As I write this, I am on day three without caffeine and day three of feeling amazing. My plan is not to quit caffeine forever, but merely for my spring liver detox cleanse.

My relationship with caffeine started when I was fifteen. My first job was in a coffee shop. I used to drink espresso before bed and sleep well.

“Oh I get to have my warm cup of caffeine,” has often been the first thought when I wake up.

Many of my nearest and dearest friends asked me what my health perspective is on caffeine.

I have been willing to give it up many times if I had the reason that it was truly better for me to in fact give it up.

Much of the opinion I have about healthy or not healthy is based on my own self-experimentation and observation.

I have and do read and now also listen to podcasts about topics, like caffeine, to hear others’ truths and opinions.

I recently listened to a great Huberman podcast on the amount and timing of drinking caffeine along with the actual benefits of consuming it. (This was also a podcast a listened to, prepared to reduce or put aside my caffeine if there was evidence to do so which was not the case).

What I know to be true for my own relationship with caffeine is that it is very much about why I am using it. Namely, I know and feel that it is detrimental for me to over-use caffeine. I feel it in my body.

When I interviewed Dr. Yotam Tamari on caffeine, from a place of very much asking him to convince me of why to give it up, he said one thing in particular that really stuck with me- “Drink it when you feel good and rested, instead of when you feel tired like most of us do.”

I fully confess that, since my daughter was born in 2018, I have over-used caffeine. And probably even before that, but for sure since then.

And in 2021 into 2022, my over-use got bad. How I mostly know is that I was scared to not have it. I was very dependent on it.

I could justify why I got into a dependent caffeine relationship (like I was building my business) or I could just own it, accept it, and question it.

I choose the latter.

Over the last year, since my birthday in the spring of 2022, I have intentionally reduced my caffeine. Prior, I was drinking a very strong amount of Yerba mate in the morning and then a very strong coffee after lunch. And if there was an offer of additional caffeine consumption I would always say yes.

About a month ago, I started wondering what I was like without caffeine. I was curious and open. I wanted to experience and know.

Instead of doing a cold turkey quit, I started tapering down. And then one of the most astounding things happened last Monday, I had a small amount of Yerba mate and DID NOT like the way I felt. I felt kinda jittery and pushed. 
It was mind-blowing for me and exactly the data I needed to continue tapering down to nothing and sustaining it.

This above process that I applied to myself is how I help my clients with their health shifts. So many times we use restriction, force, or willpower… but this approach causes unnecessary suffering and rebellion.

My man gave up caffeine for a few months at the end of 2022. He and I share a similar relationship with caffeine. The changes that I saw in his face were inspiring to me. I saw the darks of his eyes go away and I saw him look younger.

I wanted that too. I wanted to give my body support so that it can do its miraculous work of healing and rebalancing.

The ritual part of caffeine I decided to supplement. I found a MUD/WTR that has adaptogenic mushrooms in it that has a similar bitter quality that I love in the morning. I also am enjoying Rooibos tea when I want to have a moment with myself and a warm cup o’ something. I am also drinking lots of hot water and lemon or ginger.

Another way I am supporting my energy levels which I do feel is helping is by taking an adrenal support supplement. In working with Doctor Sharman both personally and collaborating with clients, I see that she recommends them to most people. The reality is, many of us are stressed regularly. Supporting adrenals and stress in our body with some herbs seems to do part of what I used to rely on caffeine for.

My relationship with caffeine is one that is always in my awareness. I am aware of how much I love it and sometimes overuse it. What I have found is that this awareness is what matters most combined with thinking of my future self and continuously hooking her up to feel vibrant and alive.

With all the love,