Feb 2

Feb 2 Four Weeks Into My New Year's Challenge

Hi, I'm Liz Moser, and I’m a Mayo Clinic Certified Wellness Coach.

Well, here I am 4 weeks into my New Year’s Namaste Challenge of not consuming caffeine nor TV while increasing my meditation from one 10-minute session each morning to two 20-minute sessions per day.

I haven’t missed a day or a habit yet.

Initially, I said I would check in at the 5-week mark not only because that would be ½ way through, but I also thought I wouldn’t have recovered entirely from caffeine withdrawals until then, and that's not the case.

I feel content, calm, centered, focused, and at times, off the charts happy. I was talking with a friend last week at about 8 in the morning, and she described me as buzzing with energy, and she's right!

So, what have these 4 weeks been like for me?

Caffeine:
I know this sounds crazy, but I was pretty much over my physical withdrawals within 3 days, which I attribute to Energy Blueprint Labs product, Energenesis. It is stimulant and sugar-free, and if you're interested in looking into it, click on this weblink here. I don't sell this product, nor am I in any way involved in the company, but I wish I were, this stuff is fantastic!

I started taking Energenesis about a month before this challenge and experienced some boost from it; however, I didn’t fully recognize its overall effects until I gave up caffeine. At $119/month, Energenesis is an investment. However, I used to spend way more than that each month on junk food, restaurant meals, and alcohol. I plan on keeping this supplement in my life after my 10-week challenge is complete. I’m worth the investment.

TV:
The highly produced visual and auditory stimulation of tv, unbeknownst to me, set me up to expect that much excitement for the rest of my life. But TV isn’t reality, is it! By the second week without it, I found myself more satisfied with my day to day life and my routine. Truthfully, I no longer desire some big song and dance to entertain myself. I want and need downtime, rest, and recovery. I want to smile, laugh, and have fun. However, that's different than passively seeking to be entertained via television.

This is an unexpected yet highly positive shift in my mindset.

More importantly, my fiancé and I have upended over a decade's long routine of eating dinner in front of the TV. We’ve moved rather seamlessly into a habit of eating at the dining room table while listening to music. Then we usually puzzle together, or I read in my sunroom while he watches tv in the family room. Every night except 3 in the last month, we've eaten dinner together at the dining room table.

We’re talking, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company.

In 4 weeks, a life without TV has created a deeper connection with my guy and an unexpected shift in how I define entertainment vs. my very human need for rest and recreation.

Meditation:
While meditating ideas are bubbling to the surface. That didn’t happen during my 10-minute practice. For instance, last week’s video and blog, NO! (Thank you), during my meditation, I was reminded of the party where the head of cardiology mentioned his competition. On another day, the word slingshot came to me. That’s how I ended my post with my insight into how one success slingshots me to the next challenge.

These aren't substantial earth-shattering concepts, but it's a new development for me, and it represents an opening of or a connection to my inner knowing or higher self. (Excuse me if that's too woo-woo for you!)

I’m eager to discover what messages I’ll glean from meditation going forward.

Also, I described to a friend that my evening meditation is like wrapping up my day in a bow or like tucking myself into bed. It's the perfect bookend to my day. I can't imagine choosing TV over my evening meditation ever again. Bold words, I know!

I’m calmer and more decisive:
I had a dear friend message me with a request, and my first response was H**L NO!

I smartly decided to wait a day to get back to her. Ha!

As the day progressed, different thoughts bubbled up to the surface as they are wont to do:

“Hmm, maybe I should call so-and-so and so-and-so and get their opinion?”

Then,
"Nope, that's gossiping, and I don’t need to take votes to decide my best course of action.”

(Oh, and an excuse I’ve used not to meditate is that it takes too much time. Well, how much time would I have wasted calling 5 people to discuss this with?)

Then, I got angry,
“How dare she? That was so presumptuous!”

And finally,
“Liz, you don’t have to get angry to bolster yourself up to speak your truth. Right? Take a breath. Calm down. You guys love each other. You’ll work this out.”

These thoughts came, and I addressed each one calmly and lovingly. None of them shot me down a rabbit hole of self-doubt and self-recrimination. The next day I messaged her a direct and heartfelt no.

Ultimately, I’m not responsible for her feelings. Just my truth

The way I sat with these thoughts and emotions with such composure blows my mind. This is new to me.

Synergy:
In the fall of 2018, I gave up caffeine. I felt calmer and slept better, and then caffeine wormed its way back in.

In 2018 and then in 2019, I gave up TV for 2 weeks and 5 weeks, respectively. During those times, there was this low level of tension between my partner and I because we didn't create a new routine, and therefore spent less time together. No surprise, TV crept back into my life.

In 2018 I slowly increased my morning meditation to 20 minutes, but I didn’t feel any particular benefit from extending my practice, so therefore I slowly went back to my usual 10 minutes.

I've experienced letting go of tv and caffeine and increasing my meditation yet never all at the same time. Never as a premeditated trifecta, per se, and I’m here to attest that the value of these three actions combined is greater than the sum of the parts.

I have another 6 weeks to go with my Namaste Challenge, and I’m enthusiastic, to say the least, to see what will be going on in my life then. None of this has been an enormous struggle, and I’m reaping multiple benefits.

I’m Liz Moser, a Mayo Clinic Certified Wellness Coach, and I want to leave you with this thought: there is no one single action that is a silver bullet for our physical and mental health. We are genuinely holistic beings.

Thank you for reading this blog, and if you have any questions about this blog, or if you have any questions about health and wellness or wellness coaching with me, please reach out, and I’d be happy to answer any of your questions.