Aug
29
Posted on 29-08-2008
Filed Under (Staying Fit & Healthy) by admin

I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the relationship between coffee, yoga and flexibility. I used to think yoga was all about stretching and flexibility. Most yoga poses demonstrate rather than develop flexibility. If you are stiff, you don’t need yoga. You need to stretch! A good stretching exercise is like how you managing weight loss with the consumption of diet pill. You have got to ‘eat right’ and not ‘eat less’. It is the same as ‘stretch right’ and the accompanying factor would be taking nutritional food.

Try to cut down on this food or maybe nil:

  1. Coffee – they contained caffeine that causes our senses to be over stimulated.
  2. Mucus producers – Dairy products, white rice, white sugar, refined bread, refined grains, honey

This are the two food which I know to gave you that stiff body. There should be more if you want to add on to my list.

Practise this healthy diet for flexibility:

  1. Replace dairy products with soya milk and brown sugar instead of white sugar.
  2. Drink more juices instead of can drinks, etc…
  3. Green stuff are good for you for example spirulina, chlorella, wheatgrass
  4. Vitamin C

Ever wonder why yoga teachers are so flexible? I didn’t know this but without proper stretching exercises and proper nutrients, you can do yoga poses all day long and yet still be stiff as a board… now that is super depressing!

(28) Comments    Read More   

Comments

dharana on 29 August, 2008 at 2:20 pm #

dear jess,

yeah.. it’s depressing..i am taking vitamin c and spirulina everyday but i can’t give up my coffee.


[…] Original post by jess […]


Yoga Lover on 29 August, 2008 at 2:46 pm #

I’m even worse. At least a cup of coffee a day and seldom take green stuff. It explains why I’m still so stiff after practicing yoga for a year. Need to watch up my diet…

I have read an article which stated that the green stuff like spirulina, chlorella, wheatgrass, barley grass juice can help to improve flexibility.


catepillar on 29 August, 2008 at 3:28 pm #

I never drink coffee and teh since last few months when Ang(one of the YZ instructors) told me than coffee is very harmful for the yogis. I take it seriously and the result is I can do moreposes that require flexiblility.


Fei on 29 August, 2008 at 4:22 pm #

No wonder my body so stiff le.. i try very hard to become vegan, but not successful le.. and i’m coffee lover.


cutiecate on 29 August, 2008 at 5:31 pm #

im coffee lover too… i can’t live without coffee and i noticed if certain day without coffee i’ll migrain, this is very obvious especially on weekend where i try not to consume coffee outside. i nvr knew it affects my flexibility… no wonder!


sailormoon on 29 August, 2008 at 9:47 pm #

hi jess, i really love to read your blog, must learn from you on how to write so creative blogs, love your bento, very creative. 🙂


Yoga Lover on 29 August, 2008 at 10:48 pm #

Hi Fei & cutiecate,

So we can have a coffee session one day, haha…


sailormoon on 30 August, 2008 at 9:08 am #

hey, talking about coffee, have you tried a 3 in 1 arabica coffee called deli-bes ? it is highly recommended by my singapore colleague. drink more headache more, haha.


ting ting on 31 August, 2008 at 11:44 am #

i am a tea person. i don take coffee. i m suspecting too much tea makes my legs and arms “shake” when doin poses…anyone can tell me tat tis is not true..i love my cuppa tea…


winnie on 31 August, 2008 at 12:19 pm #

a healthy body is slightly alkaline at pH 7.5 and keeping our body fluids in slightly alkaline conditions is just a key way to stay healthy,
it is important that our daily dietary intake of food acts naturally to balance our body pH.


angel on 31 August, 2008 at 1:14 pm #

try green tea as an alternative drink.me worst as i luv both coffee n tea..very bad..but have since cut down on both and taking green tea..body feels better and ‘cleaner’..;)


Ninie on 1 September, 2008 at 10:19 am #

Hi Jess!

I gave up chicken and meat and turned vegetarian last year to be a more compassionate yoga teacher and to personally be a better yogi.

Immediately after I stopped putting dead animals in my mouth, not only I felt lighter inside and out, I was also able to do super advanced yoga poses that I thought I will never be able to do like Feather Peacock (Pincha Mayurasana) and Scorpion Handstand!

Thank you for such helpful pose for the others. In the mean time, do not stop practicing ya? It doesn’t have to be at the place-we-don’t-mention, just believe in our yoga and even living our lives everyday will be practicing yoga all day, every breath 🙂


cutiecate on 1 September, 2008 at 3:37 pm #

hi yoga lover,

yaya… maybe we can have a drink at kuchai lama am i right? after reading this topic i’m trying my best to cut down my coffee intake just for yoga. want to see is there any improvement after this. ;p


itoe on 3 September, 2008 at 6:40 pm #

I am quite surprise to know that Coffee, tea or daily products can affect our flexibility! How does that happen? Is there any website that provide some write-up/explainatin on diet and flexibility i can read on to have better understanding. I actually trying my very best to “re-con” my body to do the pose. Thank you.


Danny on 3 September, 2008 at 10:34 pm #

for clear mind, don’t listen to Tj anymore.?????????????????


Danny on 3 September, 2008 at 10:38 pm #

TJ ?????????Blog??????????, he is the one spoiled yoga!!! Shame of him!!!


Danny on 3 September, 2008 at 10:55 pm #

the teacher Zen is the same type person like tj!!!!


Danny on 3 September, 2008 at 10:58 pm #

tj????.????????!! who don’t know him????ad= marcus= or so so


LangYungSern on 4 September, 2008 at 12:32 am #

enuf shooting on YZ EX chargeman la…every1 wanna continue life liao…
btw jess, i;ve gone to partial vegetarian as well,

my daily consumption would be a simple breakfast with lots of veggie,
Lunch of mix rice , with at least 3/4 of 4 to 5 veggie mix and 1/4 of white rice + chinese Tea(bad , i know)
dinner with 5type grain, and some meats.

after 4 mth of yoga session i;ve been joining, i feel my apetite is the same, just the quantity of food i require each time i eat are less, feeling like my stomach gets smaller..


dharana on 4 September, 2008 at 8:32 am #

hi itoe,

i did some surfing in the net and found some interesting articles about coffee and its effect on our body. you can visit my blog at http://yogaashram25.blogspot.com/ to read more. i have provided some links for the articles.


molly on 4 September, 2008 at 12:21 pm #

OMG I am stuck with coffee. Someone please pull me out!!!! :(:(


itoe on 5 September, 2008 at 1:19 pm #

Thanks Karin(Dharana). I understand and knew the good and bad of Caffeine that found in my beloved coffee. Since there isn’t any fact of coffee causing stiffiness so now i can continue enjoy my morning and after coffee break!!!


dharana on 5 September, 2008 at 2:03 pm #

hi itoe,
you are welcome. remember to take your coffee in moderation like every thing else. i will be writing on a healthy yoga diet so drop by to visit my blog once in a while.


anonymous on 5 September, 2008 at 5:24 pm #

I love yoga as much as I love coffee! I tried to check around for the basis why coffee makes our body stiff but cld not find anything. I strongly believe it cld be due to the psychological effect – if you think you need coffee to start the day – then you are dependent on coffee to give you the push. This hinders your mind (hence, body) to become more flexible during yoga practices, since you think u can’t do it yourself.

Dharana, I would love to hv some tips on healthy yoga diet.


I miss yoga! on 8 September, 2008 at 11:26 pm #

It could be because coffee actually hinders the flushing out of toxins from the body,hence it reduces flexibility,whereas barleygrass,chorella and spirulina helps to eliminate toxins from the body thereby improving flexibility.maybe kenko plums would help in improving flexibility as well since it has laxative effect?haha!!oh cant be since its laxative effect only flushes out water and not toxins nor fat.


dharana on 9 September, 2008 at 8:40 am #

I attended Judy Krupp’s workshop in July and actually found out that it is not very good if you are too flexible. Some of the teachers who attended the workshop with me were very flexible but they were having back problems as they had not been going into the poses correctly. When you are too flexible, you need to ensure that you tighten your abductor muscles when you go down on the pose especially for the wide-angle seated forward bend pose. I see some practitioners who will just plunked themselves down and their buttocks will be up in the air. For this pose, you need to make sure that your sitting bones are on the floor like Judy says ” as if your buttocks are hooked to the floor” and your knee caps and feet are pointed straight up to the ceiling. I can never go down fully in this pose as I have tight hamstrings but I know that I am doing the pose correctly as long as my sitting bones are on the floor and with each exhalation I can go down a bit further.


itoe on 9 September, 2008 at 9:07 am #

I think beside of daily diet and practice, our body structure also plays a vital role into exercising to flexibility. I might be wrong but i personally felt that certain pose is beyond practicing to reach due to individual body frame.


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