At Matcha Café, we believe that yoga and matcha tea are the perfect match (Bali is very spiritual - we love yoga and matcha tea here!). It makes perfect sense, they’re all about “Zen”, feeling alert but calm and encouraging the best possible energy flow throughout the body.
Both are super for mind and body and yoga in particular, is all about the mind-body connection. So, combining the two can only enhance your yoga practice with better concentration and boosting the body so it achieves even more with every pose you hold. Here are six more brilliant reasons why you should incorporate a bowl of deliciously creamy and heart-warming matcha with your yoga practice.
1 Matcha and Yoga Both Originated in the East
Matcha originally comes from China and was brought over to Japan 800 years ago, first adopted by Buddhist Zen Monks, then Samurai warriors until it filtered into society. Yoga originated in India, very much a part of Hindu lifestyle (Bali is actually the only Hindu island in Indonesia) but was also adopted by Buddhists and was first written about in ancient texts around 500 to 200 BC. Yoga is about meditation, something that needs plenty of concentration and the ability to shift the mind into shutting outside influences away so you can focus on your yoga practice alone. Matcha tea can support that focus.
2 Yoga and Matcha are About Controlled Breathing
To get the most out of every yoga practice, controlled breathing is vitally important but difficult to achieve, certainly for beginners. Drinking matcha can help because matcha encourages energy without that jittery feeling. It’s a calming energy; it reduces anxiety too and makes you feel alert yet fiercely focused. Matcha also enhances the senses, and yoga is all about being aware of the body and mind, as we mentioned at the beginning.
3 Matcha can Help to Hold Your Pose
As matcha helps to encourage real concentration, it’s a great support when striking yoga poses. To hold a pose, you need to be completely focused on it, without the mind wandering. Matcha is an excellent way to keep you conscious of your pose, with control but preventing the mind from moving onto other things, not yoga-related.
4 Matcha Can Help to Burn Fat
The caffeine content in matcha is known for fat-burning (which is achievable along with a healthy lifestyle and eating well). Yoga is also about strengthening the body’s muscles, being leaner and lighter. Matcha can help you achieve your weight goal if you use yoga to also tone and sculpt your body. Rich in catechins as well as with a dose of caffeine, it’s excellent for encouraging faster metabolism; the catechins especially help with fat oxidation (burning).
5 Matcha Aids Relaxation
Even though matcha contains caffeine, it is different to caffeine found in coffee. Rather than giving you that feeling of restlessness, matcha gives you a feeling of alertness with calm, it’s an energising calmness that makes you feel extremely relaxed. Yoga aims to relax your body and mind too – combine the two and you get an extraordinary feeling of tranquillity.
6 Matcha and Yoga Both Boost Flagging Mood
Following yoga practice, almost everyone experiences a feeling of calm euphoria! Yoga has that effect; it’s excellent for reducing stress and encouraging feelings of positivity because it releases feel-good hormone endorphins. These make you feel happy! Matcha works similarly as it contains L-theanine, a compound that in studies, is shown to reduce blood pressure and alleviate those stressful feelings.
When to Drink Your Matcha Tea!
So – you’re convinced and you’re going to enjoy your matcha tea before yoga, or maybe it should be after? Drink it before and you’ll deliver your body with more energy so you’ll get the most out of your yoga session (but never drink it on an empty stomach). Drink it after and you’ll rehydrate your body, giving it that slow-release energy that it needs to cope with the rest of the day. Matcha is also anti-inflammatory, so it helps to reduce any discomfort (fantastic for your muscles post workout) and as it is packed with antioxidants, it bolsters your immune system with what it needs to fight off attack. Why not drink half a bowl of matcha before and half after?
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