Sober Bars Are The New In Thing For Recovering Alcoholics To Enjoy The Social Scene In A Healthy And Booze-Free Way

Sober Bars Are The New In Thing For Recovering Alcoholics To Enjoy The Social Scene In A Healthy And Booze-Free Way

Life is still fun without alcohol! In fact, for many people, it’s better than ever. No hangovers, no mood swings, no brain fog… it’s wonderful. But so much of our social culture is wrapped up in alcohol, that being alcohol-free can sometimes be isolating and lonely. Particularly when it’s all so new.

Never Fear, Sober Bars Are Here

Recently the “sober bar” trend has begun getting some legs under it, and that’s great news for folks who like to socialize without the booze. More and more people these days are giving up alcohol, for a variety of reasons. Some don’t tolerate alcohol very well; it can really do a number on everything from our skin to our internal organs. It causes inflammation in some people, and headaches in most. There’s no denying it can be great for your social life, but for many folks it’s not so awesome for life, life.

If you’ve ever assessed your relationship with alcohol and drinking, you likely noticed that a lot of “good times” happen around a pint or two. That Friday nights can be a trigger, as can your friends drinking at happy hour. Your old haunts are almost definitely a trigger, and maybe even things like shooting pool or playing darts. 

If you’ve completed your assessment and decided you want to change, the biggest detractor from your success is likely to be all the ways that alcohol is just a part of everyone’s day to day, not just yours.

Sober Bars: A Chance To Reprogram

That’s what’s really cool about the concept of sober bars. It doesn’t need to only be for recovering alcoholics, though it’s wonderful for them too. It can be for anyone who wants to be healthier. For moms-to-be who want to whoop it up with their girls, or the pool shark with a clear head and no taste for whiskey. The people for whom alcohol has no value, and its presence is not welcome right now. 

One of the most exciting things that sober bars offer, is a chance to reprogram ourselves. In our culture, we have the concepts of socializing and fun intertwined with alcohol, and it doesn’t need to be that way at all. But for many people, for whom alcohol is an ingrained part of their lives, sober bars offer a chance to reprogram. It’s not fair to yourself or to your friends to think that you’ll just never go to a bar again because you don’t drink any longer. But on the flip side, it’s unfair to put yourself in that situation until you are on solid footing with alcohol. 

If you’ve always been a drinker, then meeting your friends at a bar is just what you do. You probably don’t even think about what you’re going to have to drink, you’ll just get whatever’s on special since you’ll be there during happy hour. But now imagine that you’ve just recently given up booze. What will you have at happy hour? Do you even have a favorite non-alcoholic beverage, or is it just water? (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) Are you OK with just drinking water or will you feel strange? 

Now imagine you’ve had a few happy hours at sober bars first, and a chance to form new habits. Turns out you love mango smoothies made with fresh coconut water. Virgin mojitos. Sparkling water with lime. And you love being with your friends back at the old dive bar, almost as much as you love knowing you’ll be the one with no hangover in the morning.