Stimulants are all too common in our society nowadays. Whether it is caffeine in the morning to wake up, or adderall to help focus during the day, it seems as if we are always under the influence of something, even if we don’t necessarily “feel” it. This is not to discount the actual applications of these substances, however more so highlighting the fact that we are generally abusing stimulants, especially caffeine. With that being said, can mushrooms and herbs be the healthy alternative we have been looking for all along?

Why the need for stimulants?

Seeing how commonly used drugs such as caffeine and adderall are in our society I think it’s important to ask the question, why do we need stimulants? Stimulants are a class of drug that help you to feel more energized and focused but is that something that we are lacking naturally as humans? Personally speaking, when I am feeling unmotivated and tired, it is usually because I am thinking of something I need to get done that I really don’t want to do. This makes it easy to reach for stimulants like caffeine because they can eliminate this foggy feeling and get you up and working. While this might not sound like a negative, I believe by doing this we are sidestepping the real issue. 

How many people do you know that love their job?

Not wanting to do a single task is normal, but not wanting to go to work everyday is normal too? Personally, I believe the stimulant abuse that is seen in our society is a direct result of people not enjoying their careers. Waking up everyday to do the same old job can be not only draining, but demotivating and depressing! Stimulants seem to be our way to combat these feelings and keep our legs churning each and every day in order to continue to put food on the table. My question is, how sustainable is this? How long before we are all just caffeine fueled robots working ourselves to the max for the vastly overpaid higher ups that don’t do nearly as much work? In saying that, it’s possible that that day has already come, however we still have the ability to create change in our own lives. When I was working in a field that I personally had no interest in, I was just being told it was a “good path to go on”, I would wake up everyday not only miserable but extremely tired. Taking a nap was a part of everyday life. As soon as I decided to live life for myself and pursue what I wanted, I now no longer take naps, and wake up feeling refreshed and excited to take on the day! This proved to me that we as humans aren’t actually broken and in need of stimulants, but rather we are putting ourselves in situations that are making us feel this way.

Mushrooms and herbs, natures stimulants

Calling mushrooms and herbs stimulants is not at all an accurate description based on what we imagine stimulants to do, however, they do provide me with energy and focus, just not at all in the way caffeine does. While caffeine provides a buzzy and jittery type of energy, mushrooms and herbs just make me feel more awake, present, and alive. For reference, I would say it is equivalent to how you feel after a breathwork session, or a morning workout! This is so much better for me personally as I no longer experience any sort of crash and I just feel so much healthier as a whole. Not to mention stimulants are actually damaging to your body while mushrooms and herbs work to heal your body in so many different ways.

At the end of the day, we as humans were built for balance. With that I mean to wake up feeling refreshed, to go about our day feeling alive and awake, and to feel tired before it is time to go to sleep. If we aren’t feeling this way naturally, instead of trying to use substances to curb this, we should be looking at the other factors in our life that may be influencing the way we feel. Mushrooms and adaptogens I believe are a caveat to this in that they are actually providing our body with nutrients it craves which in turn makes us feel more focused and awake in a very natural way.