Caffeinated Bliss: Why Coffee is the Best Meditation

I'm the first to admit it: I suck at meditation. Two meditation retreats later, and sitting down with my thoughts seems like the worst punishment in the world. I'll sit down for like, ten minutes, become uncomfortably aware that my legs refuse to stay still for more than two seconds, wish I was more meditative and spiritual, convince myself that there's something wrong with me because I'm not meditative and spiritual, wonder if buying long, floral skirts would somehow make meditation more meaningful, and decide that I'm too poor to buy said skirts, and resolve to work a hundred million hours a week.

But lately, as my thoughts have been swarming around my head like a bee that just won't go away, I've noticed that I'm accidentally meditating over my cup of coffee. Before you wave me off as a hippie-dippie chick and decide that I need more sleep, let me explain. It's not like I'm chanting over my coffee beans and waiting for the enlightened coffee to touch my lips and make me just. so. yogic. But, in the loosest sense of the word, meditation allows you to be in the present moment, not letting your mental chatter get in the way of just experiencing life.

Coffee is my only daily routine. It's comfortingly ritualistic to pour the grounds into the filter, to watch the water flow into my mug, to let it cascade into my coffee maker. I hear the sounds of the coffee brewing, and for a few minutes, everything is okay. For the fifteen minutes with my mug, I know I won't be distracted by "what-if"s, "why did I"s, or "I should"s. I'm simply letting the bitter flavor, mixed with the sickly sweet peppermint mocha creamer (this is what living away from home does to you) pool over my tongue.

I'm comforted that I know this meditation will not happen indefinitely. I can go back to my anxious, worried self after the last gulp.

Everything is stiller, more ready to be observed rather than conquered. Sitting at the kitchen table, I see everything as background, like that song that's playing on the radio that you kind of know, but don't strain your ears to listen to.

For fifteen minutes of coffee, everything is more simple. Everything is okay.

Namaste.