Don't sweat it.

Hello BL

More great stuff.
You are very diligent about your practice and your health. So when it comes to caffeine I imagine you must take it in moderation if at all! :cheese:

Personally I don’t drink coffee. I used to: I grew up on the stuff. Then literally one day after decades of use, it affected me so much that I gave it up. I now only have a very small amount and rarely. I am not a zealot or anti-caffeine campaigner.

We each are sensitive to different agents in the body. And people have coffees for different reasons. I don’t think I have ever had the conversation with anyone to limit or reduce coffee consumption in all these years at my studio. I think that the reduction happens in that same mysterious way that our diet changes (or for smokers, the way they just don’t feel like having as many or any at all) when we start the yoga. For us: Robert (my husband) reduced his coffee, we both were only able to get through half a glass of wine. All these things just happen organically.

Robert tells me that if he is doing yoga in the morning, he cannot have a coffee before class. It seems to limit his ability to breathe deeply. If he has it during the day and he goes to yoga within an hour then he finds it difficult to balance. He jokingly tells me that there is nothing better than a coffee after a Saturday morning class to herald in the weekend.

Most people know that caffeine is a diuretic and will not help you hydrate. Which brings us to hydration. As you have rightly pointed out, hydration is not simply about water it is about keeping up your electrolytes as well. Urine color is a good way to make sure that you are drinking enough. Bright yellow – bad! Light or pale straw color – good! Once you work out what your volume is then proportion it through the day. And increase it on days where you go to class. I tend to add 30 – 50 oz for class but that is just me and just a guesstimate.

I sense that I am probably saying stuff that you already do or know. I think it is best to tune into your body and not be too pseudo-scientific about it. Establish your own personal and practical guidelines. Key yourself into some routines about how much your drink when you get up in the morning for example and how much you drink before and after class. Robert the caffeine imbiber was just saying that the biggest factor to being wiped out after class is NOT drinking enough water beforehand (and coffee would of course compound that effect). I drink somewhere around 30 oz every morning no matter what I am doing. If I end up doing yoga then I know I am set.

I think it best to drink enough before class that you are NOT so thirsty that you have to drink at many instances during class. I see no merit in avoiding water altogether if your body requires the water. I simply ask students to be conscious of their needs. Don’t drink to distract yourself or to avoid confronting yourself in the mirror. Stop, connect and assess whether you really need it. Then by all means drink. If you are already well hydrated, you may just need the tiniest of sips once or twice in class.

Drink well after class. It is an instant pick-me-up.

Re doing the 30 day challenge: check out what Hannah said and the rest of this thread at 30 day challenge 😉

Phew!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂