For someone addicted to caffeine like me I find it rather funny that I rarely get around to having any caffeine shortly after waking up in the morning. Above is a picture of a set up I had for breakfast today which was quite nice, and one of the few times I have gotten around to making tea within an hour of waking up.
Perhaps it is because I wish to put my full effort into the tea, and keep relatively little amounts of tea on hand that I would like to risk horribly brewing in my waking hours. I hate to admit it but I am one of those people that getting up is a bit of a chore, and my head is usually in a bit of a cloud for quite some time after it leaves the pillow.
But I have a fair amount of hong cha on hand now, and I am thinking of making an effort to spend an hour or so drinking tea each morning to help me try and wake up. Part of me wants to try and become familiar with the habits of other tea drinkers, and while I know those of you that read this blog love tea, and look forward to drinking it at just about any time, I am wondering how many of you brew tea within the first hour or so of waking up?
8 comments:
Hm ... not sure I get the hang of what you're up to.
I used to be a person dazed in the morning after getting up, too. Two things helped: Physical exercise, and drinking water. Especially the latter seems to make a big difference. Once I've gotten dressed I usually drink min. 0.5 l of warm water.
After preparing a few things for breakfast (including tea utensils ...), meditation is the next point on the agenda. A bit of excercise then. On a work day, not much time for tea - often I use grandpa style (most relaxed and therefore most satisfying). I think I could do fine without the caffeine, actually, I did for many years. Now that I think about it - for me it would probably be a good idea NOT to drink tea in the morning on some days, because rushed agitation really kills the spirit of it.
Martin
I usually drink tea within the first hour of waking up. I usually eat breakfast first, and then have tea after breakfast is finished. I rarely need the caffeine from the tea to wake up, however...most days (usually excepting cloudy ones) I wake up before my alarm clock.
Something else occured to me ...
How much I sleep and the time I get up has a big impact. I found that too much sleep dampens my energy (a regular 8 hours is already too much with me). Someone involved with Ayurveda once pointed out to me that the different hours in the morning have different energies. In any case, I seem to do better getting up early.
Caffeine usually can not get me out of real energy lows, although it has a modulating effect. Therefore I don't like to depend on it in terms of energy and rather on the things I mentioned above.
My morning tea is more for enjoyment and health.
Martin
Interesting you mention different times of morning having different energies as you put it. As an odd thing has been happening for the past few weeks, I would always wake up a bit before my alarm clock feeling almost wide awake and full of energy, but I would say I'll get the next little bit of sleep until my alarm clock goes off. but once it actually goes off I am incredibly tired.
Alex, I am wondering because you mentioned clouds, did Daylight savings time mess you up at all? Last Week I was wonderful in the mornings because I could wake up to sun, this week I am now once again waking up in the dark.
Sounds very much familiar, waking up before the alarm clock, then turning over and being tired later ...
For me, that has often happened with the change of the season. In my own case, I would not attribute it to the hour of the day but rather to the amount of sleep.
For most of us it is hard to trust when the body says "enough sleep" and it's still less than we think it needs.
As in tea, I believe there is nothing like experimentation.
I'm not a morning person either and can only manage a cup of tea grandpa style on the days when I don't have early classes. Morning tea is like consolation for the long day ahead.
Ditto on waking up before the alarm goes off! But there are very few mornings I actually get up without hitting the snooze button.
I wake up at approx. 6h30 AM and immediatly prepare a sencha. I try to spend a little hour having tea, before kids wake up. Then I eat my breakfast with them...
Tea is my motivation to wake up ! A day that begins with a sencha will be a good day...
I get up. Pretty much my eyes still closed and fully on autopilot, I flip up my sleeping mattress, then start to make my way towards the bathroom. On the way, I make one stop, to fill the kettle en put it on its plate. After that, I go to a rather gruesome routine involving water and stuff, before re-emerging with eyes opened by the horror of another day breaking. By then the water is boiling. I fill a thermos with one litre of hot water, and pout the rest into a cooling vessel. The thermos is for later that morning. While stumbling through my room, trying to get dressed, the water in the vessel cools a bit, and by the time I manage to open the curtains and a window, it is perfect for a kyusu with some bancha. I drink this, standing in front of the window. By the time I have had my first bowl, I am ready for things that involve more mind then autopilot...
Greetings, Janneman
Post a Comment