April 2016: Tea & Meditation

“How can I be more mindful?” a customer and friend was asking. For me, it comes from practicing Japanese Tea Ceremony. I was instructed even when I prepare tea utensils, I need to be focused on what I do. I think it is very simple task but for some find it is difficult.

At times, when we are drinking tea with a friend, we are not aware of the tea or even of our friend sitting there. Practicing tea meditation is to be truly present with our tea and our friends. We recognize that we can dwell happily in the present moment despite all of our sorrows and worries. We sit there relaxed without having to say anything. If we like, we may also share a song, a story or a dance.

Tea and Meditation are two practices that go hand-in-hand. They are both contemplative, slow-paced activities that help a person wind down.

Practicing Japanese Tea Ceremony is something many people do not want to do. Many think it was like a drag to pick up new “procedures” when they weren’t necessary. Some people even thought of doing tea ceremony seemed so cumbersome and old-fashioned.
You do not need to learn Japanese Tea Ceremony to be more mindful, really.  Watching the tea ceremony being performed can help you be more mindful. For those of you who may be new to meditation, it is not a practice reserved for only certain religions. In its most basic form, meditation is the process of sitting still for a period of time and focusing your mind through deep breathing or a single word so that the inner chatter in your head ceases.  
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That is why I said you can be mindful to whatever you are currently doing. The combination of drinking tea and meditating has long been practiced by Chinese and Japanese Buddhist monks, who discovered that the calming properties of theanine in tea helped them to meditate blissfully for long periods of time. Perhaps, you can try combining them together to see if you get calmer or more focus before starting a task.

Tea of the Month  - Chamomile Green Tea