 Should I Be Drinking Coffee if I'm a Serious Yogi?
Coffee dehydrates and thus makes you more stiff. Greens and juices make you more flexible. Therefore give up coffee and drink juices, correct? On the other hand, research has shown that drinking at least 3 cups of coffee per day may be linked to the prevention of alzheimers. Additional very large scale and significant studies have shown that drinking up to 4 cups a day significantly lowers your risk of developing diabetes and is not linked in any way to increased rates of heart disease or cancer. So which do you prefer - an elevated risk of alzheimers or slightly reduced flexibility? As coffee is certainly a dehydrating diuretic, the recommendation is that you drink water with your coffee as is practiced in many serious coffee drinking countries. In the middle east for example, where thick ultra strong Turkish coffee is the norm, a glass of water is always offered to accompany your caffeine of choice. Follow these links if you want more detail: Coffee & Diabetes, Cancer, Heart Disease Coffee & Alzheimers Pattabhi Jois, the founder of Ashtanga Yoga allegedly always had a cup first thing in the morning before his legendary practice, as did one of my own teacher's gurus, Swami Nada Brahmananda. Although a coffee addiction is of course to be avoided, my own personal opinion is to not be fanatical about it. If you enjoy a cup then go ahead and don't feel guilty up to about four cups a day because current research shows that this is good for you. It may reduce your flexbility very marginally but unless you are entering the Yoga Olympics, this is a very balanced trade off. If you aren't going for gold, then you would be advised to go ahead and have that brain stimulating cup of coffee first thing in the morning with a glass of rehydrating water. Then later in the day have your flexiblity enhancing juice and you will be balancing the best of both worlds! PS This is not medical advice so if you have any doubts please DO consult your GP!
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So what is Yoga-Pilates Fusion?
In a nutshell, yoga will develop a flexible body and calm mind, Pilates will develop core strength and is excellent to alleviate and prevent certain kinds of back pain. Yoga-Pilates fusion brings the advantages of these two kinds of exercise together so you don't have to choose between the two. The first class in the new course just took place today, Tuesday Feb. 7th at 9.30am in the beautiful Spotlight Studio on Main St. Arklow. New courses will be starting soon on Wed and Thursday morning at the Ananta Yoga Studio and Friday morning at the Gorey Holistic Centre. This is a perfect time to start. You can drop the kids off to creche or school and have your workout completed by 10.30, ready to head to work or home to chill out before picking up your little one again or into town for a well-earned latte before you get back into action again. Keep an eye on the schedule at http://www.therapyandyoga.com/timetable.html for new classes always make sure to text before joining a new class as timetable always subject to change. Some interesting research on Acupuncture for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. In a long term study done on 77 patients in the Department of Neurology, Kuang Tien General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan acupuncture was found to be an effective alternative to oral steroids! You can check out the details here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21111685 |
AuthorLiam Byrne, Yoga & Pilates Instructor, Acupuncturist, Physical Therapist, Sports Massage Therapist, Archives
January 2016
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