Six Months Sober: What I’ve Learned From My 1-Year Alcohol-Free Challenge
Welcome to She Thrives with Stef Barti, a podcast dedicated to empowering women to live their best lives and thrive unapologetically.
This blog post is based on Episode 33 of my podcast, She Thrives with Stef Barti. If you prefer to listen, you can check out the original podcast episode.
Hello, beautiful souls!
Today I’m sharing something close to my heart—something I never thought I could do, but now I’m six months into it.
Yes, I’m talking about my alcohol-free journey, which has been nothing short of empowering.
If you’re considering taking on a dry challenge or simply curious about what it takes to go sober, I hope my story will inspire you and give you the courage to take the first step.
The Inspiration to Begin: One Day at a Time
I’ll be honest, when I first considered going alcohol-free, I didn’t believe I could actually do it.
It was a conversation with my beautiful friend @withSarahWeatherby that planted the seed.
She had been sober for some time, and at first, I thought, “That’s awesome for her, but I could never do that.”
Back then, I had a pretty regular relationship with wine.
Not the kind of relationship you’d expect from someone with a severe alcohol problem, but one that was built on routine and comfort. 🤷🏽♀️
Wine felt safe.
It’s socially acceptable, after all—nobody ever judges you for having a glass (or two… or three) of red wine, right?
But over time, I realized that my drinking was a way to unwind, numb, and deal with stress. I knew something had to change.
Fast forward a few months, and I found myself contemplating the idea of doing a dry challenge. Initially,
I told myself I could go for three days, then one week, then a month.
Each time I reached a milestone, I found more strength, more resilience, and more belief that I could go further.
The Turning Point: Six Months in, and I’m Still Going Strong
Now, here I am, six months alcohol-free, and I’m celebrating this milestone with so much gratitude and pride.
I remember how, on most nights, I’d be pouring myself that second glass of red wine. But today, I’m sipping on English breakfast tea—and that’s enough for me.
Hello! Who dis ? 🧐
I won’t lie and say the journey has been easy.
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing. But the beauty in this challenge is that it’s taught me so much about myself.
The first few days were tough, especially since I had to reframe how I viewed social situations and unwind after a long day.
But then I started to lean into other habits that helped me feel fulfilled—like enjoying a hot cup of tea or taking a long, mindful walk.
What surprised me the most was how much I started to enjoy these little moments of clarity and calm. There was a certain strength in realizing I didn’t need alcohol to feel relaxed or to have fun.
And, honestly, there’s a lot of power in taking control of your own narrative and embracing a different way of living.
If you need some help to embody your magic, I created the perfect self love course to ignite the goddess in you ✨“Unleash Your Wild Feminine” ✨
Small Steps Lead to Big Wins
If you’re thinking of doing a dry challenge, I want to offer you some encouragement: Start small.
Maybe aim for just one day. Then, when you achieve that, aim for two days. Then a week.
Before you know it, you’ll realize you’re capable of so much more than you thought.
For me, each milestone—no matter how small—felt like a victory, and the more I believed in myself, the more confident I became in my ability to go further.
The key is to keep going.
Even when it feels difficult or when you feel tempted to give up. Challenge yourself to stick with it just a little longer, and trust me, you’ll be amazed at how much you can grow.
One day, you might just surprise yourself and realize that you’ve made it to the one-year mark—or even beyond.
Embracing the Power of Going Sober
There’s something truly empowering about doing something you once thought was impossible.
When I hit the six-month mark, I felt a deep sense of pride.
Not just because I had reached a milestone, but because I had proven to myself that I was capable of overcoming self-imposed limitations.
This experience has also reinforced my belief that when we put our minds to something, we are capable of achieving incredible things.
I want to encourage you, whether you’re considering a dry challenge or any other personal growth challenge, that you can do this.
You have the strength, the courage, and the resilience inside you to make it happen.
I promise you, you’ll surprise yourself.
Final Words: You Are a Unique, Beautiful Creation
Before I go, I want to leave you with this thought: You are a unique, beautiful creation, worthy of love and joy every single day.
Whether you choose to take on a dry challenge or not, remember that your worth is not defined by any one habit or behavior.
It’s defined by the light and love that you bring into the world.
So, as I sip on my cup of tea today, I’m raising a virtual toast to you, my dear friend. Cheers to your journey—whatever that may look like for you.
Sending you so much love and strength as you step into your own greatness.🫶🏾
Until next time,
Stef Barti
Host of She Thrives with Stef Barti Podcast
Feel free to share this post with anyone who might benefit from it. And remember, you are a unique, beautiful creation, worthy of love and joy every day of the year.
Follow me on Instagram
If you’re a woman looking to connect with a community of like-minded souls exploring wellness, somatic healing, movement and dance, spirituality, and adventure, come join me on Instagram!
My profile is private as I’m hoping to create a safe and supportive space for us to grow together. You’ll find me @StefBarti—let’s embark on this journey together. 🌿
✨ Get my Free “Solo Female Travel Safety Checklist “ ✨
Thriving Girlies Newsletter✨
✨ Join the Thriving girlies newsletter for all things wellness, women dance and self love retreats, spirituality, self improvement and more ✨
More Wellness Resources
- Women Choosing a childfree life
- Best ways to romanticize your life as a women
- My favourite activity to help you increase your self love
- Self care routine to implement daily
- Add those Wellness activities to your routine to be happier
- Trust your gut & make better decisions
- This one thing can really change your life today
- Podcast episodes for Childfree women
- Best podcasts for Solo female travellers
- Best podcasts for ADHD women
- Best podcast episodes for women struggling with loneliness
- Podcast episodes for women empowerment)
- Best podcast episodes for women to change their lives and start thriving
- Listen to these podcasts to help you have better female friendships and sisterhood
Additional Resource to help you slow down
Feminine embodiment & Self Love Practice
I created my “Unleash your Feminine Power” to help you really start diving into your own unique power.
In this course, you will learn to connect with your body through some very sensual movements.
There is no fancy choreography to worry about. I really wanted to make this as simple as possible.
The goal is to give you a somatic practice that you can implement into your daily routine in order to start embodying your authentic self.
It is high time we start prioritizing our relationship with our own body too.
Because in order to be truly happy and content in life, I really believe you need to strike for a balance.
That means feeding your soul, your heart, your body.
And this is the goal of my ” Unleash your Feminine Power“.
The beautiful thing is that once you start getting in touch with that fire within, it only grows from there.
This energy will go on to light up your path, simultaneously guiding you through life.
So in a way, it is your own inner guiding compass. 💕
Get in Touch with your feminine today through the self love embodiment practice
ps. Don’t forget to join the conversation over on the podcast and the girlies club so you don’t miss anything 🫶🏾
More Feminine Energy Resource
What is Feminine Energy and How to Activate it?
More ways to activate your feminine energy
Women Self Love Wellness Retreat
I am so passionate about women empowerment. Everything I do is based on this. I want to see more women embrace their authentic selves. Trust me life gets so much better.
That’s the main focus of my self love women retreat. In this Wellness retreat, we go deep. I really love to connect with my fellow sisters.
That’s why I only do small groups of 10-12 women.
This retreat is an invitation to embody your feminine and to dive into radical self love. Growth and shedding past limiting beliefs is the focal point.
We do this through various workshops, wellness practices such as breath work and lots of somatic movement.
As a dance teacher, of course we will also be using the power of dance and music to process, release and shed things that are holding us back so we can be born again.
Welcome to our transformational retreat where the focus is all on YOU.
Not only that, but we do it in style and comfort.
Our next retreat is in a breathtaking villa on the beautiful island of Gozo Malta. We will be staying in our own private villa.
And did I mention our own private chef? with our own private pool 🤭.
It is the perfect time to slow down and prioritize yourself.
Also, don’t forget to stay in touch for my Bali self love women wellness retreat, for pure feminine embodiment and lots of dancing also.
Join me on Socials
- My Instagram for Women Self Love & Dance: @stefbarti
- TikTok: @stefbarti_