Tips on Start NoFap journey

• Quit porn through the “rebooting” process
• Conquer out-of-control sexual behaviors
• Pursue beneficial habits
• Live your ideal sexual lifestyle
• Chase your dreams

What is NoFap?

NoFap® is a comprehensive sexual health platform, empowering people to express their sexualities free

from compulsive behaviors.
The NoFap platform provides many resources that will help you reach your goals:

Information:– on how using porn can impact on your brain, your relationships, and your life. How to moderate sexual behaviors that you deem to be problematic, express your sexuality healthily, and build healthy habits

Programs and challenges:– designed to help you set goals and keep you accountable

Guidance:– to help you use your sexuality in a fulfilling, sex-positive way, in accordance with your values and sexual goals

Applications:– to help you document your progress and stay motivated to reach your goals

A helpful, supportive community of like-minded peers and experts who are rooting for you NoFap is a sex-positive, secular, and science-based organization. We don’t rely on moral or religious principles to support our arguments, preferring to use the latest scientific research, statistics, and the experiences of our users to illuminate the issue.

However, NoFap hosts an inclusive community, welcoming members of all religious and spiritual persuasions, or lack thereof. While the majority of our users do not identify as religious, we are happy to host large numbers of users from every major religion.

www.NoFap.com/getting-started

Welcome to Getting Started!

This guide will provide you with the basics on:

• How Internet porn can change people’s brains and behaviors
• How the “rebooting” process can reverse the effects of porn addiction and help you gain control over other compulsive sexual behaviors
• How to identify if you have a sexual compulsion that’s negatively impacting your life
• Goal setting to help you get where you want to go
  What to expect while you reboot using the NoFap platform
• How to successfully make it through the most difficult parts of your reboot
• Why connection to others using the NoFap platform is helpful and important
• Ways that your life can improve when you have successfully completed your reboot

What is porn addiction?

Porn addiction is a phenomenon of the brain. It is marked by use of pornography that proves difficult to stop despite negative consequences, and that often worsens over time. There are three common signs of porn addiction:

• An increase in porn use over time. You might go from looking at porn once a week to many times a day.
• An increase in the intensity of the porn used. For example, porn genres that used to disgust you may become the only thing you can get off to.
• An inability to stop using pornography despite negative consequences. You might skip important obligations to look at porn, or use porn during inappropriate times or in inappropriate situations. You might experience sexual dysfunctions or relationship problems. Many people continue to use porn despite these problems, and even after deciding that they should quit or regulate their consumption.

As you can see, some of these symptoms are more measureable than others. For example, it’s difficult to directly tie a feeling of general fatigue to a porn addiction. And some are easy to spot: many men come to our website when they can no longer get an erection for sex or maintain it during intercourse. Reports from many thousands of people around the world link these symptoms to heavy porn use. By removing one variable from their lives - pornography - these same people report that these symptoms are usually reduced or reversed.

This list of reported negative symptoms is not exhaustive.

And people also report all kinds of unexpected and unique positive changes after leaving porn in the past.

The best way to find out if and how your sexual habits are affecting your life is to abstain from them temporarily. Some people join our platform and participate in a reboot out of curiosity, only to discover that their lives and relationships have greatly benefited from quitting porn.

Porn is more novel than natural sex

Abundance isn’t enough for our brain when it comes to sexual stimulation; our brains seem to be built to crave sexual novelty too. That’s because our ancestors didn’t just try to have a lot of sex to maximize their chances of passing on their genes; they sought

to have a lot of sex with a lot of different people, ensuring a wider spread of their genes, and making inbreeding less likely.

This constant search for new sexual partners is nicely illustrated in a phenomenon behaviorists call the Coolidge Effect.

Experiments have found that many mammals of either gender - though the effect is more marked in males - often lose interest in sex with a familiar partner, show renewed sexual interest when presented with a new mate.

For porn users, this means that the same actors and actresses, scenes, and styles of sex may eventually get boring. So they move on to new genres and performers, often in the same session. Users report keeping large numbers of windows and browser tabs open while they browse porn, always keeping their levels of sexual excitement up as their brains are flooded with pleasurable neurochemicals.

And with modern high-speed Internet porn there is almost no end to the novelty a committed porn user can find.

The Coolidge Effect

The name “The Coolidge Effect” comes from a story about former US President Calvin Coolidge. Allegedly, on a tour of a farm, the President’s wife was
impressed with the sexual stamina of a rooster. On being told the male chicken mated dozens of times a day, Mrs. Coolidge said, “Tell that to the President when he comes by.” When Mr. Coolidge was told, he asked if the rooster mated with the same hen. “Oh, no, Mr. President, a different hen every time,” he was told, replying, “Tell that to Mrs. Coolidge.”

Porn is more stimulating than natural sex

Porn can be more stimulating than sex with a partner. Porn performers often have surgically or digitally enhanced features, and they are filmed in fantastic and hyper-erotic situations that you are unlikely to encounter in real life.

For example, porn camera angles often provide close-ups of genital insertion that would be impossible, or certainly uncomfortable, to see in real life. When we have sex with a partner we have one view, not porn’s multiple angles and close-ups of favorite body parts - body parts that are enhanced with camera tricks, lighting, makeup, and digital touch-ups.

Furthermore, many genres of porn deliberately cause anxiety in viewers as stress can increase levels of sexual excitement. Porn can do this by appearing to break taboos, or even the laws of physics and biology, as animated porn can. The addition of anxiety to the porn mix is designed to provide a bigger erotic hit than sex with a partner can.

This means that modern porn can deliver a greater payload of neurochemicals than partnered sex. It combines super- stimulation, novelty, and a never ending supply. Our reward system lights up and tells us to grab all we can, driving porn addicts to crave more and more stimulation and novelty.

Pitfalls

Every Reboot contains its own challenges. Some of these challenges are unique to specific individuals, others are more universal. Below are some common tests, reported by a majority of the NoFap user-base.

Dealing with Urges

You most likely will get urges to go back to the habits that you are abstaining from. This is completely normal. But of course it is not good to respond to them by giving up on your goals.

Urges will often go away in a matter of minutes if you do not act upon them. It is neither physically or psychologically harmful to resist an urge. In fact, resisting urges helps develop discipline

and willpower, both of which can be applied to great effect in other areas of your life. So, how do you resist urges?

Identifying Triggers

One great way to overcome your urges is to reduce their frequency.

If you can identify your triggers, you can create strategies to avoid them.

Urges may be triggered by environmental cues that your brain has learned to associate with pornograpy - such as being alone in your room, or suddenly seeing a photograph while browsing social media.

If you can identify your triggers, you can create strategies to avoid them.

For example, if you spend a lot of time on social media sites browsing profiles, take notice of attractive images, and end up opening an incognito browser window to look at porn, you may consider going on a “social media fast,” only browsing social media when you are in the company of friends and family, or turning the images off on your browser while using the internet.

Or if you have developed a habit of PMOing before going to bed, and find it hard to sleep without it, then fixing your sleeping habits should be a priority. Try removing any internet-enabled devices from your room at least an hour before bedtime. Don’t spend the hour leading up to bed browsing the internet. Instead, read a book, write in a journal, or do something else to help you wind-down. Many people find it useful

to break that link between using electronic media and preparing for sleep. Even changing your location before bed, from your bedroom to the family room, can help disassociate bedtime with porn use.

There may be a double benefit here. Research has shown that the light from electronic devices can disrupt our sleep rhythms and reduce the quality of our rest. The National Sleep Foundation recommends at least a half-hour of avoiding electronic devices before sleep, and, ideally, completely removing gadgets from your bedroom.

Browse more safely. The most obvious trigger is a sexually arousing image. Technology won’t yet allow you to manage your physical environment so that you won’t see another titillating billboard, magazine cover or TV ad. But where you can control your environment you’ll be making it easier on yourself if you make it as rebooting-friendly as possible.

That might mean cleaning up your Internet experience. Many Rebooters use some sort of content filter or safe browser to help them stay away from porn. There are many choices across operating systems and styles of monitoring.

Some choose to use accountability software that will email a friend, their partner or a accountability partner when they access questionable sites. That can be a powerful incentive to stay away from porn.

The NoFap community is a great resource for tips on safe browsing. If you have any questions start a thread on the forum and ask away.

Processing Emotions

Emotions can also be powerful triggers in pornography addiction. Most porn addicts, at some time in their lives, have used PMO as a coping mechanism to suppress uncomfortable feelings. Conversely, some porn addicts find themselves so “numbed” that they tell us that PMO becomes one of the only ways they can feel much of anything. They may use porn as an easy, reliable way to provide some emotional arousal.

Common emotions that can trigger urges are boredom, stress, anxiety, sadness, and loneliness.

If you suspect that you may be using PMO to deal with emotions, try to be mindful of the emotional environment in which your urges arise. The next time you feel an urge, stop, and ask yourself: What feelings and/or sensations am I having right now? Where in my body am I feeling this sensation? What thoughts are accompanying these emotions? Am I anxious about an upcoming interview? Lonely because I was just rejected?

Remember that your emotions won’t kill you. They can be powerful, but you can develop the skills to deal with them more effectively than by reaching out for porn every time you feel down.

Potentially arousing images are very common online. Ad blocking software will remove a whole class of suggestive imagery. Using some search engines allow you to remove adult material from search results. For extreme protection while browsing online,
most web browsers allow you to turn off all images while you browse.

Remember, though, that these things are just tools to help you. You will know you
have succeeded at your reboot when you can encounter arousing material and
move on, resisting any urges to look at porn, or feel no desire to indulge in your old,
unwanted behaviors. Some NoFap users shy away from using these tech tools because
they feel they undermine their ability to develop this willpower. That’s a choice for you to make.

A difficult emotion can be very uncomfortable. If you don’t give your emotions the energy they need to affect your actions, then they are merely something you are experiencing in the moment, like the sound of a car passing by, or the shade of the tree you are sitting under.

Consider the popular “urge surfing” technique that some users decide to employ: Instead of running away from your emotions, you can try feeling them. Slow down your breathing. Bring your attention to your emotion. Explore it. Breathe into the emotion, bringing your openness and curiosity to the feeling.

When you do this, you will find that you create space around the emotion - it’s simply not so important
or powerful anymore. You will still feel it, of course, but it is bearable. This may take some time, but with practice it is possible to become completely comfortable with the emotional pain. This is because you are not feeding the emotion with your mental energy by getting caught up in it. Instead, by just letting the emotion be, you will find that not only is the emotion tolerable, but, like an urge not acted upon, it might soon fade away.

Exercising and Dieting

People have discovered that rebooting is a perfect time to commit to a new exercise or dieting regime. Whether you want to eat healthier, or start going to the gym regularly, a reboot is the perfect time to challenge yourself to achieve health and fitness goals.

Be careful not to take on more than you can handle as you get active or change your diet. Set small, achievable goals that can be worked on every day. Your goals should be challenging enough to make you feel accomplished, but not daunting enough to cause your to distress and give up entirely.

For example, a previously sedentary Rebooter might want to start with a short hike in a local park, or a 15-minute walk on the treadmill, rather jumping into a high-intensity exercise program that might leave them feeling discouraged. Someone looking to eat healthier might do better to simply commit to eating more vegetables, rather than suddenly becoming a vegetarian or starting an intermittent fasting regime.

You can use the Internet as a positive resource, including our forum. There are countless exercise, fitness and health resources that can give you good advice.

Exercising

Exercising is an excellent complement to any reboot. Not only can it help fill your newfound extra time, it can help also help reduce some of the negative effects of porn addiction, and any withdrawal symptoms you may experience as you quit PMO.

Exercise helps reduce stress, and boosts the levels of endorphins in your system,which can help you make the transition from high levels of dopamine to more normal amounts. It can improve self-confidence, alleviate anxiety, boost brain power, sharpen your memory, and fix your sleep-regulating circadian rhythms.

Dieting

While you’re getting fit, your reboot is a great time to finally clean up your diet. Commit to providing your body with the nutritious food it needs to be a healthy organism and you’ll reap the benefits. Like exercise, healthy eating can boost your mood, help you concentrate, increase your productivity, make you more energetic, and help you feel happier and healthier. A good diet will also decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, as well as help you control your weight.

Additionally, paying attention to your diet can help you control binge eating habits, which can be bad for your mental and physical health. Binge eating is a common reaction to stress and uncomfortable emotions. It is also a common escape behavior that Rebooters fall into when they start a reboot. As we’ve seen, replacing your porn addiction with other compulsive habits is not the best way to reboot. Luckily, many of the tools you are using to quit porn can be successfully employed in taking care of your

binge eating habits as well. Like PMO, defeating binge eating depends on self-discipline and informed strategy. It is best to learn to deal with any emotions or stress in a healthy, empowering, way, without a neurochemical crutch.

Everyday Living Skills

A pornography addiction can make you depressed, unmotivated and listless. Doing even the simplest things can feel like a chore - brushing your teeth, doing the laundry, or keeping your home clean all fall by the wayside.

A reboot is a perfect time to start making a habit out of those everyday living skills which you have neglected. If you regularly spent hours a day browsing porn, you will find that all that extra free time you now have is perfect for getting stuff done around your home. Use it to clean the bathroom, take out the trash, do the laundry, or cook that special meal you have been planning on trying for months. Keeping your living environment clean and neat may seem like nothing much, but everyday achievements like this can boost your self-confidence and help make you feel good about yourself again.

And these everyday living skills will help you in other endeavors you may have taken up during your reboot. For example, if you used to eat fast food all the time but now want to eat more healthily, you will want to learn how to cook. As with all these skills, start with something small. Simple stir-fries or pasta dishes are good ways to begin. Theses dishes are easy to make and can be delicious and healthy too - master them and then move onto more complicated recipes.

Hobbies

Hobbies are a good way to fill your extra time and avoid getting bored, which is a common trigger for porn use. Remember, hobbies should be relaxing rather than a way of escaping reality: a pursuit you can use to channel your creative energies, rather than dispersing them through brain-numbing activities.

The options are almost limitless. Perhaps there’s an unfinished project you can return to - that book you never quite read. Or perhaps you’re looking for a new passion. Something that requires developing a skill and that will channel your creativity can be particularly fulfilling: learn to play a new instrument, break out the knitting needles or woodworking tools, learn to speak a new language.

Again, hobbies are great ways to help accomplish other goals you may have identified for your reboot. For example, if you have committed to exercising more, than hiking, jogging, or joining a sports team is a great way to fulfill that goal. Or if you have decided to adopt a whole food diet, then starting your own vegetable garden is an excellent way to keep yourself busy while providing delicious produce.

If you don’t yet have any hobbies, try volunteer work. Volunteering is an excellent way to keep busy and focused on something other than pornography. Additionally, by helping others and interacting with people,

you will be giving your mood a boost as well as improving your social confidence and people skills.

Further Benefits of Leaving Porn in the Past

As discussed above, excessive use of pornography, and porn addiction, can cause tangible dysfunctions in your sexulaity, and these are most often reduced or eliminated through the proprietary NoFap rebooting process.

Your Relationships

As you likely know already, people’s sexual habits, especially an addiction to Internet porn, can have an impact on their relationships of all types.

• Family and Friendships: People who quit porn often report that they have more time and energy to invest into their family members, friendships, and coworkers.
• Romantic Partners: According to many anecdotal stories and recent statistics, pornography is a factor in many divorces. Porn addicts often grow less attracted to their partners and less interested in partnered sex. Problems in the bedroom often trickle into every area of romantic relationships. Through quitting porn, many couples report that their relationships have been “reignited.”
• Potential Romantic Partners: Many Rebooters report an increase in confidence and feel more comfortable interacting with potential partners. They may feel more motivated to seek out partners since an orgasm is no longer just a click away.
• Strangers: Many Rebooters say that they feel more at-ease in social situations and feel “more connected” to the world around them. Pursuing your passions Want to do something amazing? Write that novel? Climb that mountain? Run that marathon? Rebooting can be the springboard for your dreams. Our users often find themselves experiencing
  a new zeal for life, either during a reboot or after they have successfully completed one. Instead of procrastinating their days away with compulsive porn use, binge television watching, and other compulsive behaviors, Rebooters often find themselves once again tackling personal goals and dreams with enthusiasm and energy. Pursuing your passions is certainly a worthwhile activity. But how do you know what you are passionate about? The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius said, “Choose a job that you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” While this is excellent advice, finding what “you love” might be the hardest part of following it.

Other Stuff: The “Superpowers” Sexual Energy Directing

You might see the word “superpowers” used on NoFap. Critics love to cite this as an example of a misleading claim of the benefits of rebooting.

However, they misunderstand the spirit in which the term is used. No Rebooter believes - or should believe - that they’re going to get x-ray vision or the ability to fly. But the removal of a significant negative influence, the “rebooting to factory settings” with the abilities and potentials that you would have had if you had never had a problem with your sexual habits, can be a profound change.

As a society, we aren’t best serving ourselves by being hooked on instant satisfaction. By rebooting our brains back to default factory settings, we are reaching a level closer to our potential, regaining our humanity, and gaining organic, natural sexualities. Which, compared to the way things were while we were addicted to porn, seem like superpowers.

Then again, some people might abstain from masturbation and orgasm for long periods of time, and practice sexual transmutation, that is something you might want to explore in the future, and is heavily discussed on the NoFap platform. We’ll be offering more information on this in the future, stay tuned by staying subscribed to the newsletter (click here if you aren’t subscribed).

How do I Know I’m Rebooted?

Finishing a challenge, for example 90 days of abstinence, is not necessarily the same as completing a reboot. In a challenge, you set
a certain amount of time and abstain from porn for that period - it’s a great achievement! However, the duration of a reboot is set not by you, but by the time your brain needs to reverse porn addiction-induced changes in your brain’s reward system. It will take as long as it takes.

The clearest sign that reboot has occurred for many Fapstronauts is a return to normal sexual function. If you suffered from PIED, DE (delayed ejaculation) or PE (premature ejaculation), then having these issues clear up is a good indicator that you have successfully rebooted.

Subtler signs of a completed reboot might include:

1. Being able to appreciate a person’s attractiveness without “pornifying” them.
2. Being attracted to the whole person, rather than just their body.
3. Desiring organic sexual encounters rather than just how it’s scripted in pornography.
4. Having no cravings to look at pornography.
5. Finding sexual relationships to be much more satisfying.

Conclusion

Thank you for taking the time to read Getting Started with NoFap. We hope that you found it helpful.

While we will be thrilled if you go off and use this information to better your own life, we’re also excited for the potential that you have to be best-equipped to not only improve your life, but the lives of those around you. Together, we are leveling up humanity, one reboot at a time.

We can’t even fathom the cumulative effect that the rebooting movement is having on society. The NoFap organization is proud to be a part of it. And you are a part of it too. Thank you.

Just imagine how many people are out there who feel like they are slaves to their next orgasm. How many people are addicted to the limitless abundance of Internet porn. Imagine how many people’s potentials have been squelched by these sexual problems, and how quitting porn can help them unleash their gifts upon the world.

Remember this. When it comes to rewiring your brain away from pixels and back to people, expect the unexpected. No two experiences of using the NoFap program are exactly the same. Everybody has their own unique journey to go through, and you must accept whatever may come.

Rewiring your brain is not a linear process. You will see this phrase often, and for good reason. One day you might be having a smooth time, while you might wake up the next day feeling utterly defeated by your craving to log on one more time. The key is to keep moving forward.

If you are experiencing distress, remember that you are not alone in this journey. NoFap is here for you, along with the wonderful community that it hosts. Ask questions, ask for help, share your struggles, share your successes, and help others to achieve theirs. That’s how to get the most out of your journey.