Best Kava for daytime muscle relaxation?

[kl.Letharia]

This is the first time I've had Kava where I've felt kind of drunk-ish (or "krunk", I guess...) I also got a little sick, but balancing on a canoe while dehydrated isn't usually pleasant. I'm a little more than halfway through a pound... hopefully my tolerance will set in soon (considering I have 3 more lbs on the way... I really want this to work. lol)



Otherwise I'm enjoying it a lot more suddenly ...so long as I make proper time for it... Although I can be pretty productive while drunk, I just really don't *want* to after drinking Kava. It feels like a waste. And kind of disrespectful. I really want to find a Kava that works for me before going back to college, so I don't slip into drinking every day again. :/ Kava really is a different creature, but better for daily use. Alcohol has all these downsides...it's kind of a heavy thing comparatively. I guess I'm just learning temperance. I feel a bit more at ease in general, but it doesn't smack me in the face which is fine. I just feel sort of better off having had it...

 

[kl..]

Thanks for keeping us updated. One of the things a lot of people on here notice is that different kavas seem to affect people differently. I'm drinking Van3 tonight, but I'm kind of in the mood to be a little out of it and happy, which is what that one seems to do for me. I hope you'll let us know what you think of the other varieties you ordered.

 

[kl.Letharia]

Thanks for the help & encouragement... I took a couple days off Kava, to see if my tolerance would catch up. It seems to affect me about the same though. With Rex's order came a cute little beaded bracelet which was nice. I also ordered a straining bag from BKH. I don't know if it's more effective than the stocking I was using, but it's less of a mess.



Today I made 6tbs Tongan Pride + 2tbs Fiji Waka in 3 cups water. The effects were more in the body, sort of feeling like alcohol... but I wasn't impaired or anything. I'm not sure how much Kava is effecting me mentally so far. I get kind of relaxed, but don't feel particularly good. Maybe it's just my depression or I'm a hard head. Alcohol never really effected me mentally that much either. I could be pretty wasted and still have social anxiety... With Kava, such anxieties seem almost worse and I'm not sure why. I just find myself automatically running away from people, whereas without it I can rationalize the situation and deal with it. We'll see if that persists...



My main problem has been finding the right setting to drink Kava. My own room seems to depress me, and there aren't many quiet places in the house. I might try setting up the hammock and see how that goes... Sunbathing seems okay, but without movement I seem to not feel much of anything. Today the persistent sound of a lawn mower killed whatever I had with Tongan + Fiji, so I made another drink of about 1tbs everything I had (6 total.) I then made the stupid decision of going to the park alone, where being alone in a mass of people just heightened my anxiety and loneliness. I'd go again in a quiet day, but that killed my experience as well. Seems like I just can't get the hang of it. lol

 

[kl..]

I wish alcohol hadn't affected me mentally. lol! I'm sorry, though, that you aren't feeling a mood lift. For me, anyway, kava wouldn't take a terrible day and make it amazing. It just lifts my mood and gives me the perspective to realize that what is upsetting me is usually not very significant in the bigger scheme of things. I don't really know how to compare kava with alcohol. When drunk I've certainly made some...interesting...choices, but kava just slows me down and makes me mellow and calm. I don't know. I wonder what other people with social anxiety feel about kava? That's not really my area of experience. At any rate, I hope it works for you. For some people, it seems to take awhile. Some people don't seem to feel really strong effects. I don't really know why. Maybe we all have slightly different chemistry?

 

[kl.Letharia]

Yeah, I'm pretty much done comparing the two. Kava for me isn't like alcohol, but at least for now, has taken it's place. I find it to be very therapeutic, which is probably what I really needed all along. To me it's like getting a massage every other day, which is far better than being a drunk. I think I'm just in a learning stage of how to consume Kava as soul medicine (sounds funny, but it's true!) I really don't find it to be like pot or alcohol, because I need to work with it, like with any herbal medicine. You don't just take valerian and then go for a jog if you're trying to sleep.



I tried drinking alcohol last weekend and got no thrill out of it whatsoever and just got sleepy. Maybe my neurochemicals are just spent or something. But after that experience, I appreciated Kava a lot more. I'm actually starting to notice it lift my mood. I also feel less depressed in general when I take it regularly. I had just 3tbs of Fu'u the other day, which is a lot less than usual (no straining though,) and felt like it would be really good for social anxiety. So I'll save it for when I really need it, and probably be a returning customer. Quite happy, in other words.