Coffee and meditation

[Johnthelegoman]

Please move if in wrong forum or if there's a similar thread on here you can let me know

If this isn't allowed I'm sorry all I read was no illegal substances

But does anyone here find coffee beneficial for meditation? Just got a new coffee roaster and am excited to try these beans from all around the world with my meditations I will post any updates or how it goes for me

[Johnthelegoman]

Very cool. I had two cups of a strong roast then laid down to meditate. I put on a hemisync playlist of YouTube.

As I got relaxed I realized the physical sensations of the caffeine heart beat and hot head sort of. It didn't take long to get over it and ignore it my breath regulated my heartbeat after a while I think. Once I was very relaxed my mind started to wander.

I started to bring my focus to my third eye and them started havig some vivid imagey

I saw a moon in my third eye then it was just a moon in space. And a tiger appeared coming out of it very big as big as the moon. It came down to earth or the ground of some kind and started running it ran up a mountain witch turned out to be a volcano it ran to the top down the opening and came up the opposite side of the volcano but now the tiger was flaming and ran down the opposite side that It came up. ( the tiger didn't seem to be hurt, just flaming) the tiger then morphed into a man not modern more like a native American. The man was also on flames and running with a flaming spear he then threw the spear and when it landed it turned into water turning everything in its path into flowing water the water covered everything then the imagery kind of stopped.

I started thinking about nothing just being in the moment and started feeling exit sensations spinning turning I stayed calm and imagined myself breathing in energy to sustain me if I were to have an astral adventure

I enjoyed the exit sensations for some time then decides to get up because I have to go do something


Overall of this first trial my focus during meditation was great. And I was able to thoroughly relax

[CFTraveler]

I find coffee beneficial when I want to have a quick projection- I have it and then start to take a nap- when you get to the point where you start to feel sleepy, the caffeine kicks in and allows you to maintain relaxation without falling asleep.

Just make sure not to overdo it- coffee is good and I love it, but too much can be harmful, like most things that are yum.

[dreaming90]

I drink multiple cups of coffee per day and I find that it does not really interfere with my meditation or trance work. I've removed it from my diet to see if it really did have an effect, but as far as I can tell nothing really changed.

You just don't want to overdo it. You probably will have a hard time if you chug three cups and then try to OBE. :)

[ButterflyWoman]

too much can be harmful
That's what "too much" means. ;)

Just want to chime in here and note that when I started to become more energy-aware, doing energy work, meditating with greater focus, etc., I found that my sensitivity to caffeine increased greatly. I still consume it, but I have to be very careful how much I have or bad things happen (usually anxiety or insomnia, but also sometimes heart palpitations and very noticeable anxiety attacks, pretty much what you'd expect from a strong central nervous system stimulant).

I love my coffee, and my tea, but I limit myself to one cup of caffeinated coffee a day, and I will rarely have a cup of tea in addition to that, but mostly I stick to decaf once once I've had my daily "dose" of caffeine. (Note that Coca-Cola and some other carbonated drinks also have caffeine in them, so you need to count that intake, as well. Not that I recommend drinking carbonated drinks, but some people do, so...).

But, you know, there's no harm in giving it up for a while to see if you feel better without it. If you're a regular user, you'll get withdrawl symptoms, which include irritability and probably a headache that lasts a couple of days (you can ease it with a very, very small dose of caffeine, like a couple of mouthfuls of tea or similar). Some people, myself included, also have a period where they feel like they can't focus and their mind is all fuzzy. The good news is, all of this passes in two or three days. Go a week without the caffeine and you'll find you function okay without it. And, after a detox like that, when you DO start taking it again, you'll REALLY feel the effects. So a detox is a good way to kind of "reboot" your caffeine habit. Or just stopping it entirely, if you prefer.

I don't want to say "don't take caffeine" because I don't feel that way at all, but I do suggest that it might be interesting to see how you go without it, and if you prefer things that way.

[SiriusTraveler]

I also consume several cups each day, which I know is not so good. Anyway, I'm a programmer and.. we do that! On the serious side, I'v never tried coffee for meditation practice. I feel that its interfeering somehow, but perhaps that just a bad thought.

[Johnthelegoman]

Im actually no regular drinker I'll go weeks without it but I do love the taste of just pure coffee my girlfriend is the real coffee drinker I felt great meditating on coffee it actually got me closer to an ap then I have recently not on it. Anyway after the meditation I didn't feel so good I know it was the caffeine it was a strong batch we made it tasted good my girlfriend called me a lightweight anyway ��

Its okay tho alls well that ends well


Edit: it's not that time until you look at a clock

[roman67]

Coffee is good when you are going to start meditating. Too much coffee can be harmful for health.

[Korpo]

I also consume several cups each day, which I know is not so good. Anyway, I'm a programmer and.. we do that! On the serious side, I'v never tried coffee for meditation practice. I feel that its interfeering somehow, but perhaps that just a bad thought.

Yes... we do that. :lol:

I think coffee causes too much agitation in the long run. During meditation, one thing I encounter is that I become restless and agitated. I want something to happen. And I think coffee/caffeine is adding to that.

[ButterflyWoman]

I think coffee causes too much agitation in the long run. During meditation, one thing I encounter is that I become restless and agitated. I want something to happen. And I think coffee/caffeine is adding to that.
I enthusiastically agree with this.

[Johnthelegoman]

I had another experience same beans as last time there from etheopia. Anyway it was 1 large cup drank a half hour before midnight december 20th

I wanted to be meditating during the end of the maya calander and plan to be doing so all day

Anyway i found myself very focused mentally after i got relaxed my focus was completely away from my physical body. I then sat in deep trance witch turned into sleep paralasis for about two hours. I felt heeavy exit sensations at one point but dont recal any astral travel im guessing inissed my exit?

Anyway coffee has been very helpful to me trying to project i think im going o drink some more and try again right now

[ButterflyWoman]

Just to note, the Mayan calandar didn't end at midnight. According to my research, the day begins at dawn according to their system. The midnight thing is, as far as I know, late Roman.

[Johnthelegoman]

it was just easier for me to do it at that time because for me its the start of a new day i gues I probobly knew the mayan calander didnt end midnight on my exact timezone

[ButterflyWoman]

:) I wasn't being a smartalec. I hope it didn't come across that way. I like to point out stuff people might not have considered, that's all.

[DarkChylde]

i have to "save" coffee for exam-time only , over the years iv'e built up strong immunity to it so i can only rotate coffee in "off" "on" cycles.
also sadly it has zilch spiritual effect on me.

[Sinera]

Doing entirely without gives me headaches. But at least I managed to go without it now in the later afternoon / evening. I take decaffeinated then instead. Btw, I noted that taking in coffee with sweets (around tea time in the afternoon) also produced dull generalised headaches for me, so I am happy to have restricted it to morning hours now.

[ButterflyWoman]

Doing entirely without gives me headaches.
That's addiction withdrawl. You can do away with the headache with just a very small dose of caffeine, like a couple of sips of tea. (This is what I do when I "detox" from caffeine; I can't tolerate the headaches, so I just take enough caffeine to appease the headache. Fortunately, it only takes a couple or three days to detox from caffeine, and after the second day or so, the headaches ease.)

I never consume caffeine after about 5pm. It can stay in your system up to six hours (or more, for some people). I am a natural night owl, but I've been trying to keep my schedule more sleep-at-night-awake-during-the-day, and caffeine in the evening really distrupts that.

Interestingly, my husband had a super busy week at work (he's a programmer/researcher) and they just got in a new coffee machine and, well, he pumped himself up on caffeine trying to keep his concentration focussed, etc. This weekend, he's been really out of it because of the caffeine. He's been limiting his intake significantly, but if he has NO caffeine, he gets headaces, can't concentrate, etc. Caffeine really is a pretty serious central nervous system stimulant. It's worth paying attention to that fact and regulating your intake of it accordingly. (Or you end up sitting on the couch like a vegetable watching kid shows, which is what he's doing today, heh :))

[Johnthelegoman]

Thats intresting. I have no problem going to sleep after coffee or tea and i dont have much of a tolerance either

[DarkChylde]

Caffeine is a strong vascular constricting agent it "squeezes" shut the cephalic arterioles , so once you go off it the artery "bounce back" to their original size and shape (thats when you get the banging/pulsating headaches) , for the same reason to mitigate the pain of migraine headaches caffeine is often included in pain-relief medication.

[ButterflyWoman]

Caffeine is a strong vascular constricting agent it "squeezes" shut the cephalic arterioles , so once you go off it the artery "bounce back" to their original size and shape (thats when you get the banging/pulsating headaches) , for the same reason to mitigate the pain of migraine headaches caffeine is often included in pain-relief medication.
That's interesting! I find that a caffeine-withdrawl headache doesn't really respond to any pain reliever, including stuff made for migraines. In the U.S. (and probably elsewhere, but I admit, I haven't done a lot of shopping around for it ;)) you can get headache medicine that actually has caffeine in it (Excedrin is the brand that I'm familiar with; there are probably others).

[Sinera]

I know that in Europe we have Paracetamol capsules with caffeine in it. E.g. "Grippostad" - a paracetamol-based remedy for intake when you have a cold with different aches. Used to take it in as a teen or twen, but I do not take paracetamol anymore as it is even can be dangerous (on the other hand, which pharma med isn't?).

[Johnthelegoman]

It helps women with their special time ofthe month i heard

[CFTraveler]

Paracetamol is nothing more than Acetaminophen, as in, Tylenol. It is very dangerous to the liver if too much is taken, and should never be mixed with alcohol, as both are toxic to the liver as well. The pharma industries have 'mainstreamed' drugs like these as if it were 'nothing', but all of them should only be taken when necessary.
ps. NSAIDs (such as ibuprofen) are the only drugs that are known to help with menstrual issues, because they inhibit prostaglandins, the hormones that cause cramps. But since prostaglandins are important hormones for many things, taking them is also risky, especially if you're on aspirin. So as usual, take these only when necessary, and don't mix them with anything.

[DarkChylde]

Aspirin is also an NSAID and like ibuprofen wrecks your entire ecosanoid cascade one notrious example would be ulcers , in the stomach the prostaglandins make a soft defensive barrier of mucous that protects against acidic insult , once you take aspirin that barrier is gone , ulcers open up and start bleeding.
However a more total and a very serious complication of aspirin is when you give it to young adults or teens with a viral infection like chickenpox and measles is Reyes Syndrome (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reye's_syndrome) , where the brain swells and the liver malfunctions (Early diagnosis is vital; although most children recover with supportive therapy, it may lead to severe brain injury and death).

Hot compresses and unplugged irons are making a come back for menstural cramps again , appearently thermal anti-spasmodic therapy has picked up again.

Caffeine also has become popular in eye-creams recently , it's strong inhibtion on water aggregation in the orbital socket makes its an ideal de-puffing agent.

One of the more useable byproducts of coffee i like is that it has a laxative effect on me , which isn't a bad thing early morning (sorry a little TMI here) , one of the side effects i definitely do NOT like is the diuretic effect , specially in winters when you already have to tinkle so much as it is :mad:

[Johnthelegoman]

Cft traveler i meant caffine helps women not parcementol or whatever

Edit: yes caffine also acts as a laxative ive seen it in action