Understanding Dry January and the Deeper Purpose of Abstinence

The main takeaway is that Dry January can help identify and address unconscious habits related to alcohol and may lead to a longer journey of self-discovery.

### Understanding the Purpose and Challenges of Dry January
* 🍷 Dry January is a popular challenge where people abstain from alcohol for the entire month, often as a way to **reset after the holidays** or **assess their relationship with drinking**.
* 🧘 Russell Brand, a former addict turned advocate for recovery, discusses the **spiritual and psychological aspects** of abstaining from alcohol, highlighting the role alcohol often plays in **managing moods and psychic life**.
* 🚫 He emphasizes that successful completion of Dry January does not necessarily mean one is not an alcoholic, but rather may indicate the **ability to abstain temporarily**.
* 💡 Brand suggests that those using Dry January as a temporary refuge from damaging behavior may need to address deeper issues that alcohol was fulfilling in their lives, such as **comfort, distraction, numbness, or escape**.
* 🔄 The concept of **abstinence-based recovery**, where one commits to **not drinking one day at a time**, is discussed as a powerful technique for both **short-term challenges like Dry January** and **long-term recovery**.
* 🌟 Brand encourages individuals to focus on the present moment and take recovery **one day at a time**, rather than getting overwhelmed by the idea of **never drinking again**.
* He also highlights the importance of **addressing underlying issues and seeking support for long-term recovery**, as simply **abstaining from alcohol may not be enough to create lasting change**.
* 🙏 The broader message of the video is that many people, regardless of their relationship with alcohol, are seeking **deeper purpose, meaning, and connection** in a world that often lacks these qualities.

it's the beginning of a new year, and wherever you are in the world, the chances are that you're considering Dry January. Well, how dry and why dry? Hello there, you thought. Well, no, actually, there's not 4.67 million because this is a side channel. There's 267,000 of you, but we're a tighter, more compact group of spiritual warriors, trainees, shame, and come together to awaken. The point of this channel is to discover who you really are, what resources you have within yourself, what unconscious habits you have that are holding you back as an individual, and how you can alter them. So, when there is a subject like giant charge, Dry January, Dry January, it's actually good that it's sober because it'd be a difficult thing to say drunk Dry January. Like, what is it saying really? Well, having like, uh, little periods of abstinence occurs in a lot of religions, don't it? Like Ramadan, there's like, you know, you eat during certain periods and fast in others. In Christianity, there are

periods of fasting. And that whole like pancake day to Lent is a whole deal, you know, or vice versa, you know. So fasting, and I can see why it is. I've done fasts before, and it, in fact, I'll do another video on that. But the denial and abstaining from either sex or from drinking or whatever, it has an impact on you because the simple truth is people use alcohol, let's keep it to alcohol, to manage their moods and to manage their psychic life. Alcohol, even if you're not an alcoholic drinking all time, and I am an alcoholic, but even if you're not an alcoholic, you're drinking to make yourself feel good, right? And making yourself feel good is a spiritual issue. I don't feel good, or I want to feel better, I'll have a drink. That's a spiritual choice. There'll be people already, even though this is relatively early in January, that just couldn't hack it, right? You try and do Dry January if you're a person that

tried January and couldn't hack it then you need to have a little look at your drinking in a less temporal way. Even though I would suggest one day at a time, it's probably something you need to stop if you're doing Dry January successfully, as in you're able to one day at a time not drink. Then you might look at what is changing in you, what is the purpose of a thing like this. Now me, I please God, we'll be having a Dry January because I have a Dry February, March, April. I have dry everything because I don't drink and I don't take drugs because I can't handle it. But I think there are a few people that don't need to look at their drinking. And the more we slide into what could be described as a terrible culture of antipathy and despair, the less any of us will be able to be glib about addiction because we're addicted to screens, we're addicted to certainly drugs and alcohol, and bad food, and bad lifestyle choices addiction.

is a fixation on an external object that has a negative outcome, and in spite of this, you can't stop it. That's my definition of addiction or behavior or use of a substance that is negative, and when you try and stop, you can't stop. So if you're able to stop even for a sustained period like January, I don't think that means you're not an alcoholic. It means that you can handle a kind of like even when I was drinking New Zealand. I once did a month with, I think I still smoke weed, but I did a month without drinking. It was alright. I had to do it for, uh, like I was doing a school play. I was in a drama school. I wasn't a child like, and it was pretty tough, but I did it because I was focused on an event. I started drinking straight away, and I was right back into, you know, where I started and stuff. The point of doing a dry January, I guess, is to address the unconscious habits that you have or maybe you're

just doing it for a bit of a laugh. The way people do things like a fun run or a marathon or tough mudder as some kind of test of your endurance. If it's that, then respect to you and well done, and I hope you're being sponsored and raising some money. But if you're not drinking because you have a suspicion that your drinking is a problem in your life, that your drinking is fulfilling a role that ought be fulfilled elsewhere, then what I reckon you have to look at is what does drinking do for you. Like Gabor Mate, who comes on my podcast under the skin quite frequently, is a lovely guy. He says with addiction or dependency, you shouldn't look at the negative downsides of even with something as destructive as heroin. You should look at what it does for the person. And it's a brilliant technique, actually, because if you are drinking or if you know someone that's drinking obsessively, what job is that doing? It's giving the person comfort, it's giving the person distraction.

given the person numbness it's giving the person escape so now you know that that person needs distraction numbness escape etc. they're looking for something. now if you don't address those issues there's no reason. it's not possible to stop drinking like many people stop drinking and then don't enter into a program of support of active recovery and spiritual change and i think it's very difficult. i do know people that have stopped drinking without the kind of support that i get. i belong to anonymous support groups around dependency and i know people that have been able to but often there is a kind of an abyss that opens up or and you might notice this if you're doing dry january. did you start doing something else did you say i'm doing dry january give me a goddamn navigator get oh my god i've got eat some crisps put that pornography on right now like if there is some other consequence that it's hell again helping you to identify that alcohol was functional in your life. now for me because i'm like 19 years

clean from drugs and alcohol, one day at a time, with the support of like a lot of people and uh programming, and a higher power that I call God. I've now been around the ideas and attitudes and techniques of addiction on a personal level for a long time, and what I've learned or been shown is that you take out the drinking and then you realize, Oh my God, I'm actually crazy. I'm a crazy person that wants stuff desperately, that has sort of like is riddled with holes and riddled with self-doubt. You know that there are things that need to be addressed. Maybe you're discovering stuff like that about yourself, and if you are, then you can go on a much longer journey, I reckon, that unless you're someone who, when you drink, there are no real negative consequences and it's just a bit of fun. You know, if you're one of those people, then I'd, you know, I don't really have an opinion on that because that's a world that I've never really understood.

because drinking's always been a problem for me. But if you are a person that's doing Dry January as a sort of a kickstart, as a kind of respite, as a kind of temporary refuge from what you know to be a damaging behavior, please let me know in the comments if this is you. Then clearly this is not something that you're just going to be able to do for one month. A lot of people are against abstinence-based recovery because they think it's too hard. Abstinence-based recovery means you stop doing whatever it is. Let's just take alcohol, that's what we're discussing, and you stop drinking one day at a time, and you never take the first drink. You do not drink, no matter what, right? A lot of people can't handle that concept. They're like, What do you mean, well in 10 years or what if I'm at a wedding or on a boat or something? People often mention weddings and boats as the situations where alcohol are fundamentally necessary, although boats and weddings are when I've caused

some of the most trouble as a result of being drunk so actually there's no excuse. These are times when you should particularly not drink, but the idea of not drinking again forever is pretty hard for people to handle. But the idea of not drinking just for today, most of us, I mean, that is quite hard sometimes. But with support and with certain techniques, that is possible. And once you've done it for a day, now you just focus on another day. And that is perhaps one of the most important techniques. Whether you're just doing dry January or you've got a project around abstinence that you foresee as being a little more enduring, the fact is we live our life one day at a time, one moment at a time. Five years in the future is conceptual. None of us know where we'll be in five years or even if we'll have a planet to inhabit. So once you accept I'm just not drinking right now, that's it. Any decision I make is abstract. I don't need to think about tomorrow. I don't need to

think about it. Just for today, I won't drink. If you use that technique for Dry January, just for today, I won't drink. I'll deal with tomorrow, tomorrow. You'll be okay. Things will come up because there'll be social occasions. Oh no, how am I going to get through that social occasion? Well, you either then go to the social occasion or you go to the social occasion and you decide in advance what you'll drink. And you determine that if there is a moment where you feel tempted or challenged, that you'll go outside and make a little phone call. It's when you find yourself. The things that are most likely to make a person drink who's trying not to, is a moment of sorrow, my phone, like it's a moment of like intense emotional convulsion, you know, like if you feel resentful or angry or fearful or sad, like this moment might make you drink. Or if you feel happy and elated and excited, that might make you drink. Or if you put yourself in an environment where everyone else is drinking.

might make you drink. The fact is, not drinking in a drink or in a culture is a difficult thing to do at first, but it does become much easier. And there are some of us, and if you are one of those people, you know you are. And if you know one of those people, you know that you know one of those people that just cannot drink. They will never be safe, it will never be fun, it will always be part of a downward trend, occasionally moments of elation that for a little while make the whole thing worthwhile. But if you are on dry January and it's anything other than some sort of like wacky little challenge that you're undertaking with your powers on a group somewhere online or in reality, then probably what you're looking for is something deeper. And in fact, if you're a human being like I'm a human being, you are looking for something deeper. You're looking for purpose and meaning and connection. And because we live in a culture that denies us purpose, meaning, and connection, because we operate

primarily as units within a financial system that doesn't really care about us. It just cares about the ongoing commodification about every single aspect of human life, from our health to life and death itself. The world is a complicated place, and without a spiritual dimension, I would say an impossible place to inhabit. Good luck with your dry January. I hope you found some of these techniques useful. Let me know what you thought of them in the comments below. How are you getting on? Are you just doing this for a laugh, or you're doing it as part of some broader project? Give this video a thumbs up, and please, if you're not a subscriber yet, please subscribe to my channel on YouTube or on Rumble. Please, if you'd like this video, have a look at this one or have a look at this one, and please sign up to my mailing list there where I tell you the kind of stuff I'm up to, including the tour I'm on between January and May all over the UK. Come see me live. Stay free.

Want to Stop Drinking?! LISTEN TO THIS! (Dry January)

Awakening With Russell

Dry January is a period of alcohol abstinence with spiritual and psychological impacts.

It is a time for people to evaluate their relationship with alcohol and its effect on their mood and spiritual well-being.

The growing popularity of Dry January reflects a cultural shift towards addressing addiction and making healthier lifestyle choices.

Dry January is not a definitive test for alcoholism but can be a personal challenge or a way to address unconscious drinking habits.

The initiative encourages individuals to examine the role of alcohol in their lives and consider the function it serves, whether it's for comfort, distraction, or numbness.

Stopping drinking without addressing these underlying issues and without a support system can be extremely difficult, and may lead to the adoption of other negative habits.

Overcoming Addiction Through Abstinence-Based Recovery

Many people rely on the support of others, programming, and a higher power, such as God, to stay clean from drugs and alcohol.

Removing the addictive behavior often reveals underlying issues and self-doubt that need to be addressed for a longer recovery journey.

Abstinence-based recovery, while challenging, is essential for those who need to permanently refrain from addictive behaviors.

Managing the Challenge of Alcohol Abstinence

Breaking the habit of drinking can be challenging, but taking it one day at a time with support and specific techniques can make it possible.

By focusing on the present and making decisions only for the current day, individuals can navigate social occasions and emotional challenges without alcohol.

Emotional turmoil, whether positive or negative, and being in environments where others are drinking are the primary triggers for those trying to abstain from alcohol.

Dry January can be difficult at first, but it gets easier over time, especially for those who struggle with drinking.

It represents a search for deeper meaning and connection in a culture that prioritizes financial gain over human well-being.

The speaker encourages viewers to share their experiences and emphasizes the importance of spiritual fulfillment in navigating life's complexities.