I Stopped Drinking Coffee For 7 Days- Here’s my Take Away
TL:DR; I missed coffee a lot, drank it immediately when I left the retreat and when I got home- but now have a more meaningful and slow morning routine when I’m drinking coffee.
I stayed 7 days at a retreat that is vegan, and caffeine free (alongside no smoking, vaping, alcohol, or any mood altering substances etc).
The days follow a consistent schedule, but everything was optional:
7:15am Morning Yoga session
8:00am Breakfast
11:30am Morning activity (such as a relaxed class or guided meditation)
1:00pm Lunch with dessert
4pm Yoga
7:30pm Yoga
Worth noting? It’s peak Aussie winter, and although it’s not usually too bad, I was in the mountains outside of Sydney- so it’s cold, like, intensely cold.
The First Day
Waking up at 7:00am, I felt motivated to get up and go to the morning yoga session.
Instead, I went back to sleep immediately and awoke again at 8:00am for breakfast.
I felt groggy, and although I don’t usually eat that early, the lack of coffee meant I was a bit more explorative.
A warm bowl of pear and berry porridge was a lovely start to the day, which had shards of cinnamon bark throughout- which provided a slight wake-up-call when I accidentally bit into one.
For my coffee sub in?
Dandelion Latte with oat mylk. If I squinted my taste buds, it was coffee adjacent (does that have you convinced?).
The addition of the oat mylk made it creamy enough to scratch the milk itch, and the dandelion gave it a slightly floral but savoury taste. I really enjoyed it.
Attending the guided meditation at 11:30 helped me fight the brain fog.
When midday rolled around I had two panadol due to a headache, which I assume is from not having coffee.
After a small stroll I rested in my room, knitting and watching Netflix (PS: I finished both “North Shore”, “Department Q” and 1.5 seasons of “Ginny and Georgia” while I was away.)
The Second Day
Today’s coffee replacement was a Rose Latte, and it was more earthy than the Dandelion Latte from the day before.
I tasted more obviously floral which made it obviously different from the coffee I was used to. Swirls of dried rose were in my cup and I found that a bit grainy.
Rather than having a complete coffee copy, maybe it was ok to embrace something different?
It was creamy enough thanks to the oat mylk (at this point I’m growing on oat mylk), and I didn’t mind it- but no seconds for this one.
At 11:30 I went to an “Aligning my thoughts and actions” workshop that gave me a nice pause in the middle of the brain fog I was still fighting.
It’s worth noting during this time, I’m also eating vegan whole foods- my hope was the change in diet would result in more clarity and take away from my usual sugar crashes.
Unfortunately, two days in, I still felt very foggy.
I took two panadol due to a headache, which I assume, again, is from not having coffee.
Attending a 4:00pm Yin Yoga session was wonderful, relaxing, and included deep stretches.
The Third Day
The third day brought a delicious Cocoa Coconut Hot Chocolate drink which was rich, creamy, and brought more of the ‘slow sip’ of hot joy a coffee usually gives me.
Yum. Seriously.
I cherished two cups of this in the morning, and enjoyed another cup midday.
Attending my 4:00pm yoga session I found my brain fog getting worse, which I found quite confusing.
Onward.
The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Day
The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh day became a blur.
I didn’t stay the very last night, and semi-desperately called my boyfriend Matt to pick me up.
There wasn’t anything awful at all about my time away- quiet the contrary.
I saw beautiful Kookaburras, Rens, and Australian Magpies dance outside my room in the tall grass, harmonising with each other.
A stunning Rosella tapped its little feet on the tin roof of the verandah, with a background of tall eucalyptus trees so densely together they became a blur.
I felt the cold on my face in the best way possible- the way that makes you feel alive and awake- in that order.
I finished a book (“The 5am Club”, which I've since chosen not to join), and wrote down many journal entries about the things in my life I'm grateful for- and was looking forward to getting back to.
Regardless of what I was doing, I did constantly feel it’d be just that bit better with a hot coffee in hand.
My Take Away
My take away? A small cappuccino, full cream milk.
That’s exactly what I ordered when Matt collected me from the retreat.
There is lots of Self Help out there, and honestly, I’m a pretty big fan of some of it.
It’s part of the reason I decided to do a solo trip- what was my mind going to tell me without the usual external noise?
Some Self Help however is probably best left as general advice, as it’s not one size fits all.
Coffee brings me joy and makes a lovely, almost universal gesture when being made for or bought for a loved one.
A new routine has emerged in my household as a result of my coffee free week away though.
In the mornings, me and Matt sit on the living room floor with the sun streaming through the sliding doors.
My phone is still in the office, left there from the night before so I’m not tempted to doom scroll before sleep.
The screen free wake up is accompanied by a debrief of any weird dreams and a slow sip on our home made instant coffees, usually with our cat Kohi sunbaking besides us (don’t worry, the UV is under 3).
The well earned spot in my morning routine is staying put, and I could have done without the week of headaches- but I like that the way I enjoy this part of my morning has changed.
Rather than checking my emails and drinking my morning cuppa, I’m sitting with family, and letting my mind and body wake up with me.
Would you try swapping out coffee for a week?
Have you ever tried to stop drinking it? I’d love to know, and if you stuck to it.
