Hey,
It's The Downward Dog.
Thanks so much for joining me for this,
A very special meditation.
Now it's sometimes called a coffee meditation,
But I didn't want to marginalize those that like tea.
I'm quite keen on a cup of tea every now and then too.
So whatever your favorite type of beverage,
Whether it's tea or coffee,
Make sure you've got one in your hands.
We're going to start this lovely morning routine to get us into a mindful place and a place full of gratitude.
So if you don't have a hot beverage in your hand right now,
Pause the audio,
Go get one and meet us back.
We're going to get going with our hot drink meditation.
Get yourself into a comfortable seat,
Sit up nice and tall.
For now,
You can have your cup of beverage in front of you.
Just really focus on your posture,
Sitting up tall,
Rolling the shoulders back,
The beautiful long spine from your sacrum or your bum all the way to the crown of your head.
Before we get to the traditional eyes closed part,
I want you to just keep them open for the moment.
Look at that hot beverage and just begin to breathe slowly in and out through the nostrils.
Try to make each exhale just a little bit longer,
Each inhale a little bit deeper.
Keep those eyes on the coffee or the tea,
The hot beverage in front of you.
As you do so,
Just take note of the steam rising off that beverage,
The beautiful way that it dances around the cup into the atmosphere,
Kind of hypnotic.
You can now reach forward and grab a cup,
That mug if you will.
Hold the cup nice and close,
Feel the weight of the cup in your hand and just look down now that we have the eyes still open.
And again,
Look from this angle at that steam coming off the beverage.
Notice any differences from this angle.
Notice how the steam changes density and color.
Notice how it dissipates and then is replaced by more steam.
This incredible change of state right in front of you,
From liquid into gas,
From visible to invisible.
Look down now at the coffee itself,
Look at its color and just note how dark your coffee is.
What shade of brown it is.
If it's tea,
Same deal,
Just look at its color,
Note its color.
And while it's in your hand,
Just start to swirl it around and notice all the beautiful contours of the liquid.
Notice all the different waves that travel from one side of the mug to the other.
And then notice the refraction of light.
Just pay attention to the show that your hot beverage is putting on for you.
From here you can bring those eyes to close.
Now just feel the weight of the mug in your hand.
And swirl that cup again,
Just notice if the weight changes from side to side.
The substance of the coffee giving you feedback in this tactile realm.
And then start to notice how the temperature,
How far does that heat travel.
Can you feel it just on your skin?
Or is it going just a bit deeper?
Now in a moment I'm going to ask you to take that cup and bring it towards your nose to breathe in.
But I just want you to be really careful to make sure it's not too hot.
So just go a little bit careful on that part,
Alright?
Here we go.
Lift that mug towards your nostrils.
Take a deep breath in through the nose,
Careful not to burn yourself.
As you do,
Notice first the sensation of breathing in that steam.
Notice how your nostrils adapt to that heat.
Notice how far the smell of the coffee travels in through the nostrils.
Just like you did with the heat on the hand.
Is it just the tip of the nose that can smell it?
Or does the smell travel a little bit deeper down the nostrils?
Does it even travel to the back of the throat maybe?
Can you feel it on your tongue?
Does it go all the way into your lungs?
On average there's around 850 different aromas in a cup of coffee.
In a cup of tea there's around 300 aromas.
So whatever hot beverage you have,
I want you to try to decipher just a few.
Of course when you smell them there'll be like a medley of smells.
I want you to try to isolate different ones.
Cherry,
Chocolate,
Bitter,
Sharp.
Take some time and try to deconstruct your hot beverage in the realm of smell.
Next I want you to gently start to blow on that hot beverage.
Just make sure it's not too hot.
And when it's the right temperature,
I want you to bring that hot beverage to your mouth.
Take the smallest sip.
As you do,
Take it into your mouth.
Swallow it around all the corners of your mouth.
As you do,
Don't swallow just yet.
Just coat your mouth with this flavor.
Now take a deep inhale through the nostrils.
Can you notice the change of flavors as you do each one of these things?
Is the flavor different from when you first took a sip to when you swirled it around to now that you inhaled?
And what are the flavors you can taste?
Swallow now.
And notice once again if there's any changes in the flavors.
Is there warmness that travels down the throat?
And now with the mouth empty of the hot beverage,
Take a deep breath in through the mouth.
Notice how that feels.
Does that change the taste?
Now before I let you finish the rest of your coffee in a simple and similar way,
I just want you to think of this hot drink not just as a beverage,
But as the combination of so much hard work.
Hard work from the earth and its ability to produce such a thing.
The coffee fruit,
The tea leaves,
The cocoa,
Whatever it may be,
That thing has had to grow.
Time has gone in.
Effort has gone in.
People have tended to this crop just so you can have this hot beverage in your hand.
Think about the journey it's been on.
From seed,
To plant,
To harvest,
To refinement,
To packaging,
To delivery,
Up into the point that whoever bought it in your household got it and brought it all the way back.
For that small seed to get to fruition and finally get to your cup,
Into your mouth,
Are all acts of love.
So now you embrace that love as you consume that hot beverage and see if you can put out that same level of love into the world.
Enjoy the rest of your hot beverage with that same mindfulness attitude and keep that chain of love and attention flowing from your cup into you and back out into the world.
Namaste.
