Coffee & Insomnia
Starting off with the low hanging "fruit". Reclaiming the SELF.
This is the first ever post on Self-Care Supremacy — a how to on following your highest path.
What I would like you to do now is forward this to anyone who you’ve ever discussed self care, quality of life, personal development and higher ideals about living with.
Don’t be scared, just do it. By the way, it’s free!
Today we will talk about the most widely consumed stimulant the world has ever known, caffeine. We will refer to ways it is ruining your life and what you can do about it.
Coffee & Insomnia
Your sleep is crap, and your life isn’t that great either. Remember that insomnia isn’t when you are unable to sleep even for a minute. It’s when you aren’t sleeping as you should.
There are many reasons people suffer sleep issues from, and caffeine is usually the culprit. Don’t skip this post! Just hear me out.
Caffeine, which is the main thing in coffee by the way, is a psychoactive stimulant. Basically, it’s a drug. We won’t get into the technical nitty gritty of this because there are too many resources online that do this.
Instead, what we will do is talk about how your denial in going off caffeine is affecting your quality of life — and expected value!
Enjoying Caffeine
Yes we know, you enjoy coffee. You can’t do without it. You need it to wake up in the morning, go to the toilet, work out, communicate with people. bla bla bla…
Everyone says the same things when I dare mention going off the bean, some even get annoyed!
I HAVE ONE PLEASURE LEFT AND YOU WANT TO TAKE THAT AWAY FROM TOO???!?
Have you maybe considered that living your life around a stimulant isn’t such a great idea? No matter how you rationalise abusing your body and mind — no matter your long-term goals and what you tell yourself about where you’re going…
You need to face the fact that 🔥burning out🔥 today to get somewhere in 3 or 10 years may not be such a great idea…
The Unintended Consequences ☕️🕸️🕷️
I abused caffeine for years. I also under ate and over worked, that’s both at work and at the gym. I ended up killing my sleep and my health too.
I wish I knew much earlier how much of a weight to my health and wellness caffeine was…
Caffeine will stimulate your nervous system and spike your stress hormones, this will give you a big spurt of “energy” (as I said, let’s not get too technical) which will then invariably lead to an even bigger crash.
The misunderstanding is — you think the energy part is good, healthy, productive and that you get sh*t done.. Weeelllll, it doesn’t exactly work that way.
The stimulation you get from caffeine isn’t pure energy it’s stress — and stressful energy comes at a cost.
Your mind functions differently when it’s calm + balanced relative to when it’s overstimulated. The former is organic and productive, the latter is scattered and messy..
So your metabolism takes a beating, your sleep is failing making you deprived and stupid, and your productivity goes down the drain like the Caffeine Spider above that made a mess of the spider web. YOU HAD ONE JOB, SPIDER! 🤦🏻♂️
By being a chronic caffeine user you have lost calmness, peace, restful sleep, a connection to your mind and body, serenity, focus, concentration, connection, empathy and all sorts of things..
And what is more, you lost YOURSELF in the process 👇
How to Let Go & Make It Easy
Quitting an addiction and actually turning the page is not about New Year’s Resolutions or challenges, it’s about real intent and smart method.
Your life/work balance isn’t yet perfect, your weekdays are tough and probably your weekends too. So you feel extremely resilient to caffeine-quitting ideation, it’s a non starter for you.
This is the only way to make it easy… 👇
Say you 3 drink cups of coffee a day? Or 3 Energy Drinks? Start cutting slowly: I would take the third coffee and cut it by half, and do that for 2 weeks. Then, make the third coffee a decaf.
In one month you’re down 1 coffee, 2 to go. The second month do the same, and keep de-escalating your intake until you go zero caffeine.
This should let your body enough time to withdraw and start healing. This period of time and the time after going zero caffeine will be a time of healing and slow reversal of the lifestyle of fast-paced mindless living and stimulation.
Understanding the Process
During this time you must embrace a new you, as cliché as this sounds. Eat the foods that nourish you, and definitely don’t replace one stimulant for another!
Some things will take months to completely recover and reverse when you quit caffeine. The bowel is one of them, your brain is another. If you were too used to stimulating your gut with caffeine to make it “move” — and your brain to make it think, then removing the stimulant means those things have to start working on their own now.
Give things time and TRUST THE PROCESS.
Conclusion & Progress
Expect to see improvement in sleep from the first few days, and even further progress with the passing of time. Embrace feeling a bit “off” during the withdrawal and give yourself time. Patience is key here.
This is the first part in embarking on the journey of living your best life and following your highest path.
Namaste,
Self-Care Guru 🧘🏻♂️
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