What Happens Spiritually When You Quit Drinking Alcohol?

I’ve studied the intersection of sobriety and spirituality for the past seven years. At first, this was attributed to the connections I was making between my own sober curiosity and spiritual awakening. Later, when I began to gain traction as a prominent voice and coach in the alcohol-free space, I noticed this connection even more clearly among my clients.

Through my own experience and the experience support clients in navigating their sober curious journeys, I’ve recognized more deeply the spiritual effects of alcohol — and how sobriety can help you expand more deeply into your spiritual connection.

Before we get started, let me caveat this conversation with the notion that alcohol is not immoral or unspiritual.

The following observations are intended to open you up to experiences you may be having if you are on a spiritual journey and feeling somehow disconnected from the process. In my work as a spiritual teacher and coach, most of my clients feel a sense of clarity and affirmation when they are presented with the realities of the spiritual effects of alcohol. Hopefully, you will, too.

Alcohol Amplifies The Ego

The ego is the internal voice of fear, lack, anxiety, judgment and separation. The ego thrives on your discomfort and stagnation and inner turmoil.

The ego is discrete in its tactics, convincing you that it has your best interests at heart when its only concern is its own survival. In this sense, alcohol is a fantastic tool for the ego. Alcohol — a depressant — naturally exaggerates existing feelings of fear, lack, anxiety, judgment and separation.

It is tremendously difficult to live a spiritually-guided life when you are being heavily influenced by the ego. You’re likely to feel hopeless, frustrated or broken — as if the spiritual connection you desire is available to others, but not you (this is how I experienced it, at least).

The ego delights in this sense of confusion and discontent. This is precisely why, if you’ve ever considered changing your relationship with alcohol, you’ve felt uneasy and come up with a laundry list of reasons sobriety would be an epic failure. The ego is doing what it does best by filling your mind with fear to keep you stuck in behaviors that ensure its survival....behaviors like drinking alcohol.

Alcohol Muffles The Inner Guide

The Inner Guide is the internal voice opposite of the ego. The Inner Guide is the voice of love, abundance, peace, forgiveness and connection. The ego thrives off of your success and happiness. Yet, in a world where we glorify materialism and hustle, the Inner Guide’s messages can seem too good to be true.

Drinking alcohol is like giving the ego a state-of-the-art iPhone next to the strongest cell tower and giving the Inner Guide a 1990s flip phone in a tunnel. Although you are always able to connect with your Inner Guide, you can see how this communication would be more consistent with a clear connection.

Alcohol Dilutes Energetic Gifts

In a world where we’ve been taught to operate by tuning out and disconnecting so that we can better participate in the hustle-and-grind culture, it’s likely that you’ve never been taught about or encouraged to tap into your intuitive and energetic gifts.

What’s more, you may have been made to feel weird, strange, or different for these gifts. Therefore, it’s likely that you’ve invested a great deal of energy in shutting these gifts off or diluting them.

One of the most effective ways in which we can tune out intuition and energetic gifts is through drinking alcohol.

Alcohol Hinders Manifestation

You are always manifesting (just like you are always in connection with the Universe and your Inner Guide). Simply put, the effectiveness and consistency of your manifestations can be deeply hindered with alcohol in the picture. Here’s why:

Everything is energy. And every person, place and object has its own energetic vibration that ranges from low vibe to high vibe. The energetic vibration of alcohol is low. Therefore, when you consume alcohol, you lower your personal energetic vibration.

When it comes to manifestation, you can most easily manifest that which you are an energetic match for. Therefore, if you are constantly lowering your energetic vibration with a substance like alcohol, you can manifest your desires, it is just a heavier lift for the Universe.

Alcohol Opens Energetic Leaks

When you drink alcohol, you start to become relaxed, often causing you to let your guard down. Likewise, when out drinking, you’re frequently in mixed atmospheres, exposing yourself to the various vibrations and energies of others. For those, like me, who are hyper-sensitive, highly intuitive or empathic, drinking can make you vulnerable to picking up lower-vibe energies.

This might contribute to a feeling of over-emotionality when drinking or feeling extra drained, depleted, or anxious the day (or even days) after drinking.

If these insights hit home or feel familiar, you’re in the right place. I support soul-centered casual drinkers who are ready to change their relationship with alcohol. You can check out my current resources and offerings below.