The energetics of coffee and caffeine.

From an energetic perspective, caffeine and especially coffee, can help us tap into reserve energy supplies. This is great if we are occasionally using these substances (coffee, mate, tea, caffeinated beverages) for energy. But chronic and habitual use will inevitably lead to tapping the reserves

Think of it this way.

You have in you, a deep pool of energy. You can draw on this energy to pull an all nighter for work or school, to raise a young child, or to fight off disease. You can also get energy from the food you eat, the air you breathe, the way you think, the right exercise for your body-type and other practices, which I have and will continue to write about in this newsletter. If you become dependent on drawing out the deep pool of energy, eventually, you are going to take out some reserves that you can’t replace, and this my friends is not a good habit to develop.

For those of us living in Colorado for the last 7 years, we have become familiar with two things; wild fires and water restrictions. Since there is not a lot of open water here, municipalities have reservoirs. These basins are the reserves for the people and if they get depleted, then there can be a problem. As long as the aquifer that feeds the reservoir is robust, then the municipality knows to use that same flow for use in the people’s water supply. It would not make sense to use the water from the reservoir when the water supply is abundant, for if the water supply was abruptly interrupted, and the people had been using the reservoir instead of the fresh water, they would, as they say, be up the creek without a paddle.

Same thing with you.
The best thing to do is use the flow of energy from a quality daily life routine that provides you with multiple sources of life energy and removes the major sources or life drain. Dependence on stimulants to tap your reserves instead of using the flow of life backfires when we find ourselves in any time of “drought”, or “famine,” or even “wild fires,” or the human equivalent of air travel, travel without access to any nourishing food or experiences, or fever.

On the other hand, coffee and caffeine can be useful and even fun to enjoy.

Consider the common practice of drinking coffee during the afternoon break in many European settings. There, the pace is slower, the conversation is long and the effect of the coffee / caffeine is not intended to provide a drive or push. In this case, there is less of the depleting effect.

In the big picture, these stimulants basically amp up whatever you are doing. If you are tweaked and anxious, caffeine, and especially coffee, will make you more tweaked and anxious. If you are enjoying a long, leisurely and relaxing brunch with friends, coffee will magnify the experience. (For some, like me, coffee will also cause a 24-hour no-sleep effect, which is not fun).

Because of the intense effects of coffee on me personally, I opt to choose extra dark chocolate, or raw cacao, as my stimulant of choice.