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Caffeine and Meditation
Bunks
Australia Veteran
in Meditation
Any thoughts on this?
I normally have a strong coffee to start the day then meditate not too long after. I tried holding off on the coffee until after meditation and found my mind settled a little easier (although it felt a little fuzzy).
Would be interested to hear others experience...
I normally have a strong coffee to start the day then meditate not too long after. I tried holding off on the coffee until after meditation and found my mind settled a little easier (although it felt a little fuzzy).
Would be interested to hear others experience...
0
Comments
http://amazingdiscoveries.org/H-deception-health-coffee-drinking-caffeine-risk
My name is Lobster and I am an addict (in recovery)
to help them stay alert.
monks in china have been using
tea to stay alert for hundreds of years.
I thought coffee might help.
I was WRONG!
I tried it for a couple of days, a coffee just before the meditation to wake me up, and the result was a whirl of thoughts, agitation, restlessness and frenetic distraction.
Not helpful. So I stopped the coffee and just changed my meditation technique to fit my energy-level of that time of day. That worked well.
But I do know several monks who drink a strong coffee after lunch, so they aren't tempted to have an afternoon snooze.
They tried to penetrate the Australian market but thankfully most of them closed down. The only people who frequent those still open seem to be teenagers who think it's cool to drink a caramel cream skinny latte with chocolate topping!
There's a strong anti-corporate movement in American coffee. It's been referred to as the "Third Wave". All fair trade, roasting taken to a Zen-like level, very close attention paid to single origins, highly educated coffee drinkers, and a wide variety of brewing methods all designed to really take coffee appreciation to the highest level.
If you ever the chance to visit Detroit, I will personally make you some of the best coffee you've ever had. That's a promise
After about a month in Denver I found a place called Peet's that made a nice coffee.
I watched a great doco a few years ago about the Third Wave you mention in your post. It's called The Perfect Cappuccino......a nice film. Quite funny!
http://www.cappuccinomovie.com/
Meditation is the activity of a practise whether walking, standing or sitting.
It is the facing of and letting go of our attachments.
If one has an attachment to a stimulant, who is fooling who, when ingesting
it in preparation of a meditation to let it go..
If you find that caffeine calms you, you might actually find that you have a mild form of ADD/ADHD. On the rare occasion my son (10) is away without having taken his meds, a higher dose of caffeine has the same effect as his meds, which are also a stimulant. Not saying you have add/adhd, just possible you have a similar style personality. While stimulant wakes others up, for those who are already high strung or "hyper" stimulants has the effect of calming them.
I've never been a coffee or tea drinker(at the monastery I drink hot cocoa/choc milk), I've never understood the whole " I need coffee to function thing" so I'm not much use in this thread, but I wanted to make the one observation.
I use gourmet coffees, usually from Hawaii, or Columbia, and sometimes flavored gourmet coffees. I buy it in 5 lb bags directly from a coffee distributor I met while working in a gourmet restaurant. He actually travels places, imports the beans, and then roasts and/or flavors his coffee beans himself before packaging and selling. GREAT stuff!
Can I live without it? Yeah, I can and have gone without for weeks at a time. But why?
I don't think that a mind that settles, compared to one that doesn't, means much in meditation. I get how one might feel more comfortable with one compared to the other but I think a meditation practise is about trying to be present with what is, not with what one prefers.
But, no, I like my coffee strong as hell. Weak coffee actually extracts more bitterness due to the dilution. So the flavor/bitterness ratio is better with whole beans and strong amount of beans/water.
Just my opinion. This (strong coffee) is also how germans like it from my experience. And I extrapolate to Italians ( @Federica , is this true?), and of course dark roast is a tradition of the french (french roast). I'm sorry but weak coffee is from the dark ages
As far as mild versus dark roast I prefer... both!
I did read a thing yesterday saying older people (I don't recall if they said how old) who drink 3 cups of coffee a day are less likely to die of heart disease and other cardiovascular stuff. I assume because of the dilating properties.
But then again, I'm not one of those folks who drink 7-8 cups of coffee a day. That would be a problem, from what I'm hearing. But in moderation, methinks that tea, coffee and chocolate are those little things that help make day to day life more bearable. For what it's worth, there's always tea at our retreats.
both coffee n tea contain caffeine.
so tom, i will be worried if you dont go pee.
Drink Buddha coffee for extra perks
Yes, it can help, but it really depends on the quantity. I find green tea has just enough to keep me alert during long sessions. Coffee, on the other hand, gives me the jitters.
He sits nearby and I take the occasional mindful sip . . .
. . . rather than nicotine patches, I am thinking of strapping a coffee bag to my wrist and taking the occasional sniff . . .