One of my favourite, however misunderstood, sayings by the late Sri Pattabi Jois

‘No coffee, No prana’

I have totally taken this quote and run with it, very fast…all the way to the ocean and back….three times! I love coffee. I love the smell, the taste, the ritual and the feeling it gives me. The one thing I do not love is feeling bad about having it, so I’ve decided not to.

There is a plethora of information out there on coffee, good, bad and indifferent, so which one do we believe? Do we listen to the nay sayers who tell us that coffee can cause adrenal exhaustion, stimulates our brains to release cortisol (a stress inducing hormone which can cause imbalance through our bodies) and may lead to some cancers? Or do we stick with only reading the studies which sight that caffeine speeds up fat metabolism, is full of anti-oxidants and may protect us against other cancers? What the?! It may be a little from column A and a little from B, like most things moderation and quality is key. We are all different and some of us can drink coffee all day and night without much effect, while others (myself included) will experience heart palpitations, anxiety and headaches when we have that one coffee too many. Rather than beating ourselves up about or making it another thing which we really should give up, make it a practice in mindfulness and if there are no negative side effects to your coffee consumption, embrace and enjoy it.

I have a morning ritual, I get up, go through my morning practices and then before I get on my mat I pour myself a cold pressed coffee, I sit in quiet solitude and sip on this strong, bitter brew and it makes me happy. I also like to occasionally (lets not count the days here) go down the road with my hubby and grab a coffee, strong and black sometimes with a dash of cream, I relish this time as we wait for our treats and connect with each other. Are either of these things doing me any harm, I really don’t think so and I’ve decided not to feel bad about them, instead to simply sip and enjoy. It is when we are participating in a habit without any presence of mind, when we do things without even realising we are doing them, that is where the trouble lies.

So when I begin to feel like I should be denying myself this divine, and ancient, blessing I will go back to Guruji who drank his coffee without any hesitation, I will inhale my ‘prana’ and do my practice, because in the end all actions are a practice within themselves, are they not?