( Illustation by the talented Alice Potter )
Wake up!
Do you need a cup or two of coffee just to get started in the morning? Do you crave more coffee or a couple of colas to make it through the afternoon? While you’re reaching for another cup, do you find yourself devouring a donut, Danish pastry, or other highly processed, fat and sugar-laden treat? If you have answered “yes” to any of these questions then read on… You can kick the caffeine habit for good and get back on track with your life…
It’s time to be clear and admit to the fact that many of us are addicted to caffeine… We have bought into social conditioning and brainwashed ourselves into believing that we need caffeine to wake us up and keep us going… We need to realize that caffeine, harmless as it may seem and legal as it may be, is actually a stimulant that wreaks havoc on our nervous system…
Before you groan “not something else I have to give up!”, please understand that I am not saying that anyone should deny the pleasurable taste and rituals associated with coffee, tea, and chocolate drinking… After all, remember the age old saying, “a little of what you fancy does you good!”… Instead, I am merely offering a reality and perspective that some of us may not have considered…
Did you know?
Did you realize that eighty five percent of all Americans drink coffee? Are we in this country running on a caffeine perpetuated and false high? Each day we hear more and more about the effects of stress and many of us long to slow down and take life at a slower pace… Yet we continue to race around and experience all of the symptoms of caffeine overuse! Symptoms such as depression, anxiety, restlessness, stomach upsets and even nausea and vomiting…
Caffeine is a substance found naturally in the leaves, seeds, fruits and nuts of more than sixty different plants, including of course tea leaves and coffee beans. It is also found in many carbonated beverages such as colas. Synthetically produced caffeine is added to certain food products and also added to many over-the-counter medicines.
How much caffeine do you really need?
Caffeine is absorbed and distributed very quickly into the body. It passes directly into the central nervous system or the brain. Caffeine is not accumulated in the body or bloodstream, but is excreted in the urine hours after it has been consumed. It is a fact that abrupt withdrawal is not recommended by doctors and withdrawal symptoms may include headaches, drowsiness, depression, vomiting and other symptoms. Gradual reduction of intake is advised and many people find that gradually switching to decaffeinated products helps them to break the addiction…
The Hooks…
Just how did we manage to get so addicted to caffeine? There are numerous ways and reasons that we did… Firstly, caffeine often seems like a harmless and quick fix when we are not getting enough sleep! Also when we are not taking and making the time in our busy lives to fulfill our emotional and physical needs… Addiction also includes us over identifying with products and images that are socially accepted and encouraged… It has become almost noble at this time to always be on the run… “Busy” has come to be seen as meaning important, secure and fulfilled… But is it really? Perhaps the biggest hook of all is that we have bought into the myth ourselves that we need caffeine to wake us up and to keep us going… We have become slaves of habit…
Harmless Enough…
Caffeine overuse, even addiction, may seem harmless enough… Everyone is doing it, right? But there are far greater implications.
Let’s step back and look again… When you are constantly wired and running on a false high, you stop feeling and knowing how you really feel… You simply get out of touch with your physical and emotional self. You don’t feel tired and know that you need to rest,… instead, you push yourself further and further taking on way too much stress in the process… Think about that blown up bloated feeling you experience when you have drunk too much coffee, tea, or coke… You feel out of touch with your stomach and that part of your body does not feel good… From there it is very easy to take it one step further and to continue overindulging with unhealthy food…
Did you know that the stomach is the seat of your emotions? This is not just a crazy idea… Even psychiatry these days recognizes this fact and often refers to the stomach as “the little brain”… The stomach is one of the first places we usually put on weight and is often a difficult place to lose weight… Unwanted weight gain on the stomach is in actual fact, unprocessed stress and emotional baggage! The more we stop being able to really feel, the more we stop thinking and just put our lives on automatic! This all leads to being more and more out of touch and balance with ourselves…
As said, when you are out of touch with your stomach and your emotions, it is very usual to want to eat something sweet, fatty and unhealthy… Those treats pair so well with the caffeine beverages that you might well now have a comfort eating and drinking cycle established… After a while we simply stop feeling and dealing with our emotions and instead find ourselves eating and drinking just to feel good…
Starbucks, “cool”…
Have you ever wondered why Starbucks is so popular? Why even the spendthrift amongst us pay over the top prices for a cup of coffee? The answer is, that with great packaging and good marketing, Starbucks actually fills a niche in the national psyche! Identification is a major component of this… We identify with our purchases… Starbucks also very cleverly caters to both the “fast, on-the-go” type of customer as well as to the “kickback and relax” type of customer… The ambience of the outlets is comfortable and feels like a great place to be… It is personal and comfortable enough to go on your own but you can also go with friends or take someone new that you like and feel very much “at home”…
Starbucks, it would seem, oozes “cool”! And we – the consumer – have bought into that big time! But it’s not cool to stress our bodies with caffeine and it’s not cool to blanket our emotions with quick-fix products… The longer we hide our true feelings, the longer it will take for us to recognize our true selves… Really, isn’t it time for us all to stop swapping life experiences and happiness for comfort foods and drinks?
Coke and other Carbonated drinks…
Let’s get informed… There is an abundance of information explaining the effects of carbonated beverages on eroding metal… Just think what these drinks are doing to your stomach! Cokes and carbonated drinks also contain vast amounts of sugar ( or even worse, artificial sweeteners… ) which is addictive and very easy to overuse… Overusing processed sugar can cause imbalances with blood sugar, leading possibly to diabetes, strokes, heart problems, depression and further insomnia…
Doesn’t it make sense for us to start today to kick the caffeine habit and reclaim our lives?
Be patient and use the following top ten tips to rediscover and to reconnect with life and living:
- Get more sleep, rest and relaxation… Make time to fulfill emotional, physical and mental needs…
- Enjoy your wake-up time and change morning routines even in small ways… Breathe fresh air, walk and drink room temperature water adding a twist of lemon, tense and stretch each part of your body slowly…
- Use Positive Thoughts to kick start your day, your mind and your life… “I Am a Free and Powerful Being”, “I Love Myself Completely Without Condition”, “My Body Clears, Heals, and Balances Itself”, “I Always Have Enough Time” are some good ones…
- Switch to decaffeinated beverages… Say “no” to colas and other carbonated drinks…
- Upon waking, ask yourself, “How am I right now?” Accept how you feel… Deal with what you can in those moments and put the rest firmly aside until later… Refuse to be overwhelmed… Remember “depressed” actually means “suppressed” and “full up”… There are many simple exercises and things you can do to help with this in my book “The Essence of Self Healing: How to Bring Health and Happiness into Your Life”
- When that voice inside you demands caffeine, simply break the habit of responding… Drink or do something entirely different instead… Say “no” to the myth that you need caffeine to get you going!
- If you feel tired, stressed or need a lift, tense your body, breathe deeply with your mouth open and clap your hands above your head four times… Ask yourself what you need right now and fulfill your needs…
- Make time to relax and enjoy simple natural highs… Get comfortable with feeling good and stress free…
- To stop the craving for caffeine or unhealthy comfort foods, repeat firmly in your mind, “I am letting go easily of everything I no longer need”… Place your open hand firmly on the top part of your chest and rub backwards and forwards and then round and round in slow circles… Rock your body backwards and forwards… Keep breathing deeply with your mouth open… You will feel comforted, calmed and soothed and will have bypassed the craving…
- Be a leader and not a follower! Make healthy choices while alone, but also when with family, friends and colleagues… Don’t over-consume caffeine because everyone else does… Make conscious and healthy choices…
