Author Gloria Chadwick has released a book that seems like an oxymoron: ‘Zen Coffee’. But her aim is to teach you how your favorite drink can help calm you down.

Many people approach coffee drinking as a means to an end. They’re tired and they need to get the caffeine in the coffee into their system as quickly as possible so that they can wake up, or at least feel like it, and rush on to the next part of the day. This, in my opinion, is why God and the good people at Red Bull invented energy drinks.

While I can’t claim that I don’t benefit from coffee’s energizing purposes, it’s always been something different for me. It’s meant a chance to slow down. A chance to stop and notice what’s around me. So imagine my delighted surprise when I came across the book, Zen Coffee: A guide to mindful meditation by Gloria Chadwick.

Chadwick’s approach to coffee leans more towards seeing the world’s #1 beverage as a way to bring a sense of mindfulness and peace to your life rather than something to chug down on your way out the door. However, on her blog, she explains that the book is also for busy people who desperately need the chance to slow down and literally drink in all that life (and coffee) has to offer.

While I haven’t read Chadwick’s book, her ideas seem quite appealing. According to her, the book can show the average coffee drinker how to utilize their favorite drink to recall happy memories such as talking over coffee with a friend and translate those experiences into lowering stress. Chadwick claims you needn’t become a Zen expert to experience the calming effects the practice can have on your mind and spirit.

No motorcycle maintenance or Winnie the Pooh here

What exactly is Zen? Very simply, it’s a type of Buddhist meditation. It emphasizes the practice of meditation as a way of reaching awakening or enlightenment. Those who practice Zen believe less in theoretical knowledge and studying texts to reach enlightenment and more in looking within oneself through meditation. The practice of Zen meditation dates back to 7th century China, though some believe that it may be even older.

Zen meditation is not unlike yoga in that you needn’t follow a specific religion to enjoy its benefits and daily practice increases your ability to do it well. Meditation is often practiced while sitting quietly in a half or full lotus position and slowly concentrating on the action of the breath in and out of the body. Some who practice Zen also engage in meditation while walking or in Koan practice, which is when a Zen teacher presents his or her students with a question or riddle for them to solve as they meditate.

We can all use a little more mindfulness in our daily lives, whether it means committing to a few moments in meditation or simply just taking a second away from the noise of appointments and technology to really stop and see ourselves more clearly.  Though I’ve already found my own approach to coffee as a reason to embrace these moments, I hope to pick up a copy of Chadwick’s book and see what a fellow coffee lover thinks about it too.

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