Meditation is an activity where people focus on an object, thought or an activity as a mode of promoting mindfulness, attention and awareness. Meditation also helps to promote mental clarity and stability. Getting through a meditation session is not quite a walk in the park. Sometimes it is difficult for people to maintain the level of focus on an object or thought that is required to achieve the benefits of meditation. Eating or drinking coffee before you meditate is typically not recommended. However, there are a few drinks that are exempted from this rule;
Is coffee before you meditate a good idea
Contrary to popular knowledge, taking a coffee drink before meditation can be a great idea. Below are some reasons why this is the case;
It helps to boost your energy
The most common belief about coffee is that when it is taken, it amplifies your energy levels. However, this is not entirely true. It is far from how coffee works in the body. When caffeine is introduced to the bloodstream, it functions by blocking the elements in the body that trigger fatigue. By doing so, it helps you become more energetic. By blocking those elements, it increases neurotransmitters like dopamine and glutamate.
Dopamine and glutamate play numerous roles in the body, including stimulating motivation, arousal, learning and memory. These elements, in addition to the energy boost, are essential for meditating. For this reason, taking this drink before meditation would be a good idea.
It will keep you stimulated throughout the session.
When you are awake, the neurons in the brain promote the production of adenosine. Adenosine is the element that is responsible for keeping you awake. When the level of adenosine in your body, especially the brain and the spinal cord, drops, the body begins to relax as it prepares for sleep. Caffeine affects the adenosine receptors within the body. Therefore, the coffee itself does not keep you awake.
Instead, it triggers high reception of adenosine which is responsible for the stimulation. Therefore, if you are looking to meditate before you go to work, you may need some stimulation from caffeine. Meditation causes the body to relax, and many are times when people fall asleep in between a mediation session. Sleep is one of the main hindrances of successful meditation. Drinking coffee before a session would keep this from happening. It helps to induce calm wakefulness.
It promotes mental focus
Coffee is also the ideal drink to help with meditation because it helps to stimulate your mental focus. The role of meditation is to stimulate your mind. By promoting mental focus, the caffeine found in coffee beans helps to prepare your mind for the session. It, therefore, sets you up for more profound meditation.
Deeper mediation sessions are more beneficial to the body because they can help activate the regions in the brain that are associated with well-being. It can also lead to less activation of the areas of the brain that trigger adverse effects like stress. The state of mental focus also helps you to achieve a longer span of attention and focus hence the reason why drinking coffee before meditation is beneficial.
It helps to amplify the benefits of meditation
Meditation is a practice that is aimed at promoting alertness, mindfulness and increasing confidence. The same benefits can be acquired from taking coffee. Therefore, combining the two (coffee and meditation) helps to amplify the benefits mentioned above. Additionally, it would take more than one cup of coffee to reach the preferred benefit levels.
However, with the combination, you do not need several or long sessions or too many cups of coffee per day to get the benefits. Coffee also relaxes the body. This helps your body to prepare for a meditation session and also promotes attention during the session. For this reason, drinking coffee before meditation can be highly beneficial.
It improves your mood before meditation
Taking coffee before meditation can also help elate your moods hence encouraging and motivating you to meditate. When caffeine is released in the bloodstream, it helps to promote the release of dopamine into the brain. Dopamine is responsible for creating a euphoric or elated feeling. This keeps you in a good mood. Meditating, while in a bad mood, can be inefficient.
It may also warrant you to take more time to achieve the benefits you are seeking from the meditation process. The euphoric state promoted by dopamine is also essential because it fosters a positive association of the elated feelings with mediation. By doing so, it helps to adapt to meditating and making a routine out of it.
It helps you to form a habit
One of the main reasons why it is tough to meditate daily is that forming a habit is not a walk in the park. The same can be said about working out and other practices that require focus and energy. Many people have formed a habit of taking coffee in the morning so that it can help them start the day on a good note. Incorporating meditation after your morning cup of coffee is an excellent way to form a habit.
The good thing about meditation is that you do not need props or to use up a lot of energy. Therefore, you can have your morning cup of coffee, sit down and meditate immediately after. You can start by doing it for a couple of minutes the making it longer each day. After a couple of weeks, you should have formed a habit and made it part of your morning routine.
Other beverages you can drink to help with meditation
Teas containing calming components like L-theanine are incredible for meditation. L-theanine is a calming element that helps to put your brain in a state calmness and focus that is very important during meditation. Therefore, drinking tea can help to get you in a deeper meditative state, which will result in additional benefits. The market is packed with a wide range of teas that can help with meditation. Below are some incredible examples;
Tea
You can also take rosemary tea before meditation. Good morning tea should come in handy as it helps to induce calmness and wake you up. Tea also allows you to find a balance between being calm and awake. By doing so, it will help you meditate efficiently and not worry about falling asleep in the process. The tea also helps reduce stress and induce concentration. These two elements are very beneficial when it comes to meditation.
Cinnamon tea
Cinnamon Tea is an excellent drink to help with meditation because it helps to reduce excessive saliva production. While in a calm and meditative state, you do not want anything to alter your concentration. Having to swallow saliva in between meditation sessions is a huge distraction. The same can be said about strong saliva production. Taking this tea and lowering your saliva production can also be beneficial if you are meditating with other people. You do not want to distract the people or person meditating next to you. The tea does not cause total dryness of the mouth; it only eliminates excessive saliva production.
Ginseng tea
Like coffee, this type of tea is known to provide benefits like boosting energy. By boosting energy, it helps during meditation. This is especially important if you are planning on meditating in the morning before proceeding with your day. It helps to eliminate the fatigue after sleeping hence bringing your body to an energy level that can foster effective meditation. Ginseng tea also helps to promote mental focus. By doing so, it helps to amplify the benefits of meditating. It is, therefore, an incredible drink to take before meditation.
Peppermint tea
This tea is also known for its benefits when it comes to reducing frustrations, anxiety and fatigue. By reducing fatigue, it helps you to get in a clam state hence allowing you to meditate. By relieving stress and frustration, it can also help with meditation. For instance, when you are stressed about an upcoming work meeting or have had a rough night, meditating in the morning can be challenging. Taking peppermint tea can help to eliminate the stress hence making it easy for you to accomplish a session of meditation. It can also help you to last through a meditation session for a long time. By reducing stress, frustration and fatigue, this tea will help get you to the state of focus that you need when meditating.
Final word
Note that the market is packed with several types of coffee. The main difference between the various types of coffee is the source and form of coffee beans from which they are sourced. While there are some significant differences between them, the benefits, especially when it comes to meditation, are very similar. Therefore, you can take any coffee, depending on your preference as right before meditation and enjoy its benefits. You not only get to enjoy an effective meditation session, but you also get to start your day on a good note and get the energy you need to take you through the day.