Tea For Meditation

FairyFeller

I wasn't sure whether to put this in the Diet section or Meditation section.

I'm looking for a nice relaxing, refreshing drink to help me chill out before meditation, I like to be in the right frame if mind. I already avoid caffeine 99% of the time, the strongest I will consume is a watered down Diet Coke if I'm working a nightshift and need something to keep me awake.

On the flip side is there a stimulating alternative to caffeine?

I did try using the search function to see if somebody else had asked the question but it brings up every post with words containing the letters 'tea' including teacher, teachings etc.

chela

If you want a mild stimulant, you can drink black tea. It has a little caffeine. It's enough that I won't drink it at night because it keeps me awake, but I'm sensitive to caffeine.

If you want to relax, there are various herbal teas on the market. I've recently been drinking Celestial Seasonings "Tension Tamer," which has Eleurthero, among other herbs. I like the taste of it.

Dakini

Green tea has caffeine, too. For non-caffeine tea, there are those new red teas from South Africa, rooibos/redbush, that come an a variety of flavors. You can get Earl Grey Redbush, vanilla, all kinds of combos. Most brands have a selection.

If you're looking for a non-caff stimulant in your tea, you can look for teas that have Yerba Mate in them, or ginseng (kinda calming but also strengthening. It's a stimulant for some people), and other herbs of that type. Celestial Seasonings has a "Morning Thunder" tea that's some kind of stimulant.

Some people find that stimulants interfere with meditation, and set the mind racing.

riverflow

My understanding is that compared to tea, coffee has MUCH more caffeine than tea. I drink a good deal of tea every day and it doesn't appear to affect me. Coffee, on the other hand, I can't handle more than half a cup or I will get heart palpitations and shaky. I have a low tolerance for caffeine, but tea has never affected me like coffee does.

I get most of my tea through Harney.com and I find the Dragon Pearl Jasmine tea to be especially light and refreshing.

Jeffrey

Tea has more caffeine actually. but coffee has over 300 other psychoactive stimulants other than caffeine and they all work synergistically (whole greater than the sum of the parts).

ThailandTom

We have had 'Coffee and Meditation' and now it is Tea, waiting on the scones and crumpets! Is coffee needed? Is tea needed? Meditation = brain, you, ass, silence.

lobster

yogi teas and barleycup are worth a try :wave:

Dakini

I love tea threads!
♥

ZenBadger

Before meditation I would drink only water. Tea, like coffee is a mildly addictive substance - although you don't want to see what I'm like after working in Belgium (a veritable desert for tea) for a fortnight, the cravings are terrible. Following my evening meditation I find a light tea such as a ceylon or a yellow or white chinese tea works well to get rid of that slight lethargy after a 40-45 minute session. After my morning meditation I like a more agressive tea, full strength green, oolong or puerh.

Zero

FairyFeller said:

On the flip side is there a stimulating alternative to caffeine?

Why would you want an alternative - you already have caffeine but you avoid that 99% of the time?

ThailandTom

Just like with coffee, tea tends to make my digestive system malfunction lets say. I would like to drink green/herbal tea, but when I do it ends up being very unpleasant, so I drink neither. Is anybody else intolerant to tea and or coffee here? What is the reasoning for this, it was not always this way for me if I remember.

MoonIzAMoore

@ThailandTom, not for me but for others. I do like Yogi stress and tension relief tea. It may be to strong for meditation because it will make you sleepy. I ran out so I can't really say amounts of caffeine contained. I don't drink coffee at all. Unfortunately, I quit caffeine after 20 years and lost 40lbs. I weighed 112 and was unable to get certain medicine because I could not gain it back. Against my doctors wishes which was eating three meats a day, I had to start drinking pop again and am at my normal weight. It isn't an addiction like cigarettes. I prefer Vita water.

footiam

FairyFeller said:

I wasn't sure whether to put this in the Diet section or Meditation section.

I'm looking for a nice relaxing, refreshing drink to help me chill out before meditation, I like to be in the right frame if mind. I already avoid caffeine 99% of the time, the strongest I will consume is a watered down Diet Coke if I'm working a nightshift and need something to keep me awake.

On the flip side is there a stimulating alternative to caffeine?

I did try using the search function to see if somebody else had asked the question but it brings up every post with words containing the letters 'tea' including teacher, teachings etc.

It makes me wonder if Buddha has this problem when he meditates. Definitely, he won't have a Diet Coke.