immune-cells-in-brain-may-control-alcohol-abuse-researchers-say/story-e6frg6nf-1226151134739 ALCOHOL abuse could be controlled by immune cells in our brains, researchers say. Adelaide University researchers say there’s a growing body of evidence that alcohol triggers rapid changes in the immune system in the brain and this is behind responses like staggering and slurring. They believe blocking part of the immune system might reduce alcohol abuse and help prevent drink driving accidents. Lead researcher Mark Hutchinson says a study on mice, that were given a shot of alcohol, found that blocking a protein called toll-like receptor 4, part of the immune system, reduced the effects of alcohol in the animals. He and his research team believe it may also work on humans. “Medications targeting toll-like receptor 4 may prove beneficial in treating alcohol dependence and acute overdoses,” Dr Hutchinson says. He says their work has implications for identifying individuals who may have bad [...]

end of september update
29/09/11 • 2 Comments

So, now nearly the end of September. Six weeks dry, and going well. Yoga and meditation progressing well. Anxiety under control with some pharmacological assistance (Hello Lexapro!) which I thoroughly recommend if you suffer from it. It needs to be coupled with meditation / therapy / yoga or whatever because if you treat the symptoms and not the cause you\’ll never get better. Alcohol intake is very much a self medication – what I need is self meditation! I\’m glad I\’m back on the Buddhist path – Hello Sunday Mornings fits in very well with the precepts which are to refrain from killing and harming living beings, taking what is not given, lying and harsh speech, sexual misconduct and alcohol and other intoxicants (which cause heedlessness). The meditation and development of compassion and love are what is needed to get to the root of our issues such as why we [...]