Caffeine and Yoga
I’ve been a coffee and tea drinking almost my entire life. When I was a kid, my favorite ice cream flavor was always coffee and I really looked forward to being old enough to drink a big cup of it when I was old enough that my parents would let me. I can’t actually remember a time since I was a child that I have been caffeine free. But I’ve decided to eliminate it from my diet finally. Caffeine can cause anxiety, mood swings, and insomnia, irritability, and lots of other stuff, yet most of us consume it regularly. It can also make you stiff, which is exactly the opposite of what most of us yoga practitioners are trying to be. I actually had a really hard time finding concrete studies here, but as I understand it from talking to people who know about this, caffeine can cause muscle twitching (hyperflexia), which prevents our muscles from relaxing fully, a necessity to get a good, healthy stretch. Additionally, if taken in large enough doses, it acts as a diuretic, draining you body of precious water and leaving your muscles less able to stretch. That combined with the addictive nature of the drug, are finally getting me to give it up. Instead, I’ll be relying on a short morning yoga practice (which I’ve not always done) and breathing. There are lots of good resources if you are interested in trying to kick caffeine as well. I’ve included a couple of them below:
findbliss.com
yoga journal
yoga-australia.com
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Are you still off caffeine? I have kicked coffee out a few times in my life, but find it always returns with that one good cup of coffee. I am a runner and a recent yoga convert, but I am still not that flexible (tight hamstrings). Do you think eliminating caffeine could be why I seem to have hit a wall? (I practice hatha and vinyasa flow yoga 3 x week).
I am still off caffeine and I feel like after having gotten over the initial hump, it’s been really good. I do feel a bit more flexible, and while that might just be coincidence, I think some of it is due to cutting out caffeine. As for your hitting a wall, I don’t think caffeine would be the sole reason, but could be a part of it. Runners in general tend to have tight hamstrings (it’s still relatively tight on me I think from years of running without stretching afterwards). You might try a few really long held stretches that you can just relax into, holding for 3-5 minutes. For hamstrings, a great one can be Viparita Karani(though perhaps without the bolster), or you can take a long strap as you lay down, place one end around both feet and the other other end just under your shoulders. Keep your legs straight and just relax into the pose. Your yoga teacher could probably help provide you with some good yin hamstring stretches also.
What about green tea???? Does it effect flexibility??? Would I be better not to drink???
Green tea does have some caffeine in it, though way less than coffee. Green tea does has a lot of other beneficial effects though, such as helping to burn fat internally, which can help with flexibility. Everything in moderation (including moderation). It’s really up to you.
Thanks for the info. I drink several cups of regular Lipton tea each day only because I prefer a warm liquid. I will cut back or change to herbal tea.
Tea is incredibly high in fluoride content – green tea too.
Fluoride accumulates in the body and lowers the IQ.