ESTHER NAGLE

The problem was as soon as I found myself feeling the tiniest bit stressed, my solution was to get drunk. Soon I turned to alcohol for even the most trivial of issues, such as getting stuck in traffic. What went from two cheeky halves of cider with friends at the weekend when I was 16 quickly became a habit. I found myself drinking more and more regularly to de-stress.

But eventually this tactic stopped working and I found myself in need of a new coping strategy, so I decided to change my life by enrolling on a yoga teacher training course. Through this I learnt how to manage my stress levels via deep breathing, postures and meditation. I soon realised that the more I practised yoga, the less I needed alcohol and curbed my daily drinking. Weekends were a different matter though and I continued to binge drink until October 12, 2014, when after waking up with one of my worst-ever hangovers I quit.

Since then I can look back on my life and see I was creating reasons to drink. But from practising yoga I now have the tools to manage my stress in a way that 25 years of drinking never gave me.”

I HATED THE TASTE

Carly Thompsett, 29, lives in Cardiff, Wales, and runs fashion business Anaphase Store.

SHE SAYS:

can “SEEING how alcohol change people put me off