Many of us drink alcohol. The city’s plentiful diversity of bars, wineshops, happy hours, and events ensures that we can always find a drink when we want one. Usually, our reasons for drinking alcoholic beverages are fairly benign, based on enjoyment of the taste or a desire to unwind (as opposed to a pathological urge to numb emotional pain). The pleasant effects of drinking come pretty soon after we start. By mindfully attuning to the experience, we can continue to enjoy a series of pleasurable moments without drinking too much. When we get disconnected from our bodily feelings, we become vulnerable to drinking excessively. We fail to notice our diminished ability to taste our drinks and don’t observe the decline in our physical, mental, and social faculties. Many religious traditions eschew drinking, especially by spiritual leaders, because they consider it to interfere with awareness, purpose, and divine will. While it might be going too far for some people to consider not drinking at all, most can recall times when drinking led to some poor decision making or a nasty hangover.

Introducing mindfulness to the times when we drink can be an interesting and enriching experience. Consider some of the following activities:

• Be aware of your need or urge to drink. Ideally, drinking is enjoyable and voluntary, not compulsive and necessary. In stressful times, we’re more likely to crave a drink as a quick way to feel better. However, we can also relieve stress through exercise, meditation, and diaphragmatic breathing. Mindfully observing what judgments or feelings lead us to drink can provide valuable insights into our own behavior. In fact, using mindfulness to bring attention to—without acting on—the urge to drink is a key component of relapse prevention for alcohol abuse (Marlatt and Gordon 1985).
• Drink slowly. Bring your full awareness to the taste and aroma of your drink. The taste of some beverages, like wine, beer, and whisky, changes as they further aerate and adjust to room temperature. See if you can detect any subtle changes in flavor. While a primer in tasting is beyond the focus of this chapter, it might help to know some of the characteristics associated with different drinks. Beer, for example, has flavors associated with malt (such as sweet, earthy, and caramel- like) and hops (such as crisp, bitter, and grassy).
• Notice when you start to feel buzzed or drunk. How does this feel in your body? Is it pleasurable or unsettling?
• If you start to feel bad, it’s clearly time to stop or slow down. Similarly, if you find yourself losing the ability to taste your drink, you might be going beyond the point of a pleasant experience. Consider taking a time-out or stopping altogether, and drinking some water or club soda instead.
• Remain cognizant of your reason(s) for drinking right now to ensure that your actions are consistent with your goal(s). Sometimes, your intention to hang out with friends or watch a ballgame might be superseded by your desire for another drink. Presumably, you don’t want to miss an interesting conversation or the best play of the game by standing in line at the bar.

excerpt from Urban Mindfulness: Cultivating Peace, Presence & Purpose in the Middle of it All by Jonathan S Kaplan, Ph D.