My Journey with tennis, caffeine and finding calming energy with JostArriba

I have been on the tennis court since I was six years old. 

Most of those beginning years I was still trying to find my passion, so I also tried gymnastics, ballet, and soccer. While I never did well at any of those three, tennis still seemed interesting. 

During middle school I finally narrowed down to tennis being my main sport, but it was only about three times a week before Covid. Quarantine was truly a blessing in disguise for me, because sitting with myself alone for months caused me to feel emotions at an intense level. I had never felt anxiety at such an incredible level where I had no idea how to cope. Sitting in my room created a perfect storm for anxiety and panic on a regular basis. Tennis was canceled for months, and with that came a much less social life. At least I did well in my last year of middle school, because sitting in my room or office all day forced me to just do homework and extra credit to fill my time. Although this time was spent on getting good grades, my body was feeling the effects of my lack of exercise that I had not been doing for months. 

My anxiety was not getting better, and I started using caffeine. I used to love using our espresso machine, and the process of grinding the beans to steaming the milk. I would drink caffeine about twice a week, but I still never noticed a difference in my anxiety levels. I was still extremely anxious, and it got to the point where I had panic attacks in random places that I used to feel calm being in. Finally, I started practicing tennis again, and I took a break from drinking the espresso. 

Fortunately, tennis started to make me feel happy, and with a purpose again. When I started to feel more like myself naturally, I realized the gift from quarantine was that it was basically a long meditation for me. I was able to grow into my feelings and cope until tennis started again.

From 2020 to early 2023, I would rarely drink coffee but usually when I had caffeine it would be from a medium iced chai. In about the middle of 2023, I had a late morning tennis class. I was more tired than usual, so I decided to make a single shot espresso and drank it on the way to my practice. For the first half an hour I was feeling normal, and then suddenly a huge rush of adrenaline came over me and I felt lightheaded and panicky. I told my coach I needed to go inside for a moment, but after about half an hour the adrenaline died down, and I sat on the side watching my teammates play. Thankfully my coach understood what happened, but I was extremely embarrassed because I thought I would never feel the anxiety I felt from Covid again.

After that point I knew I could not afford to experience that again during practice, so I stopped drinking coffee and any drink with caffeine entirely. I had never had a good association with coffee after that point, but as I started to play tennis for hours on end every day of the week I began to need something to pick me up. I began to get used to feeling super exhausted towards the second half of my daily practice because I would avoid any energy drink no matter what. The only liquid besides water I would drink would be Gatorade or Liquid IV when my body would start cramping or I was just feeling drained.

In 2024 my aunt and uncle who are ambassadors of Eightbillion’s JostArriba, decided to come visit my family and gave me a sachet of JostArriba  to try as they explained all of its benefits. I was very reluctant because of all my negative experiences with caffeine, but finally I decided to put the JostArriba powder in hot water when I was at lunch with them. After I drank about half the cup I was waiting to feel jitters, and I got nervous about when the caffeine could hit me. About an hour passed and I felt more alert and clear minded, but still calm. This was foreign to me, and I kept waiting all day for side effects but they never came. I was really happy that I had gotten through the day not only without feeling jittery, but also feeling better and more alert. 

After this point I drank JostArriba for a week and I never felt any negative effects like I did before with coffee. I felt more stable in my mind and my body, and I was able to safely drink JostArriba before playing tennis which I never thought I would be able to do. I never thought there was a coffee drink that existed that not only gives you energy, but also promotes your overall wellbeing and hormones. I am so thankful that I was introduced to JostArriba and that now I can advocate for it as an ambassador and also an athlete who is extremely sensitive to caffeine. 

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