Social drinking has become acceptable in a big way. You can hear many justifications made about it being part of how business is performed, or how "it's only wine; no hard spirits", and so on. But it is clear that these familiar comments are uttered with a rather defensive demeanor. The person who is moved to be defensive also feels a little guilty.

But it becomes relatively easy to defend actions which are perceived to be acceptable, and so you just tend to continue doing what you have gotten used to doing. And the quantity of wine consumed can increase little by little until one day you sit down and try to add up (truthfully) the number of measures you drink on a weekly basis. You get a big shock! It can be horrifying, especially when measured against a chart which provides statistics on liver disease and such like.

Even as social drinking has become so readily accepted, there has simultaneously been an increasing number of people who have realized the implicit health dangers and have made the decision to quit drinking completely or to cut back to a more moderate way of drinking. This can however, be easier said than done.

Most people do not want to stop completely; rather they still want to be able to enjoy a glass or two with their friends or colleagues. Most often their plan works for a few days, or even a few weeks, but then the number of glasses steadily grows or you go to a "special event" and have a bit of a "blow out". You justify it once more; it was an unusual event after all, and who's worried about a single "blow out"? But that somehow triggers a return to old habits. What was first seen as a unique one-off event turns into a return to old drinking patterns.

Some people, who have an all or nothing personality, find it easier to quit drinking altogether. But it is possible for most people to cut back to a level of moderation so long as you go about it the right way. You have to know what your habits are, what your thought processes are, what your justifications are. You probably need to be willing to adjust your lifestyle to a certain degree. Most of all you have to be able to imagine feeling a whole lot better as you just drink in moderation.

You may wonder why your imagination is so important. You need to be able to see yourself as you want to be. This does not mean visualizing yourself being bored silly whilst everyone else is flying high on drink. It means seeing yourself relaxed and happy, enjoying a sip or two of wine, delighted that your mind is quick and sharp, knowing that you will sleep well later and wake up tomorrow feeling as fresh as a daisy, without a thumping hangover to cope with.

Whatever you imagine you create. The pictures which you visualize internally trigger an emotional reaction and the emotions you need to feel are enthusiasm, excitement, positivity, fun, relaxation, calmness and so on. If the internal pictures which you see are of boredom, anxiety and an infinite struggle then you are not giving yourself even the smallest chance of success. Getting your imagination to work for you is the key to your success in taming your drinking habits to a more moderate level.

Hypnosis provides a window of opportunity for you; hypnosis allows access to the more creative part of your mind, enabling you to visualize more vividly and add intensity to your emotions. The more powerfully you expect to feel comfortable, relaxed, calm and so on, the more easily you will do just this. With hypnosis you can train your mind to expect to find it easy to drink in moderation, and what you expect to happen does indeed happen.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis mp3s for health and well-being.

P.S. Are you curious about how hypnosis can help you? Grab a free hypnosis mp3 from my website.