Hello my friend Reader,

I started drinking coffee two years ago.

I hadn't drank more then a handful of cups my entire adult life, but I moved to a country that grows coffee right in my backyard, so I thought, how could I not?

Before that, I'd always avoided it because it gave me anxiety and the jitters. But I love everything about coffee, from the taste to the smell to the culture around it.

A week ago, I stopped drinking it again, just to see how my body would respond.

And officially, I feel so much better without it.

No more jitters, no anxiety, no afternoon crashes, and no more of that sudden, sharp hunger that would leave me irritable and short-tempered.

Now hold on, because this isn't a newsletter telling you to quit coffee.

I would never do that. I know how personal coffee is, and honestly, some people can drink a cup and fall right asleep.

I have no idea how, but they can!

Every one of us is different, and our bodies need different things at different times in our lives.

What I really want to share with you is this: changing up your routine matters.

Giving your body a break, adding new things in, letting other things go, this is how we stay in tune with ourselves.

You know your body best. And when you make changes, your body responds.

This feels especially true in perimenopause.

We are not the same women we were ten or even five years ago, so why would we keep doing all the same things?

Our hormones are shifting, our Qi is shifting, and from a TCM perspective, this is the time of life when we move from the outward, yang-driven energy of our younger years into a more inward, yin-nourishing phase.

What once served us may now be depleting us.

Coffee is a perfect example.

It had a place in my life these past couple of years, but it's not serving me anymore. Sure, I'll miss the taste, but the anxiety and the crashes just aren't worth it.

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So here's my invitation to you: take one small thing you've been doing for a long time and switch it up.

• If you eat a raw salad every day for lunch and your digestion feels sluggish or bloated, try a warm soup or cooked, steamed vegetables instead.
• If you crash at the same time every afternoon, take a closer look at lunch. A heavy or sugary meal could be the reason.
• Or schedule a small break around 3pm. Even 10 minutes with your eyes closed, or a slow walk around the block, can do wonders. This is the Kidney and Bladder time of day in the TCM clock.

All in good health,

Jeanettexoxo

P.S Hit reply and tell me what's one small thing you're ready to switch up this week? I read every response.