Exhilarating Coffee Meditation

This is a great meditative experience that anyone should be able to duplicate.  Blurring the boundaries a bit, this isn’t purely a cognitive activity, but also involves the use of chemical substances.  But then again, any cognitive activity is also an electro-chemical process in your brain as well…

Obviously, some people may need to alter or forego this recipe/process according to their own health and dietary needs.

To start, make a nice strong cup of coffee.  Melt in a large quantity of high quality dark chocolate.  My favorite type to use is Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate chips.  Then throw in a dash of 5-20 drops of your favorite hot sauce or some chili powder depending on how much spice you’re comfortable with.

Drink the coffee over the course of about 20 minutes.  Then do 10-15 minutes of fairly intense exercise.  This could be anything from weightlifting or push-ups to running, biking, or swimming.  (My untested theory is that swimming would be the best, because being submerged in water causes a reflexive increase in blood flow to the brain.)

Finally, stop your workout abruptly and sit or lie down very still to meditate.  (If safety could be assured, I would love to try this while breathing through a snorkel and sitting underwater on the steps of a pool.)  Avoid any active thoughts and just observe the feelings throughout your body.  After some time, your heart rate should slow from the rate reached during your exercise, and a warm feeling should spread through your body.  The caffeine, theobromine, and capsicum you drank in the coffee have had enough time to enter your blood, which has been circulating while you exercise.  Endorphins produced by the intensity of your workout meet with your coffee potion like a reunion of old friends taking place in your brain and blood stream.

Meanwhile, the caffeine should boost the dopamine/norepinephrine (and therefore adrenaline) levels in your brain.  This should lead to a feeling of heightened excitement and awareness.  The workout will also contribute to this. Although exercise will also burn these neurochemicals off somewhat, the result will still be a net increase, and may lead to higher base levels (this is not necessarily good) if you make a habit of highly energized aerobic exercise, especially if your sport is competitive.

The deliciousness of your chocolate coffee, presuming optimistically that you enjoyed the taste, will give you a serotonin boost at the same time, adding a dash of happy to the endorphins already produced during your workout.  You can increase this effect by taking a small shot of pure (real) maple syrup along with your coffee drink.

Just hold still and enjoy observing the effect while you relax and take naturally slow and even breaths.  The result may last anywhere from thirty minutes to over two hours.